Joseph Gordon-Levitt Exits ‘Sandman’ Movie

Actor drops out of adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s beloved comic book series over conflict with Warner Bros. and New Line

Joseph Gordon-Levitt
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Joseph Gordon-Levitt has exited “Sandman,” a film adaptation of Neil Gaiman‘s beloved comic book about the melancholy lord of dreams that he signed on to direct, produce and star in.

The actor announced on Facebook Saturday that he and New Line, the division of Warner Bros. where the project has been set up, “just don’t see eye to eye on what makes ‘Sandman’ special, and what a film adaptation could/should be. So unfortunately, I decided to remove myself from the project. I wish nothing but the best for the team moving forward.”

In 2013, Gordon-Levitt announced that he was producing the film, with speculation that he might star as the lord of dreams Morpheus and possibly direct. Gordon-Levitt was actively developing the project with writer-producer David S. Goyer, with Jack Thorne writing the script.

Last June, the project moved from Warner Bros. to New Line along with several other properties based on Vertigo comics, a division of DC Comics, although Vertigo titles such as “Constantine” and “Dark Universe” remained at Warner Bros.

“Sandman” is still in development at New Line, which recently hired “Final Destination 5” and “The Conjuring 2” screenwriter Eric Heisserer to write a new draft.

A spokesperson for the studio did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Read Gordon-Levitt’s Facebook post below.

RE: SANDMANSo, as you might know if you like to follow these sorts of things, a while back, David Goyer and I made a…

Posted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Saturday, March 5, 2016

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