Amazon has ordered Robert Jordan’s fantasy epic The Wheel of Time to series, with Sony Pictures TV to co-produce, and Rafe Judkins serving as showrunner.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Amazon has ordered the series, and gave the following information about the story:
Set in a sprawling world where magic exists but can only be used by women, the story follows Moiraine, a member of the shadowy and influential all-female organization the Aes Sedai, as she embarks on a dangerous journey with five young men and women. Moiraine’s interest in these five lies in the fact that she believes one of them might be the reincarnation of an incredibly powerful individual who prophecies say will either save humanity or destroy it.
This suggests that the first season might be centered on Moiraine’s point of view, as a television series is less likely to switch perspectives per-episode in the way the novels do with each chapter. Judkins has been hard at work on the scripts and sharing his progress week by week. Sharon Tal Yguado, head of event series for Amazon Originals said, “We believe that Rafe’s personal connection to the material and soulful writing will resonate with the book’s passionate fans.”
Rafe Judkins will serve as executive producer in addition to showrunner, with Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon of Red Eagle Entertainment, Ted Field and Mike Weber of Radar Pictures (Beirut, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) and Darren Lemke (Shrek Forever After) also executive producing. Harriet McDougal is a consulting producer on the project.
Judkins added, “For so many people, including me, this book series has served as a world to escape to, to lose yourself in, to devour and inhabit completely. And I couldn’t be more honored to be the one finally bringing that world to life on screen, for old fans to lose themselves in all over again and new fans to discover for the very first time.”
Check THR for more news and check back on Tor.com for more WOT updates as the series progresses!
Note for commenters: Feel free to talk spoilers for the Wheel of Time series!
Well, we already know from Rafe Judkins that the first shot of the series is Tam and Rand walking down the Westwood road to Emond’s Field, so there is going to be plenty of POV shifts. The focus on Moiraine in this press release is likely to keep some suspense over who the Dragon is throughout at least the first episode. I expect there will be significantly MORE POV shifting in the TV series than there is in the books. We follow Rand almost exclusively, with a little bit of Perrin, in the first book. I think we’ll get scenes without Rand in them right away in the TV series.
Mondragon sounds like the perfect surname for somebody involved in this paricular project.
My main concern with this press release lies here:
This concerns me. It may seem like a little thing, but this is either an oversight, or a fundamental misunderstanding of the Prophecies of the Dragon. Rand isn’t destined to save the world OR destroy it, he’s destined to destroy the world in the process of saving it.
“Weep for your Salvation,” and all that.
This is where the central tension in the Wheel of Time comes from. Not from whether Rand will succeed in Sealing the Bore or stopping the Dark One (of course he will), but what the cost of that salvation will be, both to him personally, and to the world.
@1: Yes… if we are lucky. In the narrative they mention each boy seeing the dark rider… If they manage to include scenes from the perspective of each one, the illusion will continue… If they emphasize that each one is special early on, it could be more compelling than the original work….
Rafe mentioned in the Q&A that they hoped to include scenes that were talked about but not shown in the books…fingers crossed…
@@.-@:
I don’t know if that would be more compelling in a narrative. I mean, essentially, that cat is out of the bag as soon as Tam’s fever dream reaches Rand’s ears, and I wouldn’t want to miss out on that scene for anything. It’s likely to end the first episode.
@3 I feel like you just restated the same thing. If the cost of salvation is humanity, then he will destroy it.
@6: Sorry, I’m not understanding what you are trying to say.
The press release says he will either save humanity or destroy it. The book prophecies say he will destroy the world, and he will save it. The tension in those two statements lies in different places.
In the press release, the tension is “Will the Good Guys win?” Which is the same as no tension at all. We know the good guys will win in the end. Especially in this series.
In the books, the tension is, what is the cost of that victory, if he’s going to destroy the world even IF he wins and defeats the Dark One.
Those seem to me to be two pretty clearly different and distinctive things.
@5:
Do we know from the beginning that the Dragon will be born on Dragon mount?
Focusing on Moiraine works if they want to keep the mystery of who is the Dragon alive. In the books it is pretty obviously Rand from pretty early on, but that is mostly because the first third of the book is almost entirely from his perspective. If you put equal focus on all the boys and Perrin’s and Mat’s oddities create more of a mystery.
@8:
We know Moiraine is searching for something, and asking questions about who was and wasn’t born in the Two Rivers before we get Rand’s fever dream.
Not that the show has to do things in that order. But finding out Rand is an orphan is pretty much a dead giveaway to anyone who’s ever spent any time reading fantasy. That’s why GRRM worked so hard at setting up a believable alternative for Jon Snow’s parentage.
