‘The Graveyard Book’: Disney Pauses Adaptation Following Allegations Against Neil Gaiman!!

The Graveyard Book has been in development for a long time, sometimes looking like it’s finally happening, and then something comes up. After Disney hired director Marc Forster to work on the film adaptation, that has also hit a snag. The company has paused development of the film following the sexual assault allegations levied against the source material’s writer, Neil Gaiman, IndieWire reported. Production had already set up offices, and reportedly, the film has not been scrapped. Many factors informed Disney‘s decision to pause the project, but the allegations were a contributing factor.

Four women levied sexual abuse allegations against Gaiman in a detailed podcast series by UK-based startup news outlet Tortoise Media. A fifth woman came forward in another podcast, “Am I Broken: Survivor Stories,” with more allegations. One of the first accusers alleged that Gaiman assaulted her while she worked as a nanny for his child in New Zealand in 2022. Two other women said they were in a consensual relationship with the author, but he allegedly forced them into non-consensual, rough sexual encounters. Gaiman has denied the allegations.

‘The Graveyard Book’ Seems to Be in Perpetual Development Hell

Several of Gaiman‘s adaptations travel a long road to the screen, but The Graveyard Book‘s journey seems endless. Originally acquired by Disney to be made by Coraline‘s director, Henry Selick, he would leave the company later, and the project fell apart. Speaking to Collider‘s Christina Radish, Gaiman talked about the never-ending cycle the adaptation has gone through, saying,

“Every 18 months, the same cycle has been happening, where they tell me that they’ve got a new writer on it. Then, a few months later, they send me a script and it’s okay. It’s 75% of the way there. It reads a lot like the last scripts that were done. And then, they tell me that they’re out for a rewrite. Normally, I don’t get sent the rewritten script. They just tell me, “No, we don’t really like it. But we’ve got an idea for a writer who’s going to really nail this.” And then, a few months later, they tell me that they’ve hired the new writer, and it begins again.”

The latest attempt had not yet set a cast for the project. Gaiman asserts he has no sway over how the adaptation goes, but he hopes “that they make it, and that they make it into something good. I would be perfectly happy for The Graveyard Book to be a TV series.” Gaiman‘s The Sandman was adapted to a TV series set to return for Season 2 on Netflix, while Dead Boy Detectives was canceled after one season. Other TV shows adapted from the writer’s works include Good Omens, Lucifer, and American Gods. Anansi Boys is still set to release on Prime Video.