American Gods, the acclaimed fantasy novel written by Neil Gaiman, is currently being adapted into a cable television series by Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies) and Michael Green (Heroes) for Starz.
The original story follows a man named Shadow Moon recently released from prison, as he tries to adjust to life on the outside. When he realizes that he can’t go back to the life he had, himself and his pal Mr. Wednesday get sucked into a brutal battle between the new gods and the old gods (which were brought here generations ago from different countries).
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So far, American Gods is keeping close to the source material’s mythology, including spot-on casting for the gods. Kristen Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies) has recent been cast as Easter, the ancient goddess of fertility. Bryan Fuller took to his twitter account to reveal a first look at Easter in all her flowery glory. Check out her frilly head crown below. Isn’t she just gorgeous?
#EASTER IN HER EASTER BONNET WITH ALL THE FRILLS UPON IT @KChenoweth @andmichaelgreen @neilhimself @AmericanGodsSTZ pic.twitter.com/Oe7PrcJiwE
— Bryan Fuller (@BryanFuller) August 24, 2016
American Gods has been translated into over 30 languages and earned numerous accolades including Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker Awards for Best Novel. The plot 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, 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 to battle the new deities.
“American Gods” is produced by FremantleMedia North America. Bryan Fuller (“Hannibal,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Heroes”) and Michael Green (“The River,” “Kings,” “Heroes”) are writers and showrunners. David Slade (“Hannibal,” “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”) 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 Neil Gaiman.
The cast features Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon, Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday, Emily Browning as Laura Moon, Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney, Yetide Badaki as Bilquis, Bruce Langley as Technical Boy, Crispin Glover as Mr. World, Jonathan Tucker as Low Key Lyesmith, Gillian Anderson as Media, Peter Stormare as Czernobog, Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy, Demore Barnes as Mr. Ibis, and Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya.
American Gods will premiere on Starz in 2017.
