‘Sandman’ Movie Loses Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gains a New Writer

UPDATE: Joseph Gordon-Levitt has announced that he’s no longer involved with Sandman. The actor shared the disappointing news via Facebook, where he explains that since WB moved Sandman and all Vertigo properties to New Line, he has had some creative differences. Gordon-Levitt says that they “just don’t see eye to eye on what makes Sandman special, and what a film adaptation could/should be.” That’s unfortunate news, and seems to indicate that New Line isn’t invested in a proper adaptation.

The news also comes just a few months after Cary Fukunaga exited his adaptation of Stephen King’s It, similarly citing creative differences (and using much of the same language in a later interview) after WB shuttled the film over to New Line. It hardly seems coincidental that Gordon-Levitt and Fukunaga both resigned from their respective projects after they were tossed over to New Line. Reports have suggested that WB’s subsidiary works on a smaller financial scale, which would interfere with particularly ambitious plans for films like It and Sandman.

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And in news from the darker corner of DC’s movie universe, we finally have another update on Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Sandman film based on Neil Gaiman’s beloved graphic novel series. Although David Goyer developed the treatment for the film, Gordon-Levitt has been searching for the perfect writer to tackle the screenplay, and it appears that he’s found someone quite familiar with horror.

Via THR, Eric Heisserer will write the screenplay for Sandman, with Gordon-Levitt set to direct and play the leading role. Heisserer is best known for scripting the remakes of The Thing and A Nightmare on Elm Street, and more recently worked on The Conjuring 2 screenplay for James Wan. In addition to Sandman, Heisserer’s upcoming projects include Story of Your Life, a sci-fi film from Sicario director Denis Villeneuve, with Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner.

Last we heard, WB was happy with the story Gordon-Levitt developed with Goyer and Neil Gaiman, with the latter voicing his interest in having Tom Hiddleston star in the film. But it’s been a long while since we’ve heard anything on the Sandman front, and Gordon-Levitt’s acting and producing schedule hasn’t exactly gotten any less crowded in the last couple of years.

Sandman does not yet have a release date, much less a production start date, but with a writer officially on board to shape the script, we hope to have something more concrete soon.