Ain't It Cool News is reporting that a highly placed source at Warner Bros. has indicated that Neil Gaiman will be directing as well as writing the screen adaptation of his Sandman mini-series, Death: The High Cost of Living.  Gaiman, who is currently on tour promoting his novel American Gods (see 'Neil Gaiman's American Gods'), told bookstore audiences that Warner loves his script for Death: The High Cost of Living even though he had to rush to turn it in by the April 1 deadline before the writer's strike.  Gaiman also told the crowd at a New York bookstore that he was very pleased by the selection of director for The High Cost of Living but said he couldn't comment on the choice until a formal announcement was made later this week.

While there haven't been too many comic creators other than Winsor McCay who have made the leap from comics to film directing here in the U.S., Enki Bilal, the artist/writer of Gods in Chaos and the The Nicopol Trilogy (see 'Humanoids Sells Rights To Nicopol Trilogy') has directed several movies in France.  Of course there are many examples of screenwriters such as the great Billy Wilder who have gone on to become highly successful directors.  Gaiman definitely has some movie writing experience, having written the six-part Neverwhere for British television and successfully adapted Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke for the American market.  He also has a number of film projects in development, including The Books of Magic and Good Omens (which he wrote with Terry Prachett).