Werthead Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 EDIT: See here for the news. The below is a reference to the terrible self-funded Red Eagle pilot from 2015. I kid you not. Before we proceed any further, behold: The following is a statement from Harriet McDougal Rigney, Robert Jordan's wife and editor, regarding the FXX show "The Wheel of Time: Winter Dragon" that aired last night: Quote "This morning brought startling news. A “pilot” for a Wheel of Time series, the "pilot" being called Winter Dragon, had appeared at 1:30 in the morning, East Coast time, on FXX TV, a channel somewhere in the 700s (founded to concentrate on comedy, according to the Washington Post). It was made without my knowledge or cooperation. I never saw the script. No one associated with Bandersnatch Group, the successor-in-interest to James O. Rigney, was aware of this.Bandersnatch has an existing contract with Universal Pictures that grants television rights to them until this Wednesday, February 11 – at which point these rights revert to Bandersnatch.I see no mention of Universal in the “pilot”. Nor, I repeat, was Bandersnatch, or Robert Jordan’s estate, informed of this in any way.I am dumbfounded by this occurrence, and am taking steps to prevent its reoccurrence." So, this is a move by Red Eagle to try to retain the TV rights, a move which I suspect is going to massively backfire. There are several companies very interested in a Wheel of Time TV series right now (if Kingkiller can get optioned and Shannara can actually somehow get made, WoT has certainly got a massive shot at success) who are ready to take an interest when Red Eagle's option runs out. So this smacks of desperation. Although Billy Zane as Ishamael is the kind of completely off-the-wall bananas casting decision I could almost respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooog Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Lol! that was cheesier than a history channel re-enactment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Ha. So bad that when the Game of War commercial came on I thougt it was part of the pilot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 That probably ranks among the worst things I've ever seen on television. About 3-4 minutes of the pilot seemed to be spent listing every one of the producers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slurktan Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 That was terrible. And yet I kind of like the way Billy Zane was playing it. Still utterly terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Well that killed the goat. I hope Harriet gets the rights back from these bozos, who sat on it for what, 7 years, and only care to make money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaminsod Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 How could anyone think this was a remotely good idea? The WOT is already unfilmable, and even in the context of a long running show requires a significant amount of content to be cut to not bog said tv series down. But casting Billy Zane, of all potential actors, to be in the lead role was monumentally absurd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Red Eagle statement to io9 Yes, they made it to hold onto the rights. They want to make a big-budget TV show because Game of Thrones is a hit, and they like money. And stuff. News "within days", which in Red Eagle Time may mean about seven years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gertrude Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Holy crap that was bad. Personally, I've always thought that WoT would do better as an animated series. Much easier to get the scope of it right and depict the use of the power. For this story to work on screen, the FX budget would have to be huge in order for it not to look cheesy, and I really doubt that this story could generate and maintain the numbers to make that a plausible reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great and Mighty Poo Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Eww im not even going to waste my time. "As the door swung shut behind him, Ned heard him say, "Billy Zane" and guffaw once more." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Holy crap that was bad. Personally, I've always thought that WoT would do better as an animated series. Much easier to get the scope of it right and depict the use of the power. For this story to work on screen, the FX budget would have to be huge in order for it not to look cheesy, and I really doubt that this story could generate and maintain the numbers to make that a plausible reality. A Japanese company did talk to Jordan circa 2003 about the series, but they only wanted to adapt the first 3 books and turn the fall of the Stone of Tear into the actual Last Battle. Jordan told them no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stannis's birthright Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 The fellow that played Lews Therin was ok but as usual Billy Zane was terrible .. At least they got the dialogue mostly correct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fionwe1987 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Holy crap that was bad. Personally, I've always thought that WoT would do better as an animated series. Much easier to get the scope of it right and depict the use of the power. For this story to work on screen, the FX budget would have to be huge in order for it not to look cheesy, and I really doubt that this story could generate and maintain the numbers to make that a plausible reality. I agree. The landscapes in WoT are perfect for an animated adaptation. It can have a distinctive look without costing the earth in CGI work. Plus, then you can spend the money on hiring good voice actors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Everybody keeps on saying how horrible it is. But somehow over 7,000 of us have watched that youtube video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suttree Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Everybody keeps on saying how horrible it is. But somehow over 7,000 of us have watched that youtube video. Which says what about the quality of the production exactly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fionwe1987 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Everybody keeps on saying how horrible it is. But somehow over 7,000 of us have watched that youtube video. All this says is that a well done adaptation would have a lot of viewers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 The comparison that came to my mind was that it is like a horrible traffic accident. You don't wanna look, but you're going to anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fionwe1987 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 The comparison that came to my mind was that it is like a horrible traffic accident. You don't wanna look, but you're going to anyways. Thankfully, I was able to curtail that instinct. I watched the stupid Wheel as a film-wheel thing with narration for like a minute, then violently hit the little x on the open tab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Which says what about the quality of the production exactly? It says nothing about the quality of the production. It just says that many of us heard "WoT pilot" and decided to watch it for whatever reason, despite being told that it really sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thankfully, I was able to curtail that instinct. I watched the stupid Wheel as a film-wheel thing with narration for like a minute, then violently hit the little x on the open tab. Then you are a stronger man than I. I saw the way it was gonna go, but I just couldn't stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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