YAY!!!!
Has potential to be awesome- no 3 commenter raises valid concern tho. Moraine’s pov is interesting choice though as she’s such a hard character to follow. Could be awesome. Could be a disaster.
One thing I’m thinking on is a list of key/pivital scenes that would have to be in the show to still BE the Wheel of Time. Thought?
I don’t necessarily think this indicates that Moiraine will be the main focus. I just think that she was the best character to use as a focus for the description.
@7 in the book, the prophecies aren’t clear to the characters in the book. And everyone says many times that they don’t understand the prophecies. There are even if/then prophecies, that if Rand chooses wrong, then humanity is doomed.
This all goes to the point that the statement,
Isn’t wrong per se. And doesn’t really pop the tension. And in fact describes the tension that runs through the entire series.
@3, The save it or destroy it bit was kinda what scared everyone about the DR, from the beginning.
Side note: HHHHHHYYYYYYYYPPPPPEEEEEE! When’s the cast gonna be announced?
Amazing that this is finally happening!
In today’s TV landscape, it is not a given that the good guys will win in the end. The press release sounds like marketing-speak to me, aiming to increase the tension. IMO, saying “of course he will win, but at what cost” is much harder to sell and deflates the tension to boot.
Wait… five? Does that mean we (or rather those who haven’t read the books) should think that Egwene or Nynaeve might also be Dragon reborn?
Anthony Pero, your reading of the books is very literal. As I recall it, not every leader, nay, few commoners we’re versed on the Prophecies of the Dragon. The mythes, misunderstandings, and superstitions eccoed much clearer and louder than the Prophecies themselves. Many people DID think that the Dragon was a man who would destroy the world and cause another breaking. They did not see past that to the “saving” of the world. Many folks in the Two Rivers firmly believed that the forsaken would come for them in their dreams if they we’re too wicked and they believed that trollocks we’re mere legend, despite the fact that borderlanders fought roving trollocks all the time. I believe that Raffe is recreating the world in a way that we do not know everything about the dragon in the beginning. We learn as we go along, same as the Two River bumpkins.
I hope that they do the books justice. It shold be pretty easy since they are so descriptive to scenery and anything you need to do it all.
Someone tried with the Sword Of Truth books, the first episode was agreeable and knew it would not be exact but it was well done. Then the episodes after seemed they took all the books together in a blender and thew them on screen. Need someone who reads the books and appreciates it.
AS LONG AS WE HAVE FULL EPISODES THAT SPEAK DIRECTLY TO NYNAEVE’S BRAID, IM ALL IN
@15, @19:
We’ll probably just have to disagree about this.
Its not about what the leaders in the books thought. As Thom said, most of them had never read the prophecies. This press release is not an in-world document. What I’m saying is that the tension, or suspension of disbelief, for the reader comes from knowing that there may be vast consequences to the victory at the end of the book. This has nothing to do whatsoever with what people think in the books. The reader knows the truth of it very early on, or at least is led to view it one particular way. And that way doesn’t change throughout the series. Its not a misdirection.
My concern is that the people making the show may not understand that.
@15: I can’t think of an example of an either/or Prophecy in the Karaetheon Cycle. The only example of anything resembling an either/or prophecy is Min’s viewing of Gawyn either bowing at Egwene’s feet or snapping her neck. And she’s shocked by it, because she’d never had an either/or viewing before. Ever. Many fans believe this is because the Dark One could touch the Pattern to the extend that the Future was no longer stable. “Warping the Weave” as Moiraine would call it.
@20: Sword of Truth’s adaption was pretty painful, when it released the core plot and entered into a series of episodic stories that felt more like Xena or Hercules than epic fantasy, I lost interest pretty quick. I was already a little soured on the series though, given that between reading the books and seeing the TV series I’d discovered Wheel of Time and seen first-hand how much Goodkind stole from Jordan for his own stories. I just can’t buy that the similarities are coincidence.
As for the Wheel of Time adaption, it should have a better chance than Sword of Truth did. Being on Amazon and not network television, there will be less pressure to adapt the series into a format it doesn’t belong in. Movie and streaming services tend to do more faithful adaptions than what you see on cable.
@22 – I would imagine this blurb is marketing-written, not written by the actual creative people in charge of the show… no reason to worry yet (though there may be extremely good cause to do so later).
I really hope they do this series justice, as I can imagine some really really cool scenes. Who wouldn’t want to see the forging of Perrin’s hammer, presuming we get that far? Or Galad dueling valda, or Egwene’s rise to Amerlyn and subsequent captivity, or general Lan or Mat badassery?
