Neil Gaiman to adapt Gormenghast novels for Showtime

“There is nothing in literature like Mervyn Peake’s remarkable Gormenghast novels,” Neil Gaiman said in a statement back in 2018, when it was announced that he and Akiva Goldsman (Star Trek: Discovery, Titans) would be adapting Peake’s series for the small screen. “They were crafted by a master, who was also an artist, and they take us to an ancient castle as big as a city, with heroes and villains and people larger than life that are impossible to forget. There is a reason why there were two trilogies that lovers of the fantasy genre embraced in the Sixties: Lord of the Rings, and the Gormenghast books. It’s an honor to have been given the opportunity to help shepherd Peake’s brilliant and singular vision to the screen.”

That’s some big talk from the man behind American Gods, Sandman and many other beloved stories. I, for one, have never heard of the Gormenghast novels being embraced as passionately as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. If I’m being honest, I’ve barely heard of the Gormenghast novels at all.

Things may be different in Britain, though, when the first two books in the series were adapted for TV in 2000:

Looks British to me.

Now, io9 reports that the show has found a home at Showtime, so if I don’t know much about Gormenghast now, I will soon. And the story does sound pretty interesting. It centers around Titus Groan, born the heir to a powerful earldom and destined to rule over the ancient, enormous, decaying castle of Gormenghast, a city-sized structure surrounded on all sides by inhospitable terrain and therefore largely cut off from the rest of the world. The inhabitants spent much of their time engaging in pointless rituals the point of which have long been forgotten, but Titus years for something more, something he can only find beyond the walls of his home.

The Showtime series will be based on the first three novels: Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone. Peake was working on a fourth novel, Titus Awakes, when he died in 1968. His widow, Maeve Gilmore, completed the book, but I’m not sure if it will be part of the show. I’m also not sure if Gaiman and Goldsman will actually be the showrunners on this project or if they’re just writing it, or serving as consultants or whatever.

In any case, Gormenghast is only one big-budget fantasy property Showtime is adapting. The network is also readying a Kingkiller Chronicle show, based on Patrick Rothfuss’ novels. Pretty much every network is doing this sort of thing these days, although Showtime is being more literal than most, sticking to stories that take place in medieval-ish settings.

Will Gormenghast be able to stand apart from the pack? We’ll know in…2019? 2020? Later? Get to building that giant castle, Showtime. Maybe you can film in the ruins of the King’s Landing set in Belfast.

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h/t Deadline