I stopped by the Barnes and Noble in Union Square here in NYC last night to get a glimpse of Neil Gaiman [neilgaiman.com]. He was signing copies of his new children's book, Coraline [mousecircus.com], which promises to be quite nice and spooky.

I can confirm that the man is, indeed, very shaggy. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to meet him, as the book-signing line was quite long and full of sullen goths. Never before have I actually considered breaking past a cordon and a bunch of security guards to hug another man.

It was a nice coincidence of timing as well, as I just finished American Gods [amazon.com] and Good Omens [amazon.com] a few weeks ago, and I'm on the last few pages of Neverwhere [amazon.com] as we speak.

Is anyone else here as excited for a big-screen version of Good Omens [imdb.com] (directed by Terry Gilliam! [imdb.com]) as I am?

I would have done the same thing, jon. Gaiman is incredible.

Okay, here's a good way to start a heated debate:

Who do you think should play the various roles in the Good Omens movie?

In Response to snookles (#439):

Okay, I'll take that on. A handful, anyway.

Aziraphale: Anthony Daniels (although he may be too old for the part).

Crowley: Tim Roth (and, of course, Alan Rickman if Roth is too busy making terrible movies with Tim Burton).

Shadwell: Robbie Coltrane

Famine: Ed Norton

ooohhhhh, you lucky bastard. neil gaiman really is quite the god among men. (aww, jon and philip, don't worry, you guys are too.... ) i'm -not- a sullen goth, but i think he is quite lickaliscious for an old white guy.

as for the movie? i had not heard --anything-- about this? i'm so excited! gilliam is my favorite director, the best best ever, and the movie should be awesome. woot woot!

In Response to jon (#440):

Good Omens was a great book, but I'm always a little worried when someone tries to make books into movies. Too few of them have turned out to be decent, and too many of them have been horribly dissapointing. We can always hope, though ...

In Response to caffeineisthemelange (#626):

Yeah, but it's fricking Terry Gilliam. The man doesn't know how to make a bad movie.

In Response to caffeineisthemelange (#626):

I think if Pratchett and Gaiman had strong hands in adapting the novel to screenplay, it could be brilliant. Unfortunately, both are notorious for never having the time to do such things.

So, other than adapting Fear and Loathing, who is this Toni Grisoni person? Anyone know anything that might indicate good/bad? Personally, and I know it's a pipe dream, but I think Tom Stoppard's efforts should be enlisted for the conversion of novel to screenplay. His sense of humor is right on the same track, he's worked with Gilliam before. It'd be great.

At any rate, I'm looking forward to it, if only to see what Gilliam does with the demonic highway.

In Response to simon_moon (#637):

IMDB lists Tony Grisoni [imdb.com] as a cowriter of the screenplay for F&L, but I don't recognize anything else he's done.

If that's any indication, though, it's a promising one. Fear's screenplay was very faithful to the book, using many non-altered passages ripped directly from the source material. I know a lot of people didn't like the film, but I did, and I thought it had all the qualities that make an excellent adaptation (adherence to the letter and the spirit of the original).

More often than not, having an author adapt their own material is a bad idea, anyway.