Aside from the long-in-the-works adaptation of Good Omens, Neil Gaiman would like all of his works made into movies by Terry Gilliam. He told Empire last week that he would "always give anything to Terry Gilliam, forever." That includes Sandman, which the writer said should be Gilliam's if he wants to do it. Currently, though, Gilliam is shooting an untitled movie about the "band" The Gorillaz, and then he's back to familiar territory with The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, about a travelling theater production, which reunites him with screenwriter Charles McKeown (Brazil; The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) and stars Heath Ledger, Tom Waits, Verne "Mini Me" Troyer and Lily Cole. But according to Gaiman, Gilliam is still trying to make Good Omens, based on the hilariously comic fantasy novel by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Gilliam is having trouble getting financing for the project; Gaiman said he needs about $70 million, if anybody is interested.

It is great to see Gaiman have so much faith in Gilliam. After the barely tolerable (I did enjoy it) The Brothers Grimm and the barely watchable (I hated my first Gilliam film!) Tideland, I'm a bit worried about my longtime favorite filmmaker. But I must agree with Gaiman that Gilliam would likely be a better choice to adapt his works than anyone else in Hollywood. Certainly better than Joel Schumacher. Gaiman told Empire that he wants the person directing Sandman to have the same passion that Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi had with The Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man, respectively. And that Zach Snyder seems to have with Watchmen. Would Gilliam have that passion? Is he a huge Sandman fan? Who knows? I guess Gaiman, who also said he'd rather have no Sandman movie than a bad Sandman movie.

It seems that you can't turn around without bumping into another Neil Gaiman news item, some of which seem like downright wishful thinking. On the author's personal site, he announced that Dreamworks Animation has optioned his upcoming novel, Interworld. Written by Gaiman and Michael Reaves, the story centers on Joey, a man with the ability to travel into different dimensions, making him "prey to two terrible forces-armies of magic and science who will do anything to harness his power to travel between dimensions. When he sees the evil those forces are capable of, Joey makes the only possible choice: to join an army of his own, an army of versions of himself from different dimensions who all share his amazing power and who are all determined to fight to save the worlds".

Gaiman's work is probably familiar to fans of fantasy fiction, and Reaves has made a name for himself writing scripts for TV, ranging from The Father Dowling Mysteries to Star Trek. Reaves and Gaiman had originally pitched the project to studios back in 1996, when Reaves was working on a Dreamworks animated serial, but the project failed to generate much enthusiasm. In 1999, the two decided to turn the story into a novel and sold it to Harper Collins last year -- so if you are keeping track, Interworld has gone from a movie idea that turned into a book, and then went back to being a movie. It might just be me, but it seems that when it comes to Gaiman and the movies, nothing is ever easy.

When it comes to Terry Gilliam, you always have to take his word with not only a grain of salt, but sometimes the whole shaker. In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, the director spoke about his next project, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. The story would center on a traveling circus with the added bonus of allowing audiences to enter the mind of the shows headlining star -- It doesn't exactly take Freud to work out some of the symbolism on that one does it? As most fans know, Gilliam has had a troubled history when it comes to studios and finding financing, he says, "The cost of marketing a film is so high now that they'd rather gamble on a $US150 million [$180 million] film that they can market well than four, say, $US40 million films. Because the gamble, if it pays off, goes gangbusters. If it doesn't, you lose your shirt." Although, on the upside, at least when Don Quixote fell apart we got a documentary out of the deal. Interestingly, Gilliam says in the piece he's still keen to get Don Quixote made, despite the long and tortured history of his involvement with the project.

Gilliam has a number of activities in the works, which he discusses in the piece: he will be working with the animated band Gorillaz this September on a film that will serve as the band's swan song, and he is also still holding out hope for his long-suffering adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Good Omens and there have even some vague rumblings of a return to Don Quixote with Johnny Depp back in the lead. That is quite the action-packed schedule if he can keep to it. As much as I admire his enthusiasm, you know one of these will drop by the wayside, the only question is; which one should it be?

With Terry Gilliam's luck what it is these days, it might be smart for him to move ahead with projects when he can. In the case of his next film, Good Omens, may mean not casting as he would prefer. It seems that the religious fantasy comedy, which is based on the novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, may begin shooting as early as this winter now that Stephen Evans has stepped in as producer. Brendon Connelly at Film Ick points out that schedule won't fit Johnny Depp's, and the actor will therefore not be starring as was hoped. In fact, actors Gilliam had in mind for other characters, namely Robin Williams (who is always good in Gilliam films, if not much else) and Jonathan Pryce, are also expected to be unavailable at that time.

As an enormous fan of Gilliam, I have to say I'm completely bummed. Not so much because of Depp and Williams not being in the movie, but more because I would prefer it if Gilliam could deliver his exact vision, as he so famously fought for on his earlier pictures. Sure casting is just one simple part of the vision, and using actors who aren't your first choice isn't as horrible as being forced to shoot a happy ending to Brazil or urged to use CGI in The Brothers Grimm, but knowing that a different movie exists in Gilliam's warped and brilliant mind, is enough to make for a disappointing end-product. I will admit that Grimm probably wouldn't have been much better had (supposedly) original choices Depp and Williams been cast, and I was surprised at how enjoyable Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are in the film. So, don't think I will be taking prejudice with whoever is cast in Good Omens. But I won't be able to help imagining the film that should have been.

Now that Terry Gilliam has made the two most disappointing films ever (for a huge Gilliam fan like myself, anyway), he will hopefully return to the kind of brilliant work that made him one of the most visionary auteurs of our time. Good Omens sounds like the right project for his comeback, and it is one that has been associated with him for some time, only to constantly be put on the back burner due to difficulties with funding. Unfortunately there are a few reasons why such an ambitious film isn't likely to be coming for awhile. Gilliam's last passion endeavor, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, ended horribly (it wasn't finished) and his most recent big studio picture, The Brothers Grimm, was a flop. Plus, Good Omens is based on a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, which is somewhat similar to Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide series in that most of the good parts are in the exposition, not the plot, making it less hilarious in translation to the screen. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as good as it was, wasn't great like the books are. It also wasn't a huge enough hit to have financiers knocking on Gilliam's door for something similar.

Regardless, Gilliam is making the attempt again on Omens, telling the UK's Teletext, "I have struggled to find big projects that inspire me, but this book has. It's ... about the Anti-Christ and devils and angels, it's very funny and inspiring." There is already a script, likely the version by Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, and it is probably safe to say that Robin Williams and Johnny Depp remain the top choices for the casting of the two main characters, Aziraphale and Crowley.

I'm crossing my fingers that this film gets underway soon, and I'm praying that it comes out at least as great as Twelve Monkeys, if not as great as his best.