Interviews and News Articles

[Vambram]

The Wheel of Time Spends $92 Million on Season 1 in the Czech Republic

 

 

[ArrylT]

1 hour ago, GanoesParan said:

The Wheel of Time Spends $92 Million on Season 1 in the Czech Republic

 

 

 

My only comment is I wonder how much of that is due to covid vs. intended.   

 

For example we're getting ready to build a new HQ for the company I work for - however the budget due to construction costs & supply issues has ballooned by 75%.  Its still going to get built - just cost a lot more than originally planned for.

[AdamA]

Covid supply shock price spikes and filming restrictions could possibly explain why some of the budget feels so underused right now (small sets, small battles, etc.). That would give some hope for a bigger future when construction prices and crowd restrictions go back to normal. It'll be interesting to see how Witcher Season 2 and the first season of House of the Dragon look. Wheel of Time is the first huge budget show I can think that was filmed entirely during the pandemic. Expanse final season unfortunately is only 6 episodes. Maybe partly for the same reason but not wanting to sacrifice the cinematic feel? House of the Dragon's first season budget is reported to be at least $150 million for 10 episodes.

[TheDreadReader]

Personally, I'd hold off on thinking too much about budget/how it was spent until we've seen all 8 episodes.

 

As a metric budget-per-episode  (like any average-based metric) can be pretty meaningless.  

 

I would expect that they have allocated the bulk of the money to the first episode and the last two episodes with a decent amount allocated for the middle ones.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2021 by TheDreadReader

[Vambram]

The Wheel of Time's Madeleine Madden discusