Woah! I knew there were rumors bubbling around out there that Neil Gaiman’s excellent novel American Gods was in development as a television series, but it now seems to be official, according to Screenrant:
The series is currently being planned out in no less than six seasons of 10-12 episodes each. The budget for each season will be in the $40 million range, with a heavy emphasis on CG. The earliest that American Gods would grace the airwaves would be 2013.
The central premise of American Gods is that gods and other mythological figures are real in the modern world, but their power and influence depends on the belief of humans. Obviously, that puts some gods in a tight spot due to modern sensibilities. Deities from the Greco-Roman, Nordic, Hindu, Egyptian, and Judeo-Christian pantheons all make an appearance.
I confess I have no idea how they’re planning on getting six entire seasons (70 or so episodes!) out of a single book, unless they’re planning on expanding way past what was in the original novel. It’s a great book, but six seasons seems a bit much. Still, I’ll definitely be keenly watching for more info on this.
That article is pretty dated (2 years). however, a quick search online found a recent interview with Gaiman that says this is still in the works.
I was so impressed by the book I even made a pilgrimage to the House on the Rock…
I imagine that they'll include material from Anansi Boys.
Pshaw… I didn't even notice the date.
Anansi Boys, maybe that short story where Shadow travels to Scotland, more vignettes about minor gods, stuff like that.
I hadn't heard anything about this. I loved the book and would be really excited to watch. I'll keep following this!
From what I understand, Gaiman is in the process of writing a sequel to American Gods and the final four seasons will cover the material in the second novel.
Source: http://hbowatch.com/more-details-on-hbos-adaptation-of-american-gods/