Radio
In 2005, Mike Walker adapted Anansi Boys into a radio play for the BBC World Service. It stars Lenny Henry as Spider and Fat Charlie, Matt Lucas as Grahame Coats and Tiger, Rudolph Walker as Anansi, Doña Croll as Mrs Noah and the Bird Woman, Tameka Empson as Mrs Higgler, Petra Letang as Rosie, Jocelyn Jee Esien as Daisy, and Ben Crowe as Cabbies and other voices. It was broadcast on 17 November 2007. The original soundtrack was composed by Danish composer in residence Nicolai Abrahamsen. It was directed by Anne Edyvean, who also worked on the Radio 3 adaptation of Gaiman's Signal to Noise in 1996.[9]
Gaiman stated that he was displeased with the BBC radio adaptation, because "budget cutbacks and less broadcasting time for drama [have caused BBC to decide] it would have to be an hour-long adaptation. And bad things happen when novels get cut down to an hour. So despite a really terrific cast and production and as solid a script as could be in the circumstances, I was not happy. It felt like one of those Readers' [sic] Digest condensed books".
A new, six-part full-cast radio series was produced in 2017, adapted by Dirk Maggs; it is the fifth of Gaiman's novels Maggs has adapted for radio. It is narrated by Joseph Marcell, and stars Jacob Anderson as Fat Charlie, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Spider and Lenny Henry as Anansi, with the rest of the cast including Julian Rhind-Tutt as Grahame Coats and Adjoa Andoh as Bird Woman.[10] It was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC iPlayer over six days, beginning on Christmas Day 2017; the first five episodes were 30 minutes each, with a 60-minute finale broadcast on December 30.[11] Gaiman is reportedly very happy with this version, describing it as his favourite of Maggs' adaptations.[11]
Film
Gaiman's displeasure with the first BBC radio adaptation led to a willingness to write the script of an Anansi Boys film. He said that "I normally say no to adapting my own stuff into film. But I wanted an Anansi Boys adaptation I could be proud of, and the radio adaption had left me wanting to go: No, this is what I meant".[12]
Television
In 2014, it was reported a television miniseries of Anansi Boys was being produced by the BBC.[13] It was to be made by Red Production Company with Gaiman as executive producer.[14][15][16][17][18][19] Although the miniseries was never made, elements of the abandoned series were instead incorporated into the Starz adaptation of American Gods.
In May 2020, it was reported that a miniseries adaptation was in development by Endor Productions, for Amazon Prime Video.[20] In July 2021, it was announced that Amazon had given the production a series order consisting of 6 episodes. It would be produced by Amazon Studios, The Black Corporation, Endor Productions, and Red Production Company, with Lenny Henry and Neil Gaiman as writers and executive producers.[21] Delroy Lindo is set to star as Mr. Nancy.[22] Malachi Kirby is also set to star as Fat Charlie and Spider.[23] Filming of the series commenced in January 2022 in Edinburgh.
Comics
On February 21, 2024, Dark Horse Comics announced that Gaiman had partnered with Marc Bernardin to adapt Anansi Boys into a comics series, with the artwork done by Shawn Martinbrough. The first issue of Anansi Boys is scheduled to be released on June 26, 2024.[24]
