'The Sandman' Audio Drama Narrated By Neil Gaiman Coming To Audible

Many have tried, and failed, to adapt Neil Gaiman's iconic comic series The Sandman for both film and TV. While those adaptations seem hopelessly stuck in development hell, here's the next best thing: a Sandman audio drama narrated by Gaiman himself. Featuring music and immersive sound design, the Sandman audio drama is headed to Audible this summer, and you can hear a preview below.

This summer you'll be able to hear Neil Gaiman read The Sandman to you with a full audio production from Audible. Presented as a multi-part Audible Original audio drama series, the production hopes to bring Gaiman's classic comic series to life via "meticulously sound-designed, richly immersive audio." Here's the synopsis being used for the adaptation:

When an occultist attempts to capture the physical embodiment of Death in a bargain for eternal life, he instead mistakenly traps Death's younger brother Morpheus, the King of Dreams. After his seventy-year imprisonment and eventual escape, Morpheus goes on a quest to reclaim his lost objects of power and rebuild his realm. From there, one of greatest and most successful series of graphic novels ever written begins. Celebrated globally for its vibrant blend of modern myth and dark fantasy – which seamlessly interweaves contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend – The Sandman follows Morpheus, and the people and places he's affected, as he tries to mend the cosmic and human mistakes he's made during his Endless existence.

Gaiman narrates and the drama will also feature a cast of voice actors backing the author up. Gaiman is also serving as creative director and executive producer for this adaptation, while Dirk Maggs serves as executive producer, scriptwriter, and director. Regarding the production, Gaiman said:

"Almost 30 years ago, Dirk Maggs approached DC about adapting The Sandman into audio form. It didn't happen (although it was how Dirk and I first crossed paths) and I'm glad it didn't happen, because we are in a Golden Age of audio drama right now, and Dirk and I are much better at what we are doing. This is a rich audio adaptation of The Sandman Graphic Novels, brilliantly crafted by Dirk Maggs, with an all-star cast. I've loved being there to talk casting, there to read the scripts and offer occasional advice, and there in the studios, watching magic get made and recording the narration. I can't wait until the world hears what we've done."

Gaiman's original Sandman comic featured multiple artists and ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996. There have been several attempts to adapt the comic, including a movie that changed hands multiple times – Joseph Gordon-Levitt was attached at one point – and a TV series that James Mangold pitched to HBO. Netflix announced last year that they struck a deal with Warner Bros. to develop Sandman into a live-action television series with Allan Heinberg is set as showrunner, but there's been very little word on that since then.

The Sandman audio drama will be available to download exclusively on Audible, Summer 2020 in English and will subsequently be released in French, German, Italian, and Spanish editions.