I think it's great that Red Eagle will have its share in this. So they can earn enough money to give me back what I paid them for the unpublished comics! ;)

I totally agree with #71's comment. WoT will have to be done in animation. I wouldn't even be disappointed if it was. At least the characters will be consistent and then they could make all of the series for us nerds who love it.

Maybe they could do a TV series? not just a miniseries that lasts one season, but two or three books per season?

Stop worrying.

If it goes ahead, cool.

Forget all the named actors you are throwing about...

The best group of talents that would be able to carry this off are found in the unknown actors all over the world working in fringe theatre and other small scale TV/Film and Theatre projects, the people with fire in their guts and everything to fight for. Of course there are people out the who would be able to portray the range of the characters... that will not be a problem.

The script would be the sticking point, but there are also a hell of alot of really good screen writers out there.

With a decent creative team behind the projects anything would be possible...

Have hope and don't damn it before it happens!

Of course studios are really only interested in revenue, but that means it is in their best interest to quality control. Or else they have no series to push ( look at the golden compass, that was a mistake that will have been learned from in the industry because it bombed so badly that the rest of the trilogy has not got the go ahead!)

If this is to been done properly then it will be a massive undertaking and no studio will want to invest money only for it to stutter at the first production.

Have faith that the money grubbers will in some ironic way protect the saga by protecting their own interests ( and jobs ).

Finally lets hope aquiring the rights actually leads to something as it is possible to hold the rights just to stop someone else from using them, or to sell them to make profit.

If it doesn't happen, well guys the films are already in our heads narrated by RJ

71 and 73, I agree that animation is probably the best way to do this, which is the sole reason that I am now getting a degree in animation. I intend to completely animate this series without changing a thing or leaving out one plot-line.

Obviously, there is far too much speculation now without any facts to be able to determine if this will be the best movie ever or a steaming pile of cow droppings.

I agree that Red Eagle should not even be allowed to bring coffee to the film's camera crew.

A note on 71's animation style comments. Do yourself a favor and Netflix or rent the first couple episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender. My wife and I have both commented from some of the earliest episodes that this would be the perfect way to tell WoT's story.

The style (not as hokey as Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z, not as tripped out as Aeon Flux), writing (they don't assume the audience are brain dead), editing (they smoothly follow several plotlines every episode) everything about Avatar lends itself to a brilliant telling of WoT.

And yes, some will automaticly think of big eyes (there aren’t any), pikachu (Mo-Mo is so much cooler than that little brain-dead marshmallow peep) and Japanese schoolgirl outfits. This isn't anime, rather it's fantastically well-done story telling.

It appears to me that some people do not understand what true Anime is. FYI: Anime is considered a higher art form than live action movies in Japan. It seems that some people have only seen the "Saturday Morning" or "for children animation†and think that is what Anime is all about. Anime, if done correctly, is typically a vessel for telling deep storylines and can sometimes consist of extremely realistic adaptations of real concepts. Anime as a whole is not geared toward children. It is actually, often for mature audiences. Unfortunately, many of the Anime series that have been approved by the money grubbing television execs are geared toward children and that gives the general perception by many unsuspecting Americans that ALL Anime is for children when they couldn’t be further from the truth. The problem lies with those executives and their belief that adult Americans would not understand or get behind true Japanese Anime. I believe that Anime as a medium would be the PERFECT way to render the WOT series. Please do not focus only on Pokemon and other similar animations as your only example for how you think that an Anime version of WOT would be delivered. If you have a problem with animation in general, that is one thing, but please study what Anime is, exactly, a little more before you write it off as a way to deliver the WOT series.

Sorry for my rant. But I have seen a very wide range of Anime and I know for certain that it could deliver, if done as well as some like “Akiraâ€, “Record of Lodoss Warâ€, “Gunbusterâ€...I could go on.

I am very passionate about the WOT series and a Live Action movie could be done with today’s technology, but there are logistical problems as pointed out by other posters. An Anime version could keep the characters at consistent visages of how they might appear if rendered. Aging would not be a problem if the series took years to produce and a voice change is sometimes easier to overlook than that of a completely different actor filling a part that was previously filled by someone else.

My 2 cents.

Peace.

I'm not sure what to think about this. I guess I'll reserve judgment until after I've seen it (because I will, even if it looks horrible). I just hope this is something RJ would have been on board for if he were still around. If not, I'm disappointed already.

I'm not very far into the series(I'm on 'Shadow Rising') but I already know it's too intimate and puzzling to be made into a movie. Various movies based on good books have left much to be desired. I agree with the several suggestions that it should be made as anime. Although the rating might be questionable because of the somewhat constant nudity. I don't really mean its constant, but it's certainly there.

Its good to here the last book will still be done, lets just hope they get it right. Jordan was good real good at what he did. Now the movie, having mixed feelings on that. The books are very very detailed, and now if they where to make all of em, one thats a lot of movies, 2 that would take years and they would have to do em quick unless they want the actors to age that much......hell id even die to play rand or any. i have read those books over and over, and cant wait for the final one to be realeased.

A mini series would be required to fulfil this epic. It is so involved, it would butcher the books badley for anything else.

I'm also glad the last will be published.

Have faith in the screenwriters & directors, a picture can tell a thousand words have that in mind people.