I’m very curious who will be cast as Moiraine, and if they will stay true to the books – attempting to make the audience unsure which side she is on – or present her as more of a Gandalf figure. Moiraine is one of my favorite characters, so I’m excited that at least a decent focus seems to be on her.
Question on another topic: how on earth are they going to handle the opening lines, given that the Peter Jackson LOTR made a very clear allusion to them in the Prologue scene for The Fellowship of the Ring? It’s hard to imagine junking the iconic “wind” speech, but there’s also a real risk of it being perceived by non-book-readers as derivative of LOTR. When there are other elements that are themselves strong allusions to Tolkien’s novel rather than to the film version, this could get dicey.
A tighter focus on Moiraine might itself be helpful for making clear the difference between allusions and lazy derivative writing.
I think you’re probably arguing about nothing. This is more than likely a case of a reporter not having their facts straight. The first sentence gives it away: “where magic exists but can only be used by women”.
The Wise One Dream about Moiraine going to Rhuidean also seems to have contained different options.
Can I post on this thread?
I read the whole “focus on Moiraine” as marketing speak for: “HERE BE STRONG WOMAN! Watch all ye of the female persuasion” combined with lack of knowledge of the subject matter one the part of the press release people. I could be wrong, but it seems likely.
Why do comments work here but not on the WoT reread?
@22 there was also the slapping prophecy that you forgot.
I think you also forget how little the reader knew in the first book. The “will the farmboy become savior” has little tension in a hero of a thousand faces kind of way, because of course. But, at the time and critically now post-game of thrones, you couldn’t be entirely sure where this story was going. Indeed They don’t have to hew close to the books, and you might not know where this story is going at all. Think about that.
@Anthony Pero
I agree with @KefkaPelazzo in (#16): just treat the majority of the press release as one of those old stories where details got twisted due to how old it is, rather than as a proper indication of how the show will actually be.
Steven Moffat, of Doctor Who, has often said that showrunners have to lie to their audiences. In fact, according to some sources that was even his first rule during his time as head of the show (Rule 1: Moffat lies); and what method of “lying” other than minor, subtle, but absolutely vital changes to details present in information released or related to the public could be more suited for a series based on The Wheel of Time?
I think playing up the role of the women in WoT is a good thing. Their storylines don’t get going as quickly, so piquing interest from non-readers will get a broader audience.
I also don’t think that changing the details will detract from the story – IMO WoT has a surfeit of wandering narrative in the beginning and it won’t hurt to get some more action in quickly. As long as the dichotomies are clear (good vs evil, men vs women) it’ll still feel like the wheel of time.
Honestly can’t wait to se it – especially the magic. And Nynaeve’s epic braid. And it’s being released globally, yay! #British
@28 I don’t see it that way, kinda pandering to an audience (my words, not yours). Focusing on Moiraine, especially early on, makes sense. Everything would be easier to keep track of that way. And maybe we’ll see some outrigger scenes… I’m all for it just for the chance.
Whatever you do, please make sure that it doesn’t stink!
Too many good books have been utterly destroyed in the conversion to the screen. (Yes, I am looking at you, Starship Troopers to name just one).
Moiraine is probably my favourite character too, so I’ll be happy if she is prominent from early on. If the show is good.
Though to a large extent I agree that this is intentionally misleading copy released to the larger entertainment world to pique interest in the show and clearly distinguish it from GoT in particular. . .if the plan really IS to focus more on Moiraine, and to have it as a live possibility that the Dragon is female, then that could be a very effective rewrite for TV. It would give a more straightforward drive to the season. I don’t think of the first book as “meandering” in a bad way, but there’s a palpable feeling of “the plot is the characters trying to figure out what the plot is”. (You could compare Dune, which I think has some similarities to this structure.) It’s a very novelistic way to structure a plot. I don’t even think the fever dream scene has to be sacred. It’s incredibly effective in the book. . .because the book isn’t seriously trying to mislead us about the identity of the Dragon. The tension comes from the dramatic irony of wondering when Rand is going to figure out what is obvious to the reader. Again, it works in a novel told in very close third person, but I’m not sure that it would translate to the screen.
A structure where you see the White Tower sooner, perhaps have some flashbacks into New Spring, and aren’t quite so stuck in Rand’s head to the exclusion of the other characters sounds promising.
@13 I just hope they don’t go all in on the braid tugging and sniffing!!!
Even if it is a bad adaption, I wouldn’t trade the version of Starshoop Troopers we got in theaters for the world.
I see the focus on Moiraine being a lot about casting, and eventually promoting, the show. I hate to do this, because they will be compared until the WoT show goes off the air, but Game of Thrones started with Sean Bean as the most recognizable star and an ensemble cast of relative unknowns (the actors playing the Lannister siblings are notable exceptions). If a non-fan sees a favorite actress attached to a show they know nothing about, they may be more willing to pony up the dough for Amazon Prime to watch it.
