Posted in: Netflix, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: neil gaiman, netflix, preview, sandman

The Sandman, Neil Gaiman & The Greatest Marketing Campaign Idea Ever

Okay, for the record? We've had five posts this month covering Netflix's adaptation of The Sandman from creator, EP & co-writer Neil Gaiman (Good Omens); EP, co-writer & showrunner Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman); and EP & co-writer David S. Goyer (Foundation)- six if you add in the last week in March. We're putting that out there for folks who are still saying that there's noting floating around the pop culture landscape about the project. And we know that the show will have a big presence at Netflix's Geeked Week (running June 6-10) when they began soliciting fans for questions on social media a little more than a week ago. And yet, there are still folks out there who think the show's "in trouble" or "canceled." Thankfully, Gaiman has been doing his part to push back on a lot of that as much as he can. Like yesterday, when he gave us the heads-up that he would be heading to NYC to record for the show's press kit. But this time around? We're not sure if it was the combination of having to answer the same essential question 9,287 different ways and lack of decent rest before getting back to work, but we can't help but appreciate the ten-ton sarcasm in his response to someone wondering if fans would be getting "any news in the future" from the streaming series, "like another trailer."

"No. There will never be any news about 'Sandman' on Netflix ever again. There will be no trailer, no publicity, no posters, no word of any kind. When we release the show we will do it silently and secretly and then take it down from Netflix before you get a chance to watch it," Gaiman responded, dropping what might just be the singly most unique marketing campaign for a series… ever! Now to be clear, since we live in a time when you have to state upfront that something is a joke before it gains a life of its own (and because Netflix already has enough agita), Gaiman's joking… right? Of course! but an underground guerilla campaign in which the entire series is screened on a bedsheet at 12 different locations around the globe for one time and one time only? That would be one for the ages…

"You watch Episode 1 and think, 'Oh, I get this thing: it's like 'Downton Abbey,' but with magic.' Then you'll be wondering, 'What the hell is this?' by Episode 2 when you're meeting Gregory The Gargoyle in The Dreaming. Episode 5 is about as dark and traumatic as anything is ever gonna get, then you've got Episode 6, which is probably the most feel-good of all the episodes," Gaiman explained during an interview with Empire last month. And as the famed author sees it, it's that mix of themes, tones & styles that differentiates The Sandman from other fantasy series. "If you didn't like an episode of 'Game Of Thrones,' you probably won't like any other episode of 'Game Of Thrones,'" explains Gaiman. "With Sandman, it's all about surprising you. It's all about reinventing itself. It's all about taking you on a journey you've not been on before." Here's our first official look at a scene from Netflix's The Sandman:

A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama, and legend are seamlessly interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he's made during his vast existence.

"For the last thirty-three years, the Sandman characters have breathed and walked around and talked in my head. I'm unbelievably happy that now, finally, they get to step out of my head and into reality. I can't wait until the people out there get to see what we've been seeing as Dream and the rest of them take flesh, and the flesh belongs to some of the finest actors out there," said Gaiman in a statement coinciding with the initial casting news. "This is astonishing, and I'm so grateful to the actors and to all of The Sandman collaborators — Netflix, Warner Bros., DC, to Allan Heinberg and David Goyer, and the legions of crafters and geniuses on the show — for making the wildest of all my dreams into reality."

Stemming from Warner Bros. TV, Netflix's The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mason Alexander Park, Donna Preston, Jenna Coleman, Niamh Walsh, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Kyo Ra, Stephen Fry, Razane Jammal, Sandra James Young, and Patton Oswalt.

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