Starz, Bryan Fuller Board Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods'
12:52 PM PDT 7/1/2014 by Lesley Goldberg

The premium cable network and writer-producers Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) and Michael Green (The River, Heroes) have boarded FremantleMedia North America's adaptation of Gaiman's urban fantasy novel American Gods. Starz has handed out a script-to-series commitment to the project, with Fuller and Green attached to serve as showrunners and exec produce alongside Gaiman. FMNA will produce the series, which is based on the 2001 award-winning novel that has been translated into more than 30 languages. The project previously was in development at HBO, which passed on it.

The drama centers on a war brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of biblical and mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. Its protagonist, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation for a battle with the new deities.

FMNA's Thom Beers, Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk will executive produce the series along with Fuller, Green and Gaiman. Starz vp original programming Ken Segna will oversee for the cabler, which will retain all network pay TV and SVOD rights to the project. FremantleMedia will distribute the series worldwide.

American Gods marks the latest scripted venture for FMNA, which landed the project in February. The company is also in production on The Returned.

For Starz, American God would join a roster of original scripted dramas that currently includes Black Sails, Da Vinci's Demons and Power as well as the upcoming series Outlander, Flesh and Bone and The Missing. The cabler also has comedies Blunt Talk and Survivor's Remorse in the works.

"When you create something like American Gods, which attracts fans and obsessives and people who tattoo quotes from it on themselves or each other, and who all, tattooed or not, just care about it deeply, it's really important to pick your team carefully. You don't want to let the fans down, or the people who care and have been casting it online since the dawn of recorded history," Gaiman said. "What I love most about the team whom I trust to take it out to the world, is that they are the same kind of fanatics that American Gods has attracted since the start. I haven't actually checked Bryan Fuller or Michael Green for quote tattoos, but I would not be surprised if they have them. The people at Fremantle are the kinds of people who have copies of American Gods in the bottom of their backpacks after going around the world, and who press them on their friends. And the team at Starz has been quite certain that they wanted to give Shadow, Wednesday and Laura a home since they first heard that the book was out there. I can't wait to see what they do to bring the story to the widest possible audience able to cope with it."

Should American Gods move forward, it would become Fuller's second series on the air based on a book, joining the third season of NBC's Hannibal adaptation.

Commented Bryan Fuller, "Neil Gaiman has created the holiest of holy toy boxes with 'American Gods' and filled it with all manner of magical thing, born of new gods and old. Michael Green and I are thrilled to crack this toy box wide open and unleash the fantastical titans of heaven and earth and Neil's vividly prolific imagination."

Starz is moving forward with plans for a series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel “American Gods,” to be shepherded by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green.

Fuller and Green are writing the adaptation and will serve as showrunners and exec producers. Gaiman will also exec produce for FremantleMedia North America.

Starz said series production would be begin once producers land their leading man for the role of Shadow Moon in the saga about a war between traditional gods from mythology and contemporary, materialistic deities. Shadow Moon is an ex-con and bodyguard for Mr. Wednesday, an older god in the guise of a conman.

“I am thrilled, ‎scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious anticipation. 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,” Gaiman said.

Starz is looking to build buzz for the project by promoting the search for the right actor to limn the lead character with the social-media effort #CastingShadow, inviting fans to weigh on who should get the gig.

“We hope to create a series that honors the book and does right by the fans, who have been casting it in their minds for years,” Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said.

“American Gods” is a big priority for FremantleMedia North America as it looks to grow its scripted production operations. The novel was brought into FremantleMedia by exec Stefanie Berk.

“Neil’s novel is a brilliant work of art, and together with the talented Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, we are committed to delivering a series that is nothing short of extraordinary,” said FremantleMedia North America co-CEO Craig Cegielski said.

Starz is hanging on to pay TV and SVOD rights, but Fremantle will distribute the property in the rest of the world. The much-praised book, which has landed fantasy fiction’s Hugo and Nebula awards, has been translated into 30 languages.

“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. We’re grateful to have Starz above us and FremantleMedia at our backs as we appease the gods, American or otherwise,” Fuller and Green said in a statement.