I see the actress playing Moiraine being a pretty big name, with maybe Lan or Thom being recognizable names, and the actors playing the Emond’s Field folks all being unknowns.
Morena Baccarin as Moiraine Damodred or we riot!
I dunno why but she has always been my image of the best Aes Sedai character
And I know she doesn’t match the characteristics of a Carhienin noble but still…
One thing that no one has even mentioned in the comments so far is the possibility of the entire first episode focusing on details from the prequel novel, New Spring, which was entirely Moiraine centric. Depending on what speed they plan on producing this series, and whether each season will be one book and they’re dedicating 15 years to this project, we might not even get to the Two Rivers until the end of the first episode.
Well, I had the same thought as AnthonyPero to be honest – that and/or is very important!
But I also figured that the person writing the press release may not totally understand this (I also hope that the idea of magic being literally unable to be used by men is also just a misinterpretation, but of course, effectively, that IS what it boils down to in Randland).
Amazon got the LotR series too, right? I wonder how they will keep them differentiated. As somebody above pointed out, in a bit of irony, the Jackson movies already somewhat ripped off WoT’s opening lines :)
Moraine POVs sound great. You could even weave in a bit of New Spring story to keep the first season from feeling too derivative of Tolkien.
However part of the original magic was that you could relate to many of the characters. Many 20-somethings identified with Nynaeve for example. If Moraine is our POV the conflict between those two will look very different.
Hoping for the best. This could be the best thing ever to happen to TV…. or not.
@41:
Probably no one is talking about that as a possibility because the screenwriter has already shown us the first page of the first episode and the title is Winternight. It going to open with Tam and Rand and Bella.
I seem to be alone in this, but I read the descriptive blurb as coming from the Hollywood Reporter writer as opposed to the production and figured he or she wasn’t familiar with the series and simply assumed the first magic user mentioned on Wikipedia had to be the main character.
That being said, I would be really interested to see the story told from Moiraine’s point of view up until her ‘death’ in TFOH. Put off the Big Star Dies swerve for a few seasons and really heighten the feeling that Rand is on his own from here on out.
Now, where do I audition to play Narg?
I still remember the goosebumps from when the Dragon finally faces his destiny at the Stone of Tear… or when Taim says “kneel or you will be knelt.”
So many powerful moments! Jordan was a master in building up to glorious moments… Please don’t f it up!
Rather than gender swapping Rand theTV series could focus on the women surrounding Rand focusing on their machinations and power struggles and efforts to control him. This would make for higher drama in todays social climate. The slow burn of Egwene’s story line and assertivness could be speeded up to add rivalry to the mix. Muddying the water a bit she could be held out as an alternative candidate for Dragonship in the early part of the series…..
I keep trying to cast Lan in my head, and all I keep coming up with is Josh Brolin.
The interesting part will be how they choose to show the One Power being used? Will we actually see the weaves being woven by people or not?
I still cannot comment on the reread. Why does it work here but not there?
I feel sorry for all the writers, actors. and directors on this project. WoT fans can be super rabid, emenantly unreasonable, and savage af. They will not be satisfied with anything short of their own personal headcanon. It’ll be an online nightmare especially when the series deviates from the books. If you think GoT fans were cranky you ain’t seen nothing yet.
@45:
The blurb definitely came from someone at Amazon/associated with the show. Its the same blurb in about 50 articles, worded exactly the same way.
@47:
I don’t think anyone is talking about gender-swapping Rand. Just not saying that the DR has to be a man from the get-go.
@48:
I think Lan, along with most of the Borderlanders, will end up being cast as Asians.
@49:
The showrunner has said he imagines it looking like Doctor Strange, so, probably, but hopefully only when other channelers are around to notice. Its kinda difficult to translate POV from book to screen in a case like this. It will be interesting how they try to do that.
@50:
Try loggin in from a different browser, or an Incognito/private window in your current browser. If posting works there, then you’ll need to clear your cache on our current browser.
@52:
Maybe its just me, but I think you just described every single fandom ever.
As much as I know we saw the script for the first episode, the teaser before the credits may end up being a brief scene with Moiraine, maybe even the scene with her and Siuan with the Keeper and Amyrlin when Rand is born, then credits, then the wind picking up in the mountains.
