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Sony to produce Wheel of Time TV series

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DeviantBoi

Member
Will it be more like Game of Thrones or The Shannara Chronicles?

I guess it comes down to casting... good actors or pretty faces?
 
Will it be more like Game of Thrones or The Shannara Chronicles?

I guess it comes down to casting... good actors or pretty faces?
As long as it isn't a Legend of the Seeker - RIP Sword of Truth! Good news is, unlike Legend of the Seeker whose production refused to consult with the author, this one has Harriett as an executive producer.
 

Skilletor

Member
As long as it isn't a Legend of the Seeker - RIP Sword of Truth! Good news is, unlike Legend of the Seeker whose production refused to consult with the author, this one has Harriett as an executive producer.

Goodkind would have just been like, "No, Kahlan and Richard can never be together. Find a convoluted reason to split them up and run with it for however many seasons we get. Also, torture Kahlan more. No, more than that."
 

Lanf

Member
Oh, this will be interesting! It needs a big budget though, with all the magic and huge battles. Very curious to see how this turns out.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Hmm. Maybe they can improve on the series' glacial pacing and ridiculous pandering. Or maybe it'll be somehow worse...
Skilletor smoothed his skirt and sniffed, "I don't like this news. Not one bit."
Goodkind would have just been like, "No, Kahlan and Richard can never be together. Find a convoluted reason to split them up and run with it for however many seasons we get. Also, torture Kahlan more. No, more than that."
Skilletor killin' it in this thread, haha.

Don't forget evil talking chickens and the slaughtering of peaceful protesters, so long as you are armed with moral celery clarity!
 

NandoGip

Member
The books are so full of setting descriptions that without it, I can see this being very easy to condense. You can show on TV in seconds something that could take multiple pages to read.

Now regarding the 14 book situation, even the biggest fans can agree that there are storylines that can be straight up chopped in half and actually come out even better. 10 one hour episodes, 10 seasons sounds perfect to me.


I'm so fucking excited to see Callandor.
 

Theandrin

Member
I've been waiting for this news for years, but at the same time I don't want to get excited. I feel like we've been down this road before and it didn't pan out. That being said, if it does make it to production then I will without a doubt be watching this!
 
I'm only on book 9 (Jesus Christ the middle of this series is slow), but I honestly don't even know how you adapt this to TV. The most interesting parts of the book deal with the One Power, and that stuff is pretty much just vaguely visualized. This works in the books but in any TV series it's just going to end up being cheesy low budget cgi and will not end up being compelling.

Plus I really hope whoever chooses to attempt writing the series is willing to cut like 75% of the characters in this bloated ass series. Again I know I'm at the worst of it at this moment, but 9 books in and I still feel there are entire main characters with hundreds of pages dedicated to their development that you could completely cut with no impact to the narrative.

I mean obviously I hope it ends up good, but I just don't see it happening in this series.
 
As long as it isn't a Legend of the Seeker - RIP Sword of Truth! Good news is, unlike Legend of the Seeker whose production refused to consult with the author, this one has Harriett as an executive producer.

To be fair, Sword of Truth was an atrocious book to begin with. I actually enjoyed the ridiculously campy Xena-like TV series over that shitstain I had the misfortune of reading during a particularly boring summer vacation. Oh, and Terry Goodkind is an asshole and I hate everything about him.
 
Interesting... it could be really good if done right. I'll wait to pass judgment until a trailer drops in 5 years.

The hipster inside me is slightly dreading the prospect of WoT becoming a pop-culture phenomenon
 

NandoGip

Member
TBH with the team they've assembled, there's like a 50% chance that this might suck but I don't even give a shit. I just need more Wheel of Time in my life.
 

Khoryos

Member
Hmm. Maybe they can improve on the series' glacial pacing and ridiculous pandering. Or maybe it'll be somehow worse...


Skilletor killin' it in this thread, haha.

Don't forget evil talking chickens and the slaughtering of peaceful protesters, so long as you are armed with moral celery clarity!

Hey, that jawless teenage girl had it coming!
 
