A film based on Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book is on hold, per IndieWire. One reason for the pause are the multiple allegations of sexual assault against Gaiman. At first, two women came forward in a podcast by Tortoise Media, and three more came forward after the podcast dropped. The initial two reports were from women who said they were in consensual relationship with Gaiman, during which they were forced into “rough and degrading,†sex. One was his child’s nanny, and the other a fan Gaiman met at a book signing. These incidents were years apart. Gaiman has denied the allegations. The Graveyard Book, published in 2008, is about a boy raised by ghosts in a cemetery. Monster’s Ball and A Man Called Otto director Marc Forster was attached to direct, but was previously helmed by Coraline’s Henry Selick.
According to IndieWire, the film has not been scrapped altogether, and that there are other factors in the decision besides the allegations against Gaiman. Shortly after the podcast’s release, Netflix canceled the already-written second season of Dead Boy Detective, also based on Gaiman IP. No connection to the allegations was made by the streamer, however. The second season of Gaiman’s The Sandman is still in production.