Starz, the premium US cable network, announced its intent for an "American Gods" series adaptation last Tuesday.
The fantasy novel written by award-winning writer Neil Gaiman had been picked up by HBO in 2011 but was later passed on to FreeMantle Media in February.
The new show promises to be a potential hit with Brian Fuller ("Pushing Daises," "Hannibal") and Michael Green ("The River," "Heroes") as showrunners. They will also be writing the script for the pilot episode. Starz is currently working on the script, aiming to create an "American Gods" series that will honor the critically acclaimed novel.
It looks like Gaiman's earlier satisfaction at the management change was well-founded. He had stated at the time that "it already looks like it's going to be a smoother run developing it than it had at HBO, so I am very pleased."
"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 added in a statement, according to The Guardian.
The fantasy writer further expressed his satisfaction of the production crew, calling them some of the "fanatics that American Gods has attracted since the start."
"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," Fuller said in a statement about the "American Gods" series.
The novel was published in 2001 to various praises and critical acclaim. It follows the life of an ex-convict (Shadow) in America as he gets caught up in a war between new and old gods.
Starz has not announced a specific release date for the new series yet. Meanwhile, "Anansi Boys," Gaiman's follow up to the fantasy novel, is also being developed into a mini-series by BBC.
