While Stardust may not have set the US box office alight, there’s clearly still plenty of interest in the stories of Neil Gaiman, several of which have been floating in the development pool for years.
And now one of them – a fantasy tale set in an underground alternate London – has finally emerged dripping wet into the light again. Neverwhere, which was originally developed by Gaiman and Lenny Henry for TV before Gaiman wrote a novel based on the tale – has attracted the interest of both Harvey Weinstein and the Henson team.
Neverwhere follows the adventures – and misadventures – of Richard Mayhew, who, when he helps a girl he thinks is homeless, is drawn into a mystical world that runs parallel to London. Soon, he’s on an epic quest through London Below, running into everything from the Black Friars and the Angel Islington (a decidedly psychopathic angelic being).
The show aired on the BBC back in 1996, and has found a special place in fans’ hearts despite a low-budget look and some dodgy lighting. Gaiman has long thought he might one day resurrect the story in some form, and he was commissioned to write a script seven years ago. “They’re using my script from 2000, and they want me to polish it up a bit,” Neil MTV.
And British director David Slade, who is finishing up 30 Days Of Night, is apparently attached to direct. Gaiman, of course is staying neutral on the whole idea: “When it comes to movies, the dead certainties never happen and the things you think are dead come back to life,” he blabbed. “I have no predictions and absolutely no theories. I watch everything that goes on in Hollywood with amusement and occasional trepidation…but mostly amusement.”
We’ll have more news on this as it develops.
