Starz announced today that the highly-anticipated eight-episode first season of FremantleMedia North America produced STARZ Original Series “American Gods,” adapted from Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed contemporary fantasy novel, will make its network premiere on Sunday, April 30th at 9PM ET/PT.
Starz also debuted the U.S. key art. Both announcements come ahead of the World Premiere and extended Q&A of the series at SXSW in March. The series will debut publicly at the festival on March 11 at 11 AM CT at the Vimeo Theater in the Austin Convention Center followed by an extended Q&A moderated by KCRW’s Elvis Mitchell. Showrunners and cast in attendance will include Bryan Fuller, Michael Green, Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Emily Browning, Pablo Schreiber, Crispin Glover, Yetide Badaki, Bruce Langley, Orlando Jones, Jonathan Tucker and Betty Gilpin.
“American Gods” posits a different kind of war brewing—one between Old Gods and New. The traditional Old Gods, with mythological roots from around the world, fear irrelevance as their believers die off or are seduced by the money, technology, and celebrity offered by the New Gods. Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) is an ex-con who, left adrift by the recent death of his wife, becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to conman Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane). But in truth, Mr. Wednesday is a powerful old deity, on a cross-country mission to build an army and reclaim his lost glory.
Adapted from the award-winning novel, “American Gods” stars Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon; Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday; Emily Browning as Laura Moon and Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney. Other cast members include Yetide Badaki as Bilquis; Bruce Langley as Technical Boy; Crispin Glover as Mr. World and Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy.
Additional cast include Gillian Anderson as Media; Kristin Chenoweth as Easter; Jonathan Tucker as Low Key Lyesmith; Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya; Peter Stormare as Czernobog; Chris Obi as Anubis; Demore Barnes as Mr. Ibis, Corbin Bernsen as Vulcan and Mousa Kraish as The Jinn.
“American Gods” is produced by FremantleMedia North America. Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are writers and showrunners. David Slade is directing the pilot and additional episodes. FMNA’s Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk are executive producers along with Fuller, Green, Slade, Adam Kane and Neil Gaiman. Senior Vice Presidents of Original Programming Marta Fernandez and Ken Segna are the Starz executives in charge of “American Gods.”
Written by Neil Gaiman in 2001, “American Gods” has been translated into over 30 languages and earned numerous accolades including Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker Awards for Best Novel.
Trailer:
