Studio:
Sony Pictures
Production Company:
Jim Henson Productions.
Project Phase: Script Stage.
Who's In It:
Unknown.
Who's Making It:
Jesse Dylan (Director); Neil Gaiman (Screenwriter); Denise DiNovi (Producer); based on the BBC series/novel
created by Neil Gaiman.
Premise: There's an underside to everything, but especially London. One night on a dark street, Richard Mayhew meets a very special person with a very unique problem, and finds himself on the slippery road from London Above to London Below - but that doesn't necessarily mean he's thrilled about the prospects of it all...
Release Date: Unknown.
Comments: Although 'Widgett' hasn't seen the BBC version, he has had the pleasure of reading the 'writer's cut' of the series in the form of the novel Gaiman created. Though everyone's waiting on The Sandman, or Death, or (please God, for Widgett) Good Omens to hit the big screen - this might be the Gaimanites' best bet to attain silver screen fame.
Rumors: Unknown.
Scoop Feedback:
[Page draft submitted by 'Widgett']
June 13, 1997... "I was at a reading and book signing of Neil Gaiman's last night. Gaiman is the literary genius behind the original stories that the movies Sandman and Death: The High Cost of Living are to be based on. Gaiman wrote and directed a 6 part mini-series for the BBC on a 'Dr. Who'-esque budget called 'Neverwhere'. Gaiman has also just published a book by the same name which is a novelization of the mini-series. A young woman asked him at the reading last night whether American audiences would ever be able to see the miniseries. Gaiman said that eventually PBS could probably get ahold of it, but what was more exciting was that he had just been contacted by, in his words, "one of the greatest directors Hollywood has to offer" who told Gaiman that he had a producer who was just "dying" to do Neverwhere as a movie. Gaiman told them, and us, that he liked the idea because, while the movie would have to be shorter than the miniseries, at least it would have the budget to do things right. This director then asked Gaiman if he would write it; Gaiman agreed to when he realized that not writing the screenplay would mean letting someone else do, and probably mangle, it.
"What follows is a brief setting of the scene for Neverwhere where I got off of a page at 'http://users.ox.ac.uk/~dplb0057/neverwhere.html'.
" 'Neverwhere, written by Neil Gaiman, from an idea conceived by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry, is about a strange nether world that exists beyond normal perception.It's located in the tunnels and rooms beneath the streets of London, but also on the streets and in the buildings and on the roof tops. As Richard states ominously "It's everywhere." It even exists in impossible locations - walking through an underground passage and coming out through a broom cupboard on a second floor landing. And anyone who exists in London Below no longer exists in London Above, so they can see but can't be seen. It's into this strange other-world that Richard Mayhew falls when he does see an inhabitant of London Below.'
"It is a wonderful blend of real life and total fantasy, horror and humour, all mixed in just the right proportion. It's most spooky aspect, I felt, was the fact that parts of it are set in the 'real' London, but the people are subtly isolated from it. In this, it reveals its darker message of the plight of the homeless on the streets, many of whom, even in real life, people fail to see." [A wonderful summary sent to us by an anonymous reader.]
August 24, 1997... Various entertainment agencies reports that Jim Henson acquired the film rights from Gaiman, and Dylan has been announced as director. [Scoop submitted by 'Widgett'.] March 12, 1998... Neil Gaiman sets the record straight for us. Denise Di Novi is producing this film and not the Death project. Neverwhere is at Jim Henson Films, which is at Sony. [Thanks to Neil Gaiman.]
January 12, 1998... It looks like some fashion of ball is rolling at some speed somewhere. According to the author notes inside Gaiman's recently novelized Stardust (a wonderful work of fantasy and highly-recommended, BTW), The Neil's next project is indeed this film. If the writer in question does decide to drop by this page please send us a quick note letting us know the script's present day status. [Thanks to the scholarship of 'aphelion' and 'rminnema'.]
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