Kudos to the “Leather-Jacketed Pied Piper”

Neil Gaiman’s co-production of his Stardust is now out with a cast that includes Robert de Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Ricky Gervais. Next month we have his Beowulf with Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone and Angelina Jolie. Soon, too, expect a BBC version of Anansi Boys. Gaiman is understandably excited about this project with its African-Caribbean lore: “I don't think anybody,” he said, “has actually done a drama, the cast of which was almost completely black, in which the point of it was not that the cast was completely black." Anansi Boys is scheduled for November 17 on the BBC World Service. Interesting interview with Ian Burrell.