If they want to differentiate from the LOTR films, I would happily see the monologue edited a bit and made into some discussion between Rand and Tam, where Tam is using the wind to explaining something, such as Rand being eagre to get to the village and not miss ‘the start’ of the festivities, and Tam explain that there is not a beginning, or end, then Rand point out that there is a beginning, to Winternight. would be nice. can even start out like a monologue, watching the wind pick up, but actually isn’t.
Could “beginning with Moraine POV” imply that the series might begin with “New Spring?”
(Sorry if this has already been raised. I haven’t read the comments closely.)
@54: See @44
I still can’t wait for the show… it can change some… I still wish they would foreshadow the other main characters storylines. How hard would it be to have each of the boys see the dark rider in the first episode and tag on a foreshadowing of who they become? What’s wrong with a pair of glowing eyes in a thicket outside the smithy? What’s wrong with a coin that doesn’t seem to want to change sides once tossed? Rafe said they would show things that happened in the books but were “off camera” as we would describe it… I can certainly see the first time Moraine meets Nynaeve in the village as ripe for filming… How she first addresses her incorrectly, but then immediately asks her if she is the Wisdom…. It will help keep people from having too strong a reaction to Nynaeve’s personality? Or am I wrong?
@56 Great idea!
Are we forgetting what the company did to that preview? Not Amazon, but a couple of the guys that they are keeping around. They released that garbage like 4 years ago. Ugh. Fudging awful. They shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near this. I wish Amazon had the brains to keep shit away.
Why is red eagle involved, they had a long time to bring this to screen and failed. Their name on this does not inspire.
Okay, so apparently we’re all done rioting over Red Eagle Entertainment’s involvement in this? I missed that.
I can’t muster the energy to get excited, but I do hope it turns out. @40 Agreed that a big actor like Morena Baccarin would be great for some hype.
I just read the post and thought “WTF Red Eagle?!?!!? I must post…” Then I get down here to the bottom and see that it was a thing already when I wasnt looking. (shrug)
Starting with New Spring would be a good way to introduce the intimidation factor of the Aes Sedai, as well as some good introduction to the White Tower. Transitioning from there to Emmonds Grove would be a good way to show the aging difference. Lan will look older, but Moraine will not be as changed, all though the “Aes Sedai look” should be interesting to see. I’ve always thought of it being a look like they had plastic surgery done, or maybe the old school light filters from Classic Star Trek. :-)
Exactly! Who thought to keep Red Eagle involved. They are aweful. They messed up that first thing so badly. I dont want them within a 1000 miles of this. Normally I would have been hyped af. Not now.
Having the first season focus on Moraine is a good idea from a film making perspective. Audiences best identify with characters that have an internal struggle, and spend the course of the film (or show/season) working to resolve that struggle. It’s clear in Moraine’s case – she has to find the Dragon and protect him from the hoards of shadowspawn seeking his enslavement and/or death. That can be made clear in the intro of the first episode with the opening scenes taking place at the White Tower during the Aiel War (from New Spring) when Moraine and Siuan learn of the Dragon’s arrival by the foretelling of Gitara Moroso. Then fast-forwarding twenty years later to her arrival in Emond’s Field.
It would take several episodes to establish a meaningful conflict with the other characters. Nynaeve would likely have the second strongest conflict in the opening episode with her desire to protect the Emond’s Fielders from a strange foreign woman wielding the mystical One Power; but the dramatic appeal of a babysitter pales compared to a woman hellbent on saving the world from the Dark One.
I really hope this series gets the budget and talent it deserves. I don’t think it’s too biased to say that the Wheel of Time is considered one of the best epics of contemporary literature. There will be 80 million or so fans looking for this series to hold up to the cinematic standards set by Game of Thrones. No pressure Rafe Judkins…
The actresses better start practicing crossing their arms under their breasts.
Dedrick@64
“Executive Producer” does not necessarily mean that someone has any actual involvement in the production.
Re: Red Eagle
I bet it’s some holdover from when they held the rights. It says they are getting an Exec producer credit, so my guess is that they have little to nothing to do with the day to day of the show.
Anybody else curious how the trollocs will turn out looking?
This news actually makes me a bit more interested. Honestly, focusing more on anyone but Rand would suit me fine as his incessant whininess made me realize that I wouldn’t be able to bear another ~12,000 pages of him. (I’ve heard that, in the following books, a) a lot more attention is given to other characters, and b) Rand himself gets better, but I’m not willing to commit that much time to find out. A TV series would be a lot more manageable.)
Re: Red Eagle;
They likely have nothing to do with the actual production. The licensing rights likely require their name still be attached to the project. But “Executive Produce” is usually a sign of something like that being the case. I wouldn’t worry about it too much unless we here they are actually involved in the production itself.
If Lance Henrikson was about 30 years younger, I think he would be perfect for the part of Lan.
