Neil Gaiman’s ‘American Gods’ series greenlighted by Starz

The battle of the gods is making its way to TV.

Starz has given a series greenlight to an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 2001 contemporary fantasy novel “American Gods” from Bryan Fuller and Michael Green.

The start of production is dependent on the casting of Shadow Moon, Starz said in its release.

In the novel, Shadow is an ex-convict who is released from prison early after the deaths of his ex-wife and best friend. Shadow becomes entangled in the war between old gods and new when he takes a job with a mysterious con man named Wednesday.

Steeped in both modern and ancient mythology, “American Gods” has been translated into over 30 languages. The novel has earned various accolades including Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker awards.

“I am thrilled, scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious anticipation,” said Gaiman, who will serve as an executive producer on the series. “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...”

“Starz is committed to bring ‘American Gods’ to its legions of fans,” said Starz Chief Executive Chris Albrecht in the release. “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.”

Fuller’s past credits include “Hannibal,” “Pushing Daisies,” and “Wonderfalls,” while Green’s TV credits include “Kings,” “The River” and “Heroes.”

Starz will retain all network pay TV and SVOD rights to the project, while the production company FreemantleMedia will distribute the series worldwide.

Who do you think should play the role of Shadow Moon?

Twitter: @tracycbrown