Wheel of Time TV series coming?

[Brian G Turner]

After the recent Wheel of Time TV pilot fiasco, there's been an announcement from the Jordan estate that a TV series may now become a reality:

Are publishers aiming for volume sales, rather than profit?

The following is a press statement that has been approved by the studio involved in contract negotiations:

Update: Wanted to share with you exciting news about The Wheel of Time. Legal issues have been resolved. The Wheel of Time will become a cutting edge TV series! I couldn’t be more pleased. Look for the official announcement coming soon from a major studio —Harriet

 

[Ashaman]

Hey Brian. As i said in another thread I just hope they won't butcher this series like they did (in my opinion at least) with Goodkinds SoT or Butcher's Dresden files or, more recently, Brooks's Shannara Chronicles!

 

[Brian G Turner]

No worries - as the other thread was primarily about the original pilot, I figured this news would benefit from a separate discussion. It's certainly something to take note of - but I wonder if the Jordan estate is counting its chickens by expecting a TV series to actually be developed, as opposed to simply put in a list of potential projects.

 

[Ashaman]

According to the statement and from what I can understand they already have the agreement with the studio, based on that : "The following is a press statement that has been approved by the studio involved in contract negotiations" . Could be wrong of course but that's what I am getting from it my friend. ;-)

 

[Ray McCarthy]

IMO they might improve it. It had real potential if it had been edited down to six volumes. Though they may be aiming at a GOT clone?

 

[BAYLOR]

I may hVE stopped at book 4, but if they made it into a good tv series , I would watch it.

 

[SilentRoamer]

I really hope this comes to fruition as WoT (despite its flaws) is one of my favourite series.

Would love to see a visual representation of the Bore and The Breaking.

There are so many scenes in the books which have such strong visuals.

 

[Secher_Nbiw]

It can be done, and done well. There's a fan-made short film on youtube, called Flight from Shadow, which is bloody brilliant.

 

[Judderman]

They have to make sure they have Nynaeve tugging her braid at least a couple of times per episode to be a reasonably accurate adaption.

I agree with Ray that they could cut out a lot and make it a much tighter story. Though who would/could do that?? They can't even ask the original writer.

If they could make something high quality and perhaps by 2019 they could take quite a lot of the market that had been watching Game of Thrones. If it is on a channel like HBO. Or it could be on the scifi channel and be a passing amusement for a couple of seasons.

 

[SilentRoamer]

They have to make sure they have Nynaeve tugging her braid at least a couple of times per episode to be a reasonably accurate adaption.

I agree with Ray that they could cut out a lot and make it a much tighter story. Though who would/could do that?? They can't even ask the original writer.

Of course braid tugging and paddle spanking would need to be included for authenticity sake.

WRT final decisions I believe that Harriet Jordan (Roberts wife) is left in charge of the Jordan Estate and has final say on all matters pertaining to rights.

 

[Bagpuss]

Variety has run a story today indicating that Sony Pictures have picked up the tv series. Article is here. Short version is that Rafe Judkins is expected to write and exec produce, Red Eagle Entertainment is still involved in the project and Harriet will be a consulting producer.

 

[night_wrtr]

Just read that too. I'm excited. I really hope they get the right casting for the characters.

 

[night_wrtr]

Looks like Amazon is the network involved: Wheel of Time TV

 

[Judderman]

That is good news. As they appear to have several fantasy series on their potential list I would if some will get dropped before making it to producing an actual series. On the other hand they could be spread over a long time.

 

[Needle]

Let me say I love WoT in its entirety, have read it multiple times over. While I agree it could have benefited from some condensing, my worry is that even with some appropriate editing, it likely remains too complex of a story, with its multitude of characters and intertwined story lines, to translate to television.

As Ashaman mentioned, Goodkind`s SoT comes to mind. I would get peed off and yell at my tv just reading the blurb on my dish tv guide!!

 

[Werthead]

The TV series now seems to be in a much more active stage of development. So far they've confirmed the following:

Episode 1 has been written by showrunner Rafe Judkins and is called "Leavetaking", which is also the name of Chapter 10 of THE EYE OF THE WORLD.

Episode 2 has been written by Amanda Kate Shuman and is called "Shadow's Waiting", which is the also the name of Chapter 19 of THE EYE OF THE WORLD.

This strongly suggests that they are planning to get through the novel in just 6 episodes or so (THE EYE OF THE WORLD is about 775 pages in length and the "Shadow's Waiting" chapter takes them up to around page 300). This may indicate a plan to get through the first two novels in the first season, which makes sense given there are fourteen books in the series.

 

[picklematrix]

I hope it receives more care and attention than Shanarra. That series was every fantasty cliche incarnate, despite being based on one of the better books in the series.
Fantasy adaptations have been hit and miss as long as i can remember. I hope WOT is given its due, even though i havent finished reading the books yet.

 

[Judderman]

You could argue that some of the books are more worthy of whole season's or just a few episodes based on what happens of note in them. Not a constant two books a season. Though it would be a big job to cut the fat!

 

[Anthoney]

I'm worried Amazon only got involved as a backup plan in case their LOTR project didn't work out. I don't plan on living forever. I want to see this done.