An interesting choice. About the first two-thirds of the first book was third-person limited to Rand’s point of view.
I am so looking forward to this show
will someone with a firestick be able to this?
“…watch this.” the word i failed so miserably at including was “watch.”
You know, this project doesn’t have to take a gazillion years to complete. Assuming the first season goes well, there is no reason why they couldn’t make this reminiscent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are large sections in WoT where Mat, Perrin, and Rand are in different places doing different things. Same with Egwene and Nynaeve. They could do spin-off series, one or two seasons, following those threads while the main series follows Rand and, initially, Moiraine. You could have “cameos” when Rand travels to one or the other, or with the visions that happen with the Taverin later. That way you could tell the entire story without breaking it up too much, in a much shorter time period. Telling it in parallel as it were. Of course, the main series has to be successful first before you can do this. Season one (and perhaps two, depending on how they do it) are critical. This would be somewhat similar to the Marvel TV series Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, with the combined limited series The Defenders, but in reverse.
@75,76: Most likely, as long as you have Prime. It’ll almost certainly be a Prime Video Original Series.
“Magic can only be used by wonen”? Really? That sentence tells me this tv series will be CRAP. Nowhere in the books does it say only women can use magic.
I for one can’t wait to see what happens with this story, for one we’ll have real magic on screen.
What really worries me is that this story is so massive, and so long, will it really be all no screen or will they drop it halfway.
GOT they started cutting off seasons episodes and that story is no where near as massive as this.
Beyond a doubt one of the greatest undertakings in history tv wise?? Or is it pushing it a bit.
Red Eagle bought the movie and TV rights a long time ago. Their behavior is basically that of a copyright troll, demanding a payment for others to use their “property” while not actively contributing to making it at all. That’s what I gather from they still being there. Lots of shows and movies have this, due to the disputed copyright issues.
@79 Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the common assumption at the time The Eye of the World begins that, based on what had happened to the male Aes Sedai, using magic would drive men insane?
Rafe Judkins: -“I’m a feminist and it’s very important to me that the show is feminist in today’s context. So a lot of those things will be changing”
So we can basically expect Rand to be a female, and a lesbian so that she fits with the rest of the characters.
Ok, LOTS of comments RE: Red Eagle’s involvement.
Here’s how that works. They are NOT involved in the production in any capacity that makes decisions, and they have no veto power on anything, and no creative input. In Hollywood, Producer has many meaning, but the main meaning is Mr. Moneybags.
Red Eagle entertainment spent lots of money on this project over the years. They get to keep production credits, which means they’ll get a percentage of the backend profits. This likely means that they took less money from Sony/Radar Pictures upfront in order to keep the production credits. In other words, instead of taking a bigger lump sum upfront (because they controlled the rights, not the Rigney estate), they sold the rights to Sony/Radar Pictures for less money, and will keep a percentage of any profit.
You want to hear something crazy (that may not be true, but likely is)? Some of Red Eagle’s production money will likely silently go to Billy Freaking’ Zane, because he actually financed that “pilot” they shot a few years ago. I know its true that he financed it, and the only reason I can think of that he did it was to receive some of Red Eagle’s backend money.
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!! THANK YOU SKYBABY JESUS IN YOUR GOLDEN MANGER!!!!!!!!
I think what we all need to keep in mind is that they have to try and make the series interesting to not only the loyal fans, but also appeal to those that have not read the books. I hope they do it justice of for no other reasons than to honor the memory of Robert Jordan whose vast imagination came up with this world. And Brandon Sanderson who so wonderfully was able to do it justice and complete the series
I truly hope they don’t destroy this like Terry Goodkinds sword of truth was totally ripped apart, PLEASE DONT LET THIS SUCK!!!!!
If you havent read thw books, why are you chiming in??? Born on the slopes of Dragonmount, in sack cloth and ashes shall he clothe his people, he slays his people with the sword of peace, he will spit out the blood of the Aiel as water on sand but a remnant of a remant shall he save.
I suspect more than a few of my fellow commenters are a bit myopic. Yes, a good bit of The Eye of the World was from Rand’s P.O.V., but two thirds? The first few chapters are character introduction. Once Moiraine arrives on scene, Rand’s perspective was mostly representative of the lifestyle of Emond’s Field (with a little of his history added in) and could have been written from the viewpoint of any of the three boys.