Any movie will end up looking like a cheap knock off of the even cheaper knock off of Eragon. Not unless they do it Lord of The Rings style which they won't because the wheel of time is just too complex and long to be captured in a movie or even movies.

have none of you seen the terry pratchett movies... they are tv movies yet done so well ... and terry pratchett books have imense amounts of details and charecters and the movies keep some what true to it but in a way that works. WOT can definately be made into live action with the correct cast and vision .... but seeing as RJ hated what red eagle was doing with their rights to the story I think the movie could fail if they are only passionate about money.

A movie is a bad idea.The book is too long to be captured in a movie.If the movie gets flopped it would directly effect the book.

I think the best style for a movie or set of movies based on these books would be to mimic Beowulf. In this manner, you could have top notch 'acting', voice and general movements, as well as get rid of any consistency issues surrounding the aging process of your actors. CGI has come a very long way especially modern CGI techniques. Personally, I loved the the Final Fantasy movies, and think that they are a perfect blending of Anime/CGI stylings and would prove a perfect fit for Jordan's creation. In addition, while the first movie would take quite a while to produce because of all the modeling needed, future production times would be greatly reduced, cutting down on the overall time needed to shoot the series. I think also that if they brought on certain visionary directors and effects houses you could see a truly inspiring take on the world of the Wheel of Time, or it could be a total disaster. The biggest thing though will be to do what no one is expecting. I doubt that serious LotR fans thought a Live Action movie could do it justice, I mean...hobbits...grolum, treants, in Live Action...thats ludicrous.

Using a 1:1 production ratio for book to movie would be a major mistake. Some of the books are very action packed, and alot actually "happens", while others as has been mentioned before contain quite a bit of description of external description and internal dialog that would take only a brief second on screen to deliver. That being said, a movie would be incredible to push forward other merchandise such as the comic books, toys, and even maybe a game that was more than a Quake ripoff(crosses fingers for an MMO, maybe from CCP).

Basically, I'd say give them a chance to screw it up. If they do, someone will come along later and fix it with something better. Remember The Hobbit.

Hmmmmm....Lots of speculation which is good but as an insider let me just say congrats to Red Eagle for the years of time, effort, and money they put into getting this done. What most of the nattering nabobs of negativism don't know is...That it is a few die hard fans whose saw this project through. We knew the only way it could be done right is to have the backing of a huge studio with millions of dollars and the best creative minds. The principles of Red Eagle have had a few trials along the way to be sure, but they never gave up their passion for Jim's vision and they had kept at it until they got the best deal anyone could have gotten to bring this to the big screen (Imax anyone LOL).

No one and I do mean no one else could have done it. Congrats again Red Eagle and now comes the hard part. Making a movie that both the fans and the general public will love.

Stay tuned

Listen up people.

Red Eagle is not going to come through with anything worthwhile. As far as Universal is concerned, think The Scorpion King. Or better yet it might get splintered off and turn into something like In The Name of the King, that Dungeon Siege movie. That is Hollywood's idea of a fantasy movie. Also, since NBC is in bed with Universal expect the next crop of TV stars itching to break onto the big screen to slide on over as a way to keep production costs down and make everybody in the company happy.

Also, if you go CG you'll never please everybody. Beowulf technology blows. Take a look at the latest Resident Evil movie with all motion capture in the same style as Final Fantasy. That style is played out and hasn't advanced yet. It's not going to work as a big screen option, not in the US. I think it would work great as an animated series on TV but nobody is going to option out all the books. The business side is too hesitant to make such a big bet. The sad thing is the money is there, look at how much it cost to do an episode of Friends at the end of its run. You could easily pull in big effects companies with that kind of cash. The problem is commitment from a network. You'll never find anyone willing to take that big of a gamble either with an animated or live action run. You'd almost have to have someone create a Fantasy channel akin to the Sci-Fi channel and make this the flagship program to launch it.

Hollywood excels at destroying writer's visions and trashing any original storytelling. You're going to be bombarded with comments about pacing on the movie, how certain things don't translate to the big screen, and other drivel like that. You know what, if you can't follow the basic storyline then don't do the story. It's simple, just create your own dang story and stop killing the ones that are out there already.

As far as all the praise for LOTR, Peter Jackson got his paws on JRR's material too. A magic green fog ends the battle of the Pelennor Fields, Aragorn falls off a cliff, elves at Helms Deep(when it was supposed to be the human portion of the tale), etc. It was a shame that you had to have the actors using the books as counterpoints against Peter Jackson when he would try and pass off one of his ideas on how things should go. Especially as much as Peter Jackson claims he was keeping true to the work. Just wait until the 2nd Hobbit movie, all make believe stuff that happens between the books The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. At least the pretense of following the story is gone on this one and he can focus on telling his own story. The only reason the LOTR movies did as well as they did is the chunks that were faithful to the story, the emergence of WETA, and back to back filming with the cast on location for the duration for consistency. I don't think those movies would have turned out as well without the summer camp feeling for the cast in New Zealand and the dedication of WETA in set design, prop design, makeup, and effects.

Regardless there's always going to be something to disappoint even if it turns out to be a blockbuster, for example who knew that Batman's kryptonite would turn out to be dogs?