Joseph Gordon-Levitt picked to star and direct SANDMAN

SANDMAN was one of those comic book/graphic novel materials that are considered as too sacred to be adapted into a movie. Now, it seems that the plans for a movie adaptation will finally be initialized. David Goyer (Man of Steel) pitched an idea for the adaptation that WB is keen on, and they are looking at Joseph Gordon-Levitt to not only star and produce, but also direct the film. [hit the jump to continue]

Gordon-Levitt made his feature directorial debut on the well received Sundance pic "Don Jon" but this would be a considerable step up in scope and scale, "Sandman" is expected to be epic and beyond great. Let's hope Joseph Gordon-Levitt can pull this off.

Originally running from 1989 to 1996, Gaiman’s take on the comic series revived a mid-70s creation of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.  Gaiman’s reimagining of the character went on to become one of the few graphic novels to grace the New York Times Bestseller list.

His story centers on the title character (who is known by many names, including Dream and Morpheus), an anthropomorphic manifestation of dreams.  Held prisoner for 70s years, he escapes into the modern world to seek vengeance on his captors and set about rebuilding his crumbling kingdom.  Much as the character himself changes from a cruel being to more of a tragic hero, the story itself evolves from a dark horror comic to an elaborate fantasy story.  A Sandman adaptation has been tried a number of times over the years, so here’s hoping that Goyer and Gordon-Levitt can take it further down the road to development.