American Gods (TV series)

American Gods
Genre
Based on American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
Developed by
Starring
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Bryan Fuller
  • Michael Green
  • Neil Gaiman
  • Craig Cegielski
  • Stefanie Berk
  • Thom Beers
Production company(s)
Release
Original network Starz
External links
Official website

American Gods is an upcoming television series created by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green for Starz, based on the novel of the same name by author Neil Gaiman. Fuller and Green will script the first episode and serve as showrunners. Gaiman will executive produce along with Fuller, Green, Craig Cegielski, Stefanie Berk and Thom Beers.[1]

Premise

The series will focus on the mysterious Shadow Moon, a man serving three years in prison for assault. With only days remaining in his sentence, Shadow is given an unexpected early release after his beloved wife Laura is killed in a car accident. Flying home for the funeral, Shadow is seated next to a man calling himself Wednesday, who offers Shadow a job he seems all too confident that Shadow will accept. Arriving home, Shadow finds that the life he thought was waiting for him is gone. With no other options, he accepts Wednesday's offer. At first, it appears that Wednesday is nothing but a con artist who runs scams for cash and needs Shadow as a collaborator and bodyguard. Shadow soon learns that Wednesday is in fact the god Odin of Norse mythology. Wednesday is making his way across America, gathering all the old gods, who, without believers, have now incorporated themselves into American life and pretend to be ordinary people, while the New Gods – Media, Technology, and a host of others – grow ever stronger. Shadow finds himself drawn into a final confrontation between the old gods and the new.

Cast

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
1"The Bone Orchard"[17]David SladeBryan Fuller & Michael Green2017 (2017)[18]TBD

Development

Production

In 2011, American Gods author Neil Gaiman stated at the Edinburgh International Book Festival that HBO had expressed an interest in adapting the novel into a television series.[19][20] In March 2013 Gaiman spoke of the project's progress at the Cambridge International Student Film Festival, and confirmed that the prospective series' opening episode would "contain new elements and details" while still remaining "a lot like the opening chapters of the book".[21] He also commented that the book would only make up the first two seasons of the show and that he was still working on the pilot script, as his first script was not close enough to his book for HBO's satisfaction.[22] However, in November 2013 Gaiman announced on Reddit that the TV series is still in the works but no longer at HBO.[23]

In 2014 HBO's president of programming Michael Lombardo revealed that the project had been abandoned because they could not get the script right: "We tried three different writers, we put a lot of effort into it. Some things just don't happen."[24]

In February 2014, Fremantle Media acquired the rights to adapt the novel as a fantasy drama series.[25] In July 2014, it was announced that Starz would be developing the series with Bryan Fuller and Michael Green.[26]

Speaking of the series, Fuller stated that it would "[follow] the events of the books but expanding those events, and expanding the point of view to go above and beyond Shadow and Wednesday."[27] Permission has been given for the series to incorporate elements from the book's companion, Anansi Boys.[27] Fuller also confirmed that Gaiman is "very involved" with the production and expressed his hope that Gaiman would write an episode himself.[27]

On June 16, 2015, Starz officially announced that it had greenlit the series.[28][29] Showrunner Bryan Fuller estimated in May 2015 that the show would likely air in "late 2016";[30] however, it is set to premiere in early 2017.[18] The shooting was scheduled to begin on March 1, 2016 in Toronto and continue until September.[31]

During an interview with Neil Gaiman on June 24, 2016, he discussed plans for future seasons of the show beyond the first, should it be continued, and noting that season one only covers the first third of the novel. Season two is intended to cover the Lakeside section of the novel, and "a big pivotal thing that happens to Mr. Wednesday" will likely be a season finale for either the second or third season.[32]

Casting

On January 28, 2016, Ricky Whittle was cast as the lead character, Shadow Moon.[2] On March 2, 2016, it was announced that Ian McShane had been cast as Mr. Wednesday.[3] It was later announced on March 17, 2016 that Emily Browning will play Laura Moon, Shadow's wife.[4] On March 23, 2016 it was announced that Sean Harris, Yetide Badaki and Bruce Langley would play the respective roles of Mad Sweeney, Bilquis and Technical Boy.[6] On April 14, 2016, Jonathan Tucker and Crispin Glover were cast as Low Key Lyesmith and Mr. World.[7] On April 21, 2016, Cloris Leachman was cast as Zorya Vechernyaya, Peter Stormare as Czernobog, Chris Obi as Mr. Jaquel, and Mousa Kraish as the Jinn.[8]

On May 6, 2016, it was announced that Sean Harris had departed the series due to personal reasons and the role of "Mad Sweeney" was being recast.[33] On May 11, 2016, it was announced that Pablo Schreiber would take over the role of Mad Sweeney.[5] In June 2016, it was announced that Gillian Anderson would portray Media.[9] On June 15, 2016, it was announced that Omid Abtahi, Orlando Jones and Demore Barnes would join the cast as Salim, Mr. Nancy and Mr. Ibis, respectively.[10][11]

