Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Starz have given a straight-to-series order for their adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Hugo and Nebula Award winning 2001 novel American Gods.

“I am thrilled, ‎scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious anticipation,” Gaiman said. “The team that is going to bring the world of American Gods to the screen has been assembled like the master criminals in a caper movie: I’m relieved and confident that my baby is in good hands. Now we finally move to the exciting business that fans have been doing for the last dozen years: casting our Shadow, our Wednesday, our Laura…”

The series was developed and written by Hannibal and Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller and Kings creator Michael Green who will serve as executive producers and showrunners. Gaiman will also executive produce the series, while Fuller’s commitments to Hannibal, if it gets picked up for a fourth year, will be juggled alongside his work on American Gods.

“Almost 15 years ago, Neil Gaiman filled a toy box with gods and magic and we are thrilled to finally crack it open and play,” Fuller and Green said. “We’re grateful to have Starz above us and FremantleMedia at our backs as we appease the gods, American or otherwise.”

In the novel, a war is brewing between the traditional gods of biblical and mythological roots from around the world and a new upstart pantheon of gods reflecting modern society’s love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. The book centres on ex-con Shadow Moon, who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman who is in reality one of the older gods on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.