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WHEEL OF TIME officially optioned for television


Werthead

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7 hours ago, Fez said:

Well, considering how much happens in the first few books (and how little in many of the later ones), they could stretch those out to 6 or 7 seasons and make the end of The Dragon Reborn (I think that's the one) into the final battle instead. That's a pretty satisfying, lengthy, self-contained story right there.

I doubt they'd start off with that plan but if the initial ratings are as great as they expect then I wonder if they might scale back their ambitions to a three-season story ending at the end of The Dragon Reborn.

I still the biggest problem with doing an adaptation is The Last Battle, although obviously that would be a long way down the line. An accurate adaptation wouldn't be plausible in terms of budget and while I wouldn't object to a major rewrite they still need to do something on a larger scale than anything seen on TV to date or it'll feel a bit underwhelming.

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13 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Haha. Actually, I think they're doing something like this with the Dark Tower movie. There's going to be a shout-out to say it's not the same story (or iteration of the story) as in the books.

I hope that means its the final iteration and that if the movie is successful enough to warrant a full slate of sequels that it ends with Roland actually finishing his quest.

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  • 11 months later...

Wheel of Time’ TV Series Lands at Sony (EXCLUSIVE)

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The long-gestating “Wheel of Time” TV series adaptation is moving forward with Sony Pictures TelevisionVariety has learned exclusively.

Sony will produce along with Red Eagle Entertainment and Radar Pictures. Rafe Judkins is attached to write and executive produce. Judkins previously worked on shows such as ABC’s “Agents of SHIELD,” the Netflix series “Hemlock Grove,” and the NBC series “Chuck.” Red Eagle partners Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon will executive produce along with Radar’s Ted Field and Mike Weber. Darren Lemke will also executive produce, with Jordan’s widow Harriet McDougal serving as consulting producer

 

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2 minutes ago, Howdyphillip said:

What in the hell is Sony Pictures Television? 

I wondered what actual TV channels will be involved, so SPT is this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_Television

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As of 2015, it's the world's largest television production and distribution company measured by library and revenue (along with Time Warner's Warner Bros. Television)

Not bad, I would say, but were will we see the show? That's the big question.

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37 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

I wondered what actual TV channels will be involved, so SPT is this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_Television

Not bad, I would say, but were will we see the show? That's the big question.

I wonder if they will use it as a flagship show for PlayStation TV.

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54 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

Red Eagle is still involved with this? 

The news about the settlement that resolved the lawsuit in the wake of that weird pilot a couple years ago never indicated that they'd lost their rights to WoT, or maybe just Eye of the World. Whatever their rights were, indications were that they were retained.

Billy Zane saved them.

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2 hours ago, Corvinus said:

Not bad, I would say, but were will we see the show? That's the big question.

No TV channel has ordered the show yet.

2 hours ago, Rhom said:

I wonder if they will use it as a flagship show for PlayStation TV.

Sony has produced a big portion of the shows we know (Breaking Bad, Outlander, etc). It has nothing to do with Playstation. If the Powers fiasco tells us anything, it's probably that there will be no more original Playstation shows.

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Red Eagle is still involved with this? 

Almost certainly Producers In Name Only, a sop to resolve the legal disagreement over the TV rights with minimum drama. They'll get a fairly nominal chunk of any profits and will be able to email in ideas, but I seriously doubt they'll have any direct, day-to-day involvement.

 

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What in the hell is Sony Pictures Television?

The TV company that made Breaking Bad and now Better Call Saul, as well as the forthcoming Dark Tower spin-off TV series, amongst many, many others (CommunityJustifiedOutlanderPreacher, The Blacklist, The Get Down). They're pretty big players these days.

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1 season per book? I just hope they put up more episodes than ASOIAF got, not a lot more, maybe 12 or 13 episode seasons. But then, some of the later books are so full of filler and fluff that they could possibly do 3 books over 2 seasons.

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17 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

1 season per book? I just hope they put up more episodes than ASOIAF got, not a lot more, maybe 12 or 13 episode seasons. But then, some of the later books are so full of filler and fluff that they could possibly do 3 books over 2 seasons.

Not established yet, but I know Wert and others here had some good ideas on how many books per season. There is plenty of stuff that could be cut from each book, and allow for a more seamless transition between books.

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11 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

But then, some of the later books are so full of filler and fluff that they could possibly do 3 books over 2 seasons.

Winter/Crossroads/Knife can be done in one season easily. But that would still be 12 seasons, so I think some other volumes would also need to be merged to bring it down to a manageable length.

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2 hours ago, felice said:

Winter/Crossroads/Knife can be done in one season easily. But that would still be 12 seasons, so I think some other volumes would also need to be merged to bring it down to a manageable length.

12 seasons? There is no way anyone would watch it show that is THAT slow. Seven, eight seasons are realistic estimation. Anything more would cause too much delay, which was one of the worst things about WoT.

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1 hour ago, Risto said:

12 seasons? There is no way anyone would watch it show that is THAT slow. Seven, eight seasons are realistic estimation. Anything more would cause too much delay, which was one of the worst things about WoT.

The one good thing, no matter how many seasons it takes, is that you can cast actors in their 20s, and not have to deal with teens growing up too fast, like GoT had to. And yes, characters like Egwene and Tuon are really young, but their exact age is not so important.

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15 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

The one good thing, no matter how many seasons it takes, is that you can cast actors in their 20s, and not have to deal with teens growing up too fast, like GoT had to. And yes, characters like Egwene and Tuon are really young, but their exact age is not so important.

To be honest, I always imagined, when the time comes, they would cast Rand, Perrin and Matt actors from Madden-Harington-Allen-Clarke generation. I doubt they would go any younger.

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1 hour ago, Risto said:

12 seasons? There is no way anyone would watch it show that is THAT slow. Seven, eight seasons are realistic estimation. Anything more would cause too much delay, which was one of the worst things about WoT.

Even accounting for how slow the last Jordan-written books were, there's still A LOT of plot to get through. They could excise some plot threads entirely, but I'm not sure if that's an option for the showrunners. And if it's not, I have trouble seeing this be less than 10 seasons (assuming the cable standard these days of 10-13 episodes per season), without rushing things to the point that some plots lack all context.

And there are plenty of examples of shows going 10 seasons, albeit usually not on premium cable and usually not plot-heavy (its mostly procedurals). Although, Smallville went 10, Supernatural is on 12, Grey's Anatomy is on 13, etc.

Probably the best bet is cutting some plots entirely though, focusing on the core Two Rivers characters, and getting through their main plots in 7 tight seasons.

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