Back in December of 2013 it was reported that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was set to produce and possibly even star in and direct a movie adaptation of Neil Gaiman‘s comic book series The Sandman for Warner Brothers. The project was then moved from Warner Brothers to their smaller sister studio New Line Cinema in June of last year.

This apparently wasn’t the best move if you were excited about Gordon-Levitt’s involvement in the movie, as it’s now being reported that he has walked away from the adaptation after a disagreement with New Line. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

You can see what Gordon-Levitt had to say about the decision below, as well as Gaiman’s response.

The Hollywood Reporter ran an article yesterday about how Warner Bros. is currently in the process of moving some of their less kid-friendly DC Comics movie projects, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s Sandman adaptation, over to their New Line Cinema division.

Buried at the very end was the most distressing news the article contained: Guillermo del Toro is no longer directing Justice League Dark, by far the one future DC film venture I wanted to see made more than anything.

While an adaptation of The Sandman, Neil Gaiman‘s popular Vertigo comic book series, has been through many stages of development over the years, it seems now that a big-screen version will finally happen, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and David S. Goyer producing for Warner Brothers and Gaiman being involved in the process.

But who will play the title character, Dream aka Morpheus aka the Lord of Dreams, one of The Endless?

It’s being reported that The Dark Knight Rises and Inception star Joseph Gordon-Levitt is set to produce an adaptation of Neil Gaiman‘s popular comic book series The Sandman with David Goyer for Warner Brothers.

In addition to producing, it’s also being reported that Gordon-Levitt could also star in the adaptation as the protagonist, and might even take on directing duties as well. The actor made his directorial debut recently with the romantic dramedy Don Jon.

Halloween week saw the release of Sandman: Overture #1, writer Neil Gaiman‘s return to The Sandman universe in an all-new 6-issue miniseries from DC/Vertigo Comics.

The publisher has put out a TV spot for the miniseries, which you can watch here below. (Oh how I’d LOVE to see this TV spot pop up on my television!)

The miniseries, written by Gaiman, has art by J. H. Williams III (that’s a very Pink Floyd’s The Wall-esque piece from issue #1 here above), with Williams and long-time Sandman cover artist Dave McKean providing the covers.

Sandman: Overture #1 is also available right now for the Kindle, and there will be a Special Edition for the issue coming out on November 27, 2013.