I mean, I won't be surprised if this never gets off the ground, but if they could pull this off it would be amazing. Would need a monster budget to be done properly though; I'd say each season should be 8-10 episodes, and probably keep it to 8 seasons in total if possible, so they can map out the plot beats ahead of time. There's certainly a lot of filler in some of the middle books which they could cut out.

Saying that, I never read the Sanderson wrap-up of this series. I really should get around to that.
 

Carcetti

Member
I hereby vow to braid my hair for some hardcore tugging before watching every episode.

Those writers are in for treat too, having so much fat to cut from the books.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
I'm so fucking excited to see Callandor.
I feel like Callandor would look weird if visualized. Swords in the WoT world are mostly curved and katana-like, right? Callandor is curved too.

But then you see it being used in ways that would look much better when done with a straight sword, such as
driving it into the ground to store it, or having it sealed floating in midair hilt-first, slowly turning in place, or holding it above your head while channeling through it.
All that imagery works way better with a straight sword and would probably look weird when done with a katana.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
As long as it isn't a Legend of the Seeker - RIP Sword of Truth! Good news is, unlike Legend of the Seeker whose production refused to consult with the author, this one has Harriett as an executive producer.


To be fair, Terry Goodkind did a fine job of making the Sword of Truth terrible before the TV show got to.


I'm so fucking excited to see Callandor.



And the giant choedan kal statues
 

NandoGip

Member
I feel like Callandor would look weird if visualized. Swords in the WoT world are mostly curved and katana-like, right? Callandor is curved too.

But then you see it being used in ways that would look much better when done with a straight sword, such as
driving it into the ground to store it, or having it sealed floating in midair hilt-first, slowly turning in place, or holding it above your head while channeling through it.
All that imagery works way better with a straight sword and would probably look weird when done with a katana.

Looks pretty sweet here

7743175.jpg
 

NandoGip

Member
I mean, I won't be surprised if this never gets off the ground, but if they could pull this off it would be amazing. Would need a monster budget to be done properly though; I'd say each season should be 8-10 episodes, and probably keep it to 8 seasons in total if possible, so they can map out the plot beats ahead of time. There's certainly a lot of filler in some of the middle books which they could cut out.

Saying that, I never read the Sanderson wrap-up of this series. I really should get around to that.

You owe it to yourself. Sanderson took a series that veered off course and brought it back and matched how good it could be. He did an absolutely amazing job and without his I'm not sure if I would have been so satisfied at how the series ending.
 

Carcetti

Member
As long as it isn't a Legend of the Seeker - RIP Sword of Truth! Good news is, unlike Legend of the Seeker whose production refused to consult with the author, this one has Harriett as an executive producer.

To be fair, the author is a terrible writer who keeps inserting his creepy sexual and political fantasies into the books so eagerly that the tv series was better off without him.

Never forget outlawing fire, kicking kids in the face, heroically slaughtering pacifists, nipple magic, and the Evil Chicken of Fucking Evil.
 

foxdvd

Member
I am just going to put this out there now...my good friend Deen would be the perfect Mat. Casting directors reading this thread give me a call...

Seriously though, please put the time and money into making this good. Like GOT, this tv series actually has a chance to tighten up some of the slower books and make this show something special. The 14 books in this series, edited, could make the greatest 8 books of all time...and in turn the greatest 8 seasons of television.
 

suedester

Banned
I started reading this series at the end of last year. Currently on Lord of chaos and really enjoying it. Certainly going to be a bitch to adapt and will need a huge budget. Not massively optimistic it'll turn out any good though but i hope it does.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
Yep, the series had gone way off the rails but Sanderson did a fantastic job of herding all the plot threads back together and then wrapping everything up. He cut down the shitty side plot threads with ruthless but required speed, and focused on the plot threads that people actually cared about.

You can tell he had a lot more creative license in the very last book, probably because of a lack of detail in the notes he was working with, but everything ends in a satisfyingly spectacular way.

It's rare to see such a big series actually delivering a satisfying, climactic ending after hyping it up for like 13 books.
 