On July 15, 2016, it was announced that Dane Cook was set to appear as Robbie,[12] and a week later, Kristin Chenoweth as Easter.[13]

Marketing

The first trailer for the series was released on July 22, 2016 at San Diego Comic-Con International.[34]

References

  1. ↑ "Shows A–Z – american gods on starz". The Futon Critic. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Robinson, Joanna (January 28, 2016). "American Gods Author Neil Gaiman on Why Casting The 100s Ricky Whittle as Shadow Is So Vital". Variety. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Goldberg, Lesley (March 3, 2016). "Ian McShane to Star in 'American Gods' for Starz". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Goldberg, Lesley (March 17, 2016). "Starz's 'American Gods' Casts Its Laura Moon". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 16, 2016.>
  5. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie (May 11, 2016). "Pablo Schreiber To Play Mad Sweeney In 'American Gods' Starz Series, Joins Indie 'Thumper'". Deadline. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Petski, Denise (March 23, 2016). "Starz's 'American Gods' Casts Sean Harris As Mad Sweeney, Yetide Badaki As Bilquis & Bruce Langley As Technical Boy". Deadline. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Petski, Denise (April 14, 2016). "'American Gods': Jonathan Tucker & Crispin Glover Cast In Starz Adaptation". Deadline.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "CAMERAS ROLL AS STARZ AND FMNA BRING "AMERICAN GODS" TO LIFE". Fremantle Media. April 21, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Slezak, Michael (June 3, 2016). "Gillian Anderson Joins American Gods". TVLine. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie (June 15, 2016). "'American Gods': Omid Abtahi Joins Cast Of Starz Series". Deadline. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 Stanhope, Kate (June 15, 2016). "Starz' 'American Gods' Adds 'Sleepy Hollow' Alum Orlando Jones". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  12. 1 2 "American Gods: Dane Cook lends a friendly hand". July 15, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Kristin Chenoweth Will Play Easter in American Gods". io9. July 22, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  14. ↑ Petski, Denise (2016-08-18). "'American Gods': Corbin Bernsen Cast As Vulcan". Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  15. ↑ Snetiker, Marc (2016-09-01). "'Lost' alum joins American Gods as Jesus". EW. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  16. ↑ "Beth Grant Reteams With Bryan Fuller For American Gods". wegotthiscovered.com. October 17, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Bryan Fuller on Twitter: "FIRST TONE MEETING OF @AmericanGodsSTZ @andmichaelgreen @DAVID_A_SLADE @neilhimself"". Twitter. March 29, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  18. 1 2 "'American Gods' TV Series: Neil Gaiman Convinced On Fuller's Powerful Version - Hall Of Fame Magazine". Hall of Fame Magazine. May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  19. ↑ "American Gods for HBO, Gaiman plans sequel". The Bookseller. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  20. ↑ Thompson, Mike (July 30, 2011). "HBO Performs Rumor Control on American Gods". Escapist Magazine. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Neil Gaiman Updates Us on HBO's American Gods, Doctor Who, and More". Tor.com. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  22. ↑ Schaefer, Sandy (June 30, 2013). "Neil Gaiman Offers American Gods TV Show Update; Teases New Story Material". screenrant.com. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  23. ↑ Gaiman, Neil. "AN EVENING WITH NEIL GAIMAN AND AMANDA PALMER: ASK US ANYTHING. GO ON. GO ON YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.". Reddit. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  24. ↑ Jenna Marotta (June 11, 2014). "HBO's Michael Lombardo on More Game of Thrones, the Future of MaddAddam, and Why American Gods Is a No-Go". Vulture.
  25. ↑ Nellie Andreeva (February 3, 2014). "Fantasy Novel 'American Gods' Being Developed As Drama Series By FremantleMedia".
  26. ↑ Lesley Goldberg (July 1, 2014). "Starz, Bryan Fuller Board Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  27. 1 2 3 Bibbiani, William (August 29, 2014). "Exclusive: How Involved is Neil Gaiman in the 'American Gods' TV Series?". Crave Online. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  28. ↑ Linda Ge (June 16, 2015). "Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' Adaptation Gets Greenlight From Starz". TheWrap.
  29. ↑ "American Gods TV adaptation begins casting search for lead character". the Guardian.
  30. ↑ "American Gods producer Bryan Fuller talks casting diversity on the Neil Gaiman TV series - Blastr". Blastr.
  31. ↑ "In Production in Toronto" (PDF). Municipal government of Toronto. February 10, 2016.
  32. ↑ Schwartz, Dana (July 13, 2016). "Everything* Neil Gaiman Knows About 'Good Omens' and 'American Gods'". Observer. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  33. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (May 6, 2016). "'American Gods': Starz Series To Recast Mad Sweeney Role, Changes DP". Deadline. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  34. ↑ Gallagher, Brian (July 22, 2016). "American Gods Trailer Brings Neil Gaiman's Book to Life". Retrieved July 23, 2016.

External links

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