The Prince of Newcastle Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Given the success of LoTR and GoT, what other works of fantasy do you think would actually succeed and in what format? For me, The First Law seems the most filmable, perhaps working best as a trilogy of feature length pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 The Gentleman Bastard seems very doable: episodic adventures gradually sliding into a big, serialised war story. Most of Guy Gavriel Kay's work is too big to be done as movies but too short for multi-season television. You could adapt them as an anthology series instead: Season 1: The Sarantine Mosaic (6th Century) Season 2: Under Heaven (8th Century) Season 3: The Last Light of the Sun (9th Century) Season 4: The Lions of Al-Rassan (11th Century) Season 5: River of Stars (13th Century) Season 6: Children of Earth and Sky (15th Century) You could also adapt A Song for Arbonne into this structure pretty easily. Tigana could be a stand-alone feature film spin-off (since it takes place in a different world but has a higher use of magic). The Fionavar Tapestry and Ysabel would be tough to adapt but could be done as a separate series or movies (although Ysabel I think is unadaptable)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 The Shattered Sea would be an even shorter and more straightforward narrative than First Law. No larger battles for almost two books (If I remember correctly), hardly any magic or special creatures needing computer-generated effects. Actually, it might almost be too plain for TV. But it is good story and the "elf ruins" of a 20th/21st century civilisation would make for cool sets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prince of Newcastle Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 20 minutes ago, Let's Get Kraken said: Robin Hobb's stuff. I've thought this, but I dont know how they could film it. Similar to Dune, a lot of it takes place in peoples head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 The farseeing is one problem, the other might be that the beginning is somewhat close in setting (and the importance of the wolves) to Winterfell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Liveship Traders is ripe for an adaptation. The Fitz stuff, I really don't see it. It's far too inert, lacking in externalised dramatic moments and is rooted in psychology rather than bigger fantasy events like battles or spectacular magic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 There are a few I would love to see as animated series, but fear a good deal of the material would be cut. The Wheel of Time being one. Malazan Book of the Fallen is another. WOT could lose a lot of its dead weight. MBOTF less. The Gentleman Bastards series seems a perfect candidate for me. A smaller number of great characters, very fun stories and lower fantasy for the most part. Its success would hinge on the casting of Locke and Jean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Mistborn seems like it's ripe for Star Wars-style film treatment. Get it right and it could be huge. I'm not a huge fan of the novels but films could be great fun. You couldn't adapt Malazan directly, book for book. You'd have to break the narrative into smaller chunks. I mean, for someone who'd take the plunge on it it'd be a fantastic expanded universe, but the money and organisation needed to do such a thing would be utterly ridiculous and it'll be a brave producer that takes the plunge. I'd love to see an anthology series based on the Bas-Lag books (you could probably do PSS justice as a film, just about- the actual central plot thread of that book isn't especially complex and is essentially a take on Alien/Aliens, though obviously there's a lot going on around it- but not the other two, so films wouldn't do, Trio of miniseries). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 City and the City has been adapted already, should be on screens next year. If that's a big hit, we might see more Mieville on screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jurble Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Why not the Elric books? Could probably be done on a small budget even so long as most of the budget is spent on costumes and make-up. Otherwise it would have that cheap Babylon 5/Stargate look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 I'm still surprised no one has done a good adaptation of the Chronicles of Prydain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 17 minutes ago, Ajûrbkli said: Why not the Elric books? Could probably be done on a small budget even so long as most of the budget is spent on costumes and make-up. Otherwise it would have that cheap Babylon 5/Stargate look. Cause Elric sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 5 hours ago, Werthead said: Liveship Traders is ripe for an adaptation. The Fitz stuff, I really don't see it. It's far too inert, lacking in externalised dramatic moments and is rooted in psychology rather than bigger fantasy events like battles or spectacular magic. I agree Liveships is more adaptable though would probably need a pretty big budget to do it justice, especially as the series progressed. Sea travels and battles, CGI, a number of lavish sets (Bingtown itself, Jamalia, The Rain Wilds/Trehaug, Divvytown), large cast, most likely a lot of practical effects and heavy use of prosthetics and make up. I can imagine the costs mounting up pretty quickly. would be interested to see how they create the Liveships though in terms of what effects they use. Oh and the casting would be really important, especially for the likes of Kennit. I would be genuinely excited to hear it was being adapted though. i think Fitz would work as an adaptation but would be pretty different fare. I imagine the early stuff as comparable to something like Wolf Hall maybe. As GOT is mentioned in the op, a Fitz adaptation would most likely be like a whole show of Kings Landing scenes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 6 hours ago, polishgenius said: You couldn't adapt Malazan directly, book for book. You'd have to break the narrative into smaller chunks. I mean, for someone who'd take the plunge on it it'd be a fantastic expanded universe, but the money and organisation needed to do such a thing would be utterly ridiculous and it'll be a brave producer that takes the plunge. You're right it would take a massive commitment.That's why I think animation would be the best option for it or WOT. MBOTF doesn't necessarily require one series either. It's loose enough of a structure with enough arcs to fill several series. As long as we can agree the Mhybe and younger Tiste Andii would be the arcs cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jurble Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Darth Richard II said: Cause Elric sucks. He's got a talking sword tho. And it's evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hello World Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 Doesn't mean people won't like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 2 hours ago, Ajûrbkli said: Why not the Elric books? Could probably be done on a small budget even so long as most of the budget is spent on costumes and make-up. Otherwise it would have that cheap Babylon 5/Stargate look. An Elric movie has been in development hell for decades. It's never going to happen, of course, but I think my own little Wise Phuul would make an OK miniseries (damn it, a man can dream...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAROVORKIN Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 Why not Karl Edward Wagner Kane the Mystic Swordsman series ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jurble Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 5 hours ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said: An Elric movie has been in development hell for decades. I checked the Wikipedia article and it's the same guys who wanted to make the PoN adaption. That shouldn't surprise me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 10 hours ago, Hello World said: Doesn't mean people won't like it. I think calling Shannara the best fantasy show on TV - a statement that would require instant institutionalisation in any other context - would be more of a hottake if it wasn't, right now anyway (with GoT on hiatus for two years and American Gods unlikely to return for a similar period), the only fantasy show on television. If they mean it in the more traditional sense of comparing it to shows that are technically ongoing and haven't been cancelled yet, then clearly they are tripping balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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