Plus I really hope whoever chooses to attempt writing the series is willing to cut like 75% of the characters in this bloated ass series. Again I know I'm at the worst of it at this moment, but 9 books in and I still feel there are entire main characters with hundreds of pages dedicated to their development that you could completely cut with no impact to the narrative.

Who would you keep in - Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Moiraine, Lan? You could certainly cut a lot of Mat's side-story about building his business empire, but Perrin's Golden Eyes stuff feels a bit more necessary. I like the Forsaken (particularly Lanfear), you could go into the Aes Sedai a lot, but probably cut the majority of the Seanchan and the male Aes Sedai (unless they become important in the final books).

I'm not even sure I can do this from memory. I remember there being an insane amount of different plotlines, padding (sipping tea and braid-tugging) and an absurd number of characters. I might have to re-read The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time to get back up to speed with where things were at.
 

Falchion

Member
I've heard good things about the series, but I don't have any knowledge about it myself. Sounds like it could cash in on all the Game of Thrones fans now that the end of that show is in sight.
 

Skilletor

Member
That move looks about as useful as the Crane stance from Karate Kid.

Rand was just vogueing to let the Dark One know what time it is.

Skilletor killin' it in this thread, haha.

Don't forget evil talking chickens and the slaughtering of peaceful protesters, so long as you are armed with moral celery clarity!

:)

My friend told me that Nicci got her own book.

I feel bad that I actually finished the series. Goodkind is a dick of the highest order.
 
You owe it to yourself. Sanderson took a series that veered off course and brought it back and matched how good it could be. He did an absolutely amazing job and without his I'm not sure if I would have been so satisfied at how the series ending.

Thanks, I will. Heck; maybe I should read this while putting my kids to bed instead of playing on my phone.
 
People who are complaining about too many characters, Game of Thrones also has quite a lot of characters, and that TV series has done a good job dealing with all those characters doing various different things. And they merged some characters from the books, and just left out some characters from the books, and it's turned out great so far. Skilled screenwriters can deal with lots of characters.

To be fair, Terry Goodkind did a fine job of making the Sword of Truth terrible before the TV show got to.
True, but the first three books in the series are among my favorite books of all time, and I also really liked the final three books. The TV show however threw away the great characterizations from the first book right from the pilot.
 
Damn. I still need to finish. When I started working after high school was when I stopped reading all together. Been getting back into it lately. Going to finish this series.
 

NandoGip

Member
Who would you keep in - Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Moiraine, Lan? You could certainly cut a lot of Mat's side-story about building his business empire, but Perrin's Golden Eyes stuff feels a bit more necessary. I like the Forsaken (particularly Lanfear), you could go into the Aes Sedai a lot, but probably cut the majority of the Seanchan and the male Aes Sedai (unless they become important in the final books).

I'm not even sure I can do this from memory. I remember there being an insane amount of different plotlines, padding (sipping tea and braid-tugging) and an absurd number of characters. I might have to re-read The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time to get back up to speed with where things were at.

Mat won't get touched. He's easily the most popular character in the books. Perrin would get the axe since much of his storyline, while semi-crucial, is REALLY boring IMO. Forsaken will definitely be condensed. Aes Sedai will definitely get fat trimmed. I really hope Asha'Man does not get condensed because they easily did some of the coolest things in the series.

682px-LOC_Ebook_panoramic.png
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
People who are complaining about too many characters, Game of Thrones also has quite a lot of characters, and that series has done a good job dealing with all those characters doing various different things. And they merged some characters from the books, and just left out some characters from the books, and it's turned out great so far. Skilled screenwriters can deal with lots of characters.

Personally I think they ruined a lot of characters they did keep like Stannis and Jaime. The writing for GoT gets weaker as the show goes on.
 
Mat won't get touched. He's easily the most popular character in the books. Perrin would get the axe since much of his storyline, while semi-crucial, is REALLY boring IMO.
While I dislike reading most of Perrin's later stuff (especially his trip through the Ways following the women, sheesh!), I could see it working quite well on a TV show where they would be streamlining it.
 

