Audible Inc., the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, surprise released the much-anticipated third installment of The New York Times best-selling, multi-part original audio drama franchise, The Sandman. Picking up where The Sandman: Act II left off, The Sandman: Act III, now available exclusively on Audible, continues to bring to aural life the world of The New York Times best-selling graphic novel, The Sandman, created by Neil Gaiman and published by DC. The third installment is once again adapted and directed by co-executive producer Dirk Maggs and narrated by Gaiman, who also returns as creative director and co-executive producer, with original score from BAFTA Award-winning composer James Hannigan.
Returning to the Audible Sandman universe is series star, James McAvoy in the title role as well as Kat Dennings as Death, Miriam Margolyes as Despair, Justin Vivian Bond as Desire, Jeffrey Wright as Destiny, Kristen Schaal as Delirium, Andy Serkis, Riz Ahmed, Regé-Jean Page, Kevin Smith, Bebe Neuwirth, Niamh Walsh, Arthur Darvill, Ray Porter, Shruti Haasan, Billy Boyd, and a full ensemble cast. Joining the cast of Audible’s Sandman franchise for the first time are David Harewood as Destruction, Wil Wheaton as Brant Tucker, and KJ Apa as Prez.
In 2020, Audible released the first installment in the audio franchise The Sandman to record-breaking Audible Original pre-orders; it still stands as the best-selling Audible Original in the company’s history. It also occupied the #1 spot on The New York Times Best Seller Audio Fiction list in July 2020 and August 2020. The Sandman: Act II, released in 2021, is the second best-selling Audible Original in the Premium catalog in the first 90 days of release, bested only by the first installment, while also holding the #2 spot on The New York Times Best Seller Audio Fiction list.
Neil Gaiman said, “The excitement and the joy people have taken in the astonishing Audible adaptations of Sandman has been such a morale booster over the last few years. The only downside has been that everyone I know, and many thousands of people on social media that I don’t know, have wanted to know when Act III would be released. Now you all know. I think it might be the best one yet.”
The first installment of Audible’s The Sandman adapts volumes 1-3 of the graphic novel series of the same name (Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll’s House, and Dream Country). The second installment adapts Season of Mists, Distant Mirrors, A Game of You and Convergence from the graphic novel series and the third installment adapts Brief Lives and Worlds’ Ends, diving deeper into the world of The Sandman.