Once they leave Emond’s Field, focusing on Moiraine would be valid, since she is the de facto leader, and probably helps the story to move at a pace more suited to video. When they get separated (assuming the series is true to the story) the viewpoint will be forced to shift around, at least enough for the important points. I don’t see how the beginning of Rand’s power sickness could be bypassed, unless they do it in flashbacks? (Not a fan of flashback-driven stories…) The same with Perrin being introduced to his eventual heritage. Moiraine’s point of view here would muddle things, or at best relegate important story points to a sidebar. It remains trifurcated ( :-) ) until they reunite again late in the book. Moiraine, Lan, and (later) Nynaeve don’t really have a lot of story time here, Perrin and Elayne a bit more, whereas Rand, Matt and Thom have quite a few adventures – seeing as the ‘Dark One’, as Rand believes, is focusing on Rand, it would be odd if the story went any other way. I really hope they don’t minimize this part. Did I mention how much I hate flashbacks?
Once Rand’s trio is reunited with Moiraine, I can see her viewpoint taking over again, easily. We know Mr. Judkins wants to be true to the books, so unless he’s addicted to flashbacks, worrying about which P.O.V. he uses to tell the story is unwarranted.
@89:
Actually, Rand is the viewpoint character (Ie, the story is being told from within his head) for over 2/3rds of the Eye of the World. Here’s a link to the actual breakdown:
http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/Statistical_analysis
Rand is the POV character for 79.5% of the words in that book.
I’m with gadget @28 here: the whole Moiraine thing does not seem feasible. Unless they are using/foreshadowing material from the following books?
Full disclosure: I confess that I never made it past the first WoT book and fragments of some of the others, as I find the whole thing discouragingly derivative and self-indulgent. I do look forward to the Amazon series, though. If done right, the story will benefit from tighter screenwriting, as it ended up happening with Game of Thrones. (And yes, I have read every single book of Martin’s brilliant but sadly derailed epic, and very much doubt that he’ll ever finish it.)
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls062727267/
I actually find the idea of Moiraine’s point of view quite tantalizing. She’s so mysterious for much of the series, as a matter of fact, she isn’t fully realized as a character until waaaaaay later on in the series, and it took Brandon Sanderson’s adaptation of the final book into his three books to finally fix the character of Moiraine. I just hate that it took them that long to bring her back. She disappears in book 5 and isn’t brought out of the Tower of Ghenjei until book 13. They may need to add some content from New Spring into the show though if they’re planning on showing Moiraine’s (and later Siuan and Leane’s interest into the prophecies of the Dragon) And Moiraine does focus attention on 5 specific characters from the Two Rivers. The women of course due to their innate abilities to channel, not to mention being stronger than almost any living Aes Sedai (especially Nynaeve) and Egwene (I can’t wait to watch her character develop) and of course the 3 boys, all of whom bend the pattern to their will. I cannot wait to see what unfolds. I just really hope we aren’t in for another “Legend of the Seeker”
@89 honestly Moiraine is only the central character for like 2 chapters in all of the Eye of the World, the book is primarily told from Rand’s point of view. I just hate that after about the 3rd book or so, there are so many characters added that the books start to unravel. Speaking of Rand, am I the only reader that began to full-on despise him about halfway through the series? It literally gets to the point where I want to just skip past his sections and read from the POV of the other characters. Mat and Perrin had much better books later in the series as Rand became swallowed by darkness. I was so glad for the change in his character in the Gathering Storm, if it hadn’t been for that, I may have just chucked the rest of the series out the window.
SO EXCITED!!! I am going to try not to get my hopes up too much, have been burned too many times before. I really hope with the technology and special effects we have now that the Ogier, Trollocs, Myrddrall, Draghkar, and Seanchean beasts are done well. Also hoping they try to stay true to the characters looks in the books if possible. Will be very interesting regardless.
@94 – I’m with you. Rand drove me nuts until his trip up dragonmount
Oh Em Gee !!! I am truly excited about this! Please O please do a good job! This is my most favorite series, ever! Thank you Amazon for picking this up!
It would be nice if the first episode or two included some of Moiraine’s investigations in the “A New Spring” prequel. Possibly even that “Strike at Shayol Ghul” short.
Absolutely loved this series, the world is huge and completely immersive. You can feel the emotion and wisdom that Jordan put into the overarching themes and how they resonate with his academic and military background… just absolutely amazing. It makes me scared to watch the show because the series already has such a high place in my heart. heres hoping
I’m just hoping the sheer scope of the story doesn’t get in the way of telling it properly. As has been noted, if you do a season a book it’s 14 years, although with the sheer scale of some of the novels two seasons a book seems likely, depending on how many episodes per season obviously. I can imagine that they can cut down path of daggers to crossroads of twilight if they get that far though, which isn’t a bad thing (no bath scenes thank you).
Am I a nay sayer for having a doubt that this could all turn out like the Shannara Chronicles though, because dear lord that would be a tragedy.