OnPoint

Member
Mat won't get touched. He's easily the most popular character in the books. Perrin would get the axe since much of his storyline, while semi-crucial, is REALLY boring IMO. Forsaken will definitely be condensed. Aes Sedai will definitely get fat trimmed. I really hope Asha'Man does not get condensed because they easily did some of the coolest things in the series.

M7qLx.gif
 

tirminyl

Member
As long as it isn't a Legend of the Seeker - RIP Sword of Truth! Good news is, unlike Legend of the Seeker whose production refused to consult with the author, this one has Harriett as an executive producer.

Why must you remind me of that? At least it put Bridget Regan on my radar.
 

wihio

Member
As much as I love this series and have always wanted to see it, I just do not trust anything about this. Unless they throw a GoT budget at this, it is probably going to suck.

I have always wanted an anime series of this. The fantastical nature of much of this world will be hard to capture without making it look cheesy.
 

NandoGip

Member
While I dislike reading most of Perrin's later stuff (especially his trip through the Ways following the women, sheesh!), I could see it working quite well on a TV show where they would be streamlining it.

Perrin's wolf dream and stuff was dope, and could be executed beautifully. The problem with his storyline is Faile. I personally don't think it's that bad, but everyone I've spoken to say it's one of the major reasons the books lag in the around the middle. I haven't read the books in a while but I recall a major plot point between them taking up nearly half a book or some thing like that

As much as I love this series and have always wanted to see it, I just do not trust anything about this. Unless they throw a GoT budget at this, it is probably going to suck.

I have always wanted an anime series of this. The fantastical nature of much of this world will be hard to capture without making it look cheesy.


Yeah, unfortunately I agree. No way in hell they're going to get a GoT sized budget, and even with that I don't think they'll be able to reproduce the effects needed. I recall a few scenes where he used the Fat Man Angreal to do some insane shit.

Also the production team seems like half of them are competent and the other half are wildly incompetent. Sony TV has some hits (Breaking bad, etc) and some of the staff worked on solid stuff (Agents of Shield), plus with Harriet being attached, you can have SOME confidence, but then when you see Red Eagle still being attached, plus the budgeting situation, it's tough to be 100% confident

Regarding the anime, I agree. Something like Avatar maybe, or maybe something more mature? I'm not familiar with where mature anime/western animation is these days.
 

El Topo

Member
I dread to think about how they will do this on a TV budget.

People who are complaining about too many characters, Game of Thrones also has quite a lot of characters, and that TV series has done a good job dealing with all those characters doing various different things. And they merged some characters from the books, and just left out some characters from the books, and it's turned out great so far. Skilled screenwriters can deal with lots of characters.

I think the challenge (regarding this and as a whole) is bigger for Wheel of Time to be honest.
 
Oh boy, braids and skirts and pillow friends, and a lot of repetitive phrasing. Also some Sons of Anarchy-level misunderstandings because people don't bother to talk to each other.

I think this could be good (decent) on a cable network, for all my snark. Short of that... meh.
 

Chococat

Member
Curious how it will turn out. A good screen writer could make it palatable. But not looking forward too it.

I stopped at book 7 back in the day. It had interesting parts, but it slogged on too long for no good reason.
 
Oh, this will be interesting! It needs a big budget though, with all the magic and huge battles. Very curious to see how this turns out.

Yeah - this is my hesitation. Not only would the setpieces be pretty elaborate - and the pseudo past-future "tech" too is a major selling point/problem - but costumes are wide-ranging, locations are very diverse, battles are huge, lots of horses... man.
 

gfxtwin

Member
Seems promising except for the part of it potentially airing on network TV. Nobody watches that shit anymore, at least not for a show like this - it could be a disaster. WOT needs to be on netflix, Amazon Prime, or a premium cable network.

Not to mention I don't know how well the gender relation themes in it will take with an audience today. It's full of women talking down to men and treating them like idiots.

Not seeing the problem here?
 

NandoGip

Member
Curious how it will turn out. A good screen writer could make it palatable. But not looking forward too it.

I stopped at book 7 back in the day. It had interesting parts, but it slogged on too long for no good reason.

Read detailed summaries of the next few books and pick up where Sanderson started.
 
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