Fuller discussed his work on the project at the recent ATX Television Festival in Austin, telling fans, “I was raised Catholic, (Michael Green) was raised Jewish, so we both have fascination with these great mythological stories, so we were talking over lunch one day about how we both want to work together again on something, then ‘American Gods’ came up … There’s so much of that book that is a story of Shadow and Wednesday, and our approach is almost anthological — but we wouldn’t tell the network ‘anthological’ — in that we get to see Bilquis, who we see eat a man with her vagina in one chapter of the book and is never seen or heard from again. She’s a main character. We get to tell stories that start 5,000 years ago in ancient Babylonia and then see how she came to the modern day.”

He added, “Neil Gaiman has given us a lot of room to really dig into the characters and he’s shared them with us. It’s an immigration story really, at its heart, so it feels like we can unpack that in a way that allows us to tell a signature story.”

‘American Gods’ Casts Its Shadow: ‘The 100’ Actor to Play Lead Role in Starz TV Adaptation
JANUARY 28, 2016 | 09:00AM PT
Laura Prudom News Editor @lauinla

“American Gods,” Starz’s TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s beloved fantasy novel, has cast Ricky Whittle in the lead role of Shadow Moon, the premium cabler announced Thursday.

The series posits a war brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. The plot centers around Shadow Moon, an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.

Gaiman said in a statement, “I’m thrilled that Ricky has been cast as Shadow. His auditions were remarkable. The process of taking a world out of the pages of a book, and putting it onto the screen has begun. ‘American Gods’ is, at its heart, a book about immigrants, and it seems perfectly appropriate that Shadow will, like so much else, be Coming to America. I’m delighted Ricky will get to embody Shadow. Now the fun starts.”

Showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green added, “We searched every continent and country and all the islands in between for our Shadow Moon, and we are lucky to have found Ricky. Fans of the novel will find he has every bit of the heart of the character they fell in love with.”

British-born Whittle is currently a series regular on The CW’s post-apocalyptic drama “The 100,” and has previously appeared in “Austenland,” “Hollyoaks,” “Mistresses,” “NCIS” and “Holby City.”

“American Gods” is produced by FremantleMedia North America for Starz. Fuller and Green serve as writers and showrunners, with Fuller’s frequent “Hannibal” helmer David Slade set to direct the pilot and additional episodes. FMNA’s Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk are executive producing the series along with Fuller, Green, Slade and Gaiman. SVP of Original Programming Ken Segna is the Starz executive in charge of “American Gods.” Starz retains all network pay TV and SVOD rights to the project, and FremantleMedia is distributing the series worldwide. The show will begin shooting in April in Toronto.

Ricky Whittle is represented by TalentWorks, Creative Artists Management in the UK, and Untitled Entertainment.

Gillian Anderson has joined Starz’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods,” Variety has learned.

Anderson will play Media, the mouthpiece for the New Gods, functioning as their public face and sales representative, by taking the form of various iconic celebrities. She lives off the attention and worship that people give to screens — to their laptops, their TVs, to their iPhones in their hands while they watch their TVs. Ever the perky spokesperson, and always in control, she spins stories in whatever direction best suits her.

The casting marks a reunion between Anderson and “American Gods” executive producer Bryan Fuller — the two previously collaborated on NBC’s “Hannibal.”

In addition to “Hannibal,” Anderson recently returned to her iconic role as Dana Scully in Fox’s revival of “The X-Files,” which premiered in January, and will next be seen in the third and final season of crime thriller “The Fall,” which will air later this year.

“American Gods” is produced by FremantleMedia North America. Fuller and Michael Green are writers and showrunners. David Slade is directing the pilot and additional episodes. FMNA’s Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk are executive producing the series along with Fuller, Green, Slade and Gaiman. Senior Vice Presidents of Original Programming Marta Fernandez and Ken Segna are the Starz executives in charge of “American Gods.” Starz retains all network pay TV and SVOD rights to the project, and FremantleMedia is distributing the series worldwide.

The plot of “American Gods” posits a war brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. Its protagonist, Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane), a conman with personal ties to the battle between the deities.