Bryan Fuller and Michael Green to Serve as Showrunners on the New Scripted Drama
Series Based on Neil Gaiman’s Blockbuster Novel
Beverly Hills, Calif. - June 16, 2015
– Starz has given a greenlight to FremantleMedia North America’s (FMNA) adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed contemporary fantasy novel American Gods. Bryan Fuller (“Hannibal,” “Pushing
Daisies,” “Heroes”) and Michael Green (“The River,” “Kings,” “Heroes”), will pen and showrun the series. Gaiman will also
executive produce the series. FremantleMedia North America will produce.
Start of production is dependent on casting the lead role of “Shadow Moon.”
Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said, “STARZ is committed to bring
American Gods to its legions of fans. With our partners at
FremantleMedia and with Bryan, Michael and Neil guiding the project, we
hope to create a series that honors the book and does right by the fans,
who have been casting it in their minds for years.
The search for Shadow begins today!”
Commented Neil Gaiman,
"I am thrilled, scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious
anticipation. The team that is going to bring the world of American Gods
to the screen has been assembled like the master criminals in a caper
movie: I'm relieved and confident that my baby is in good hands. Now we
finally move to the exciting business
that fans have been doing for the last dozen years: casting our Shadow,
our Wednesday, our Laura..."
Commented Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, “Almost
15 years ago, Neil Gaiman filled a toy box with
gods and magic and we are thrilled to finally crack it open and play.
We're grateful to have STARZ above us and FremantleMedia at our backs as
we appease the gods, American or otherwise."
Craig
Cegielski, Co-CEO, FremantleMedia North America said “’American Gods’
has been the passion project for us
at FMNA since Stefanie Berk brought this exceptional piece of
literature to the company when she joined two years ago. Chris, Carmi
and the entire team at Starz are committed partners, sharing the same
creative vision and ambition for this series. Neil’s novel
is a brilliant work of art, and together with the talented Bryan Fuller
and Michael Green, we are committed to delivering a series that is
nothing short of extraordinary.”
The
2001 novel 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 biblical and
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.
FremantleMedia
North America’s Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk will executive
produce the series along with Bryan Fuller,
Michael Green and Neil Gaiman. Senior Vice President of Original
Programming Ken Segna will be the Starz executive in charge of “American
Gods.” Starz will retain all network pay TV and SVOD rights to the
project. FremantleMedia will distribute the series
worldwide.
Fans can tweet @AmericanGodsSTZ and @STARZ_Channel using the hashtag #CastingShadow to share who
they think should play the role of “Shadow Moon.”
About Starz
Starz
(NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and
entertainment company with operating units that provide premium
subscription video programming on domestic U.S.
pay television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution
(Starz Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz
Animation),
www.starz.com.
Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE®
pay TV networks which showcase premium original
programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors,
including cable operators, satellite television providers, and
telecommunications companies. As of
March 31, 2015, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 57.5 million subscribers, including 23.7 million at STARZ, and 33.8 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ® and ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks’ third network MOVIEPLEX®, air more than 1,000 movies monthly across
17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz Distribution’s home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences worldwide.
March 31, 2015, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 57.5 million subscribers, including 23.7 million at STARZ, and 33.8 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ® and ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks’ third network MOVIEPLEX®, air more than 1,000 movies monthly across
17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz Distribution’s home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences worldwide.
About FremantleMedia North America
FremantleMedia
North America (FMNA) is the U.S. arm of global media giant
FremantleMedia, which includes a distribution arm, FremantleMedia
International, a
digital and branded entertainment division and a kids & family
entertainment business. As one of the world’s largest and most
successful creators, producers and distributors of TV brands in the
world, FremantleMedia’s comprehensive global network has operations
in 28 countries, creating over 10,000 hours of programming a year,
rolling out more than 45 formats and managing over 350 individual
titles. The company also distributes more than 20,000 hours of content
in over 200 territories. FMNA and its portfolio of companies,
including Original Productions and 495 Productions, produce
entertaining and innovative scripted and alternative programs for
network, cable, syndicated and online platforms. Their slate includes a
diverse range of both critically-acclaimed and award-winning
successes including “American Idol” (FOX), “America’s Got Talent”
(NBC), “Family Feud” (SYN), “Let’s Make A Deal” (CBS), “The Price Is
Right” (CBS), “The Great Christmas Light Fight” (ABC), “Deadliest Catch”
(Discovery), “Married to Medicine” (Bravo), “Party
Down South” (CMT), “Ice Road Truckers” (HISTORY), “Storage Wars”
(A&E), “Celebrity Family Feud” (ABC), “Celebrity Name Game” (SYN)
and “American Gods” (STARZ) , among others.
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