Oh yeah, I’m hoping they put at least one braid tug and crossing of arms under the breasts in each episode as an in-joke that quickly becomes painful to endure.
In my opinion, the WOT series is one of the most misogynistic book series I have ever read, and aside from being unnecessarily long winded, predictable and repetitive, the misogyny was one of the main factors for actually not finishing it after having forced myself through eleven of the fourteen books.
While most plans of male protagonists, are well thought out, not revealed until they unfold wonderfully, and you get to bask in how they thought everything through to the smallest detail.
Almost every plan hatched by women, is just ripe with prideful underestimation of what may lie ahead, so that most of the time they are captured or just barely saved by some heroic male, who they then not even thank in their pride.
And of course there are exceptions to that, but in general that is what happens… man makes plan, has women scowl at him and point out how stupid he is – plan works… woman gets something in her head, and sorry for the phrasing, but most of the time it is basically described like that, they never acknowledge that man could be of help because of their pride. Men either work in the shadows to help let them succeed or save them during or after the coup.
That all said, I obviously disliked the books, maybe they make a decent show out of it. I just had to vent my opinion about the misogyny I felt a lot in this series.
Please nobody feel offended if you liked the books, I’m sure there would be a lot of bad stuff to say about books I like.
Best regards
I think this will work because Moraine is central to finding the Dragon born on Dragonmount. New Spring introduced us to Moraine and Lan. We also get a good feel for the “politics” of the Aes Sedai and how they fit into the story in NS.
It makes sense to start with her so we know why she is looking for the Dragon. I can’t remember the name of the Aes Sedai that died after the foretelling that the Dragon had been reborn. Doesn’t matter now but at least with Moraine we get more of the “why” she is searching for males around a certain age.
I am very excited about this. I have given my 3 sets of books to many, many people over the years so they can be introduced to WOT. I have read Tolkien and many other authors in this genre and I still believe that James Rigney is the king. I still can’t believe the outlandish amount of individual characters he brings to life. If there has been one complaint about the books, from the people I have introduced, it is the infinite amount of characters you need to remember. I’ve told them what I learned. Don’t read the books unless you put some serious time into each reading. You simply cannot read 10 pages and put it down.
Enough with my “book” of thoughts……………this is going to be great. My 2 sons agree with me that this production will easily be equal to or much better than LOTR or GOT. I hope so but not necessary to be better to make me happy.
Not focusing on Rand almost exclusively is definitely the way to go, to keep the show interesting it should probably focus Morraine and Lan as they r the most curious characters, I don’t know if they will do this but to cut parts of Rands story just to stretch out the whole who is the chosen one seems like a mistake to me. Besides most of the big events in the first book involve Rand, it wont work being told exclusively from Morraines point of view. Oh and watching his mindset from start to finish, his obstacles, challenges, sacrifices and how he dealt with them throughout the series was of paramount importance to the story. I love these books and just want the series to be good while staying true to Robert Jordan’s vision I hope they come close.
I never post on these sites, but I have to emphatically request that you guys get EVA GREEN to play Morraine please please please she is PERFECT
I’m hoping that the series can stay true to the book like GoT did at the beginning. WoT is such an epic story I really hope they can do it justice!
@105, technically speaking GOT stayed true to the story till they run out of material in 6th seasons, changes they made before were justifiable since most of these characters had to have a wrapped up story and GRRM left it dangling. Besides, can you name a great TV series based on books that stayed 100% true to the books they been based on. Even Expanse and Magicians had to make changes. It’s always a fine line to tread for book adaptations, staying true and ending up as expensive glorified audiobooks or changing story so much it becames a caricature of the book it’s based on.
@every comment:
I really wonder if they’ll chicken out with the nudity, sex, gore and all those things.
I personally think they should be like Game of Thrones and not do that. The nudity and sex are parts of the story, to explain affections between characters, it would be pretty disappointing if they show nothing under the shoulders for women and nothing below the waist for men. Of course I don’t want them to show it in every angle of the scene, cause that’s just dumb, but seriously. And most importantly the gore. If they censor out all the blood and guts, it won’t be the Wheel of Time! Particularly the fifth and sixth book are BLOODBATHS!!!
I’ve read the series of couple of times. Not sure about everyone else, but I’ve conjured images of the book’s main characters. It’s the casting that concerns me, as well as a faithful rendition of the series. We shall see.
IMO,
The first episode should open with the prequel “A New Spring ” as a 2 hour or a two part ( but I hate ” to be continues ” )
This book sets the base to a new audience of what the background and quest is about .
Then start the 2nd episode with ” Eye Of The World.
Wonder who’s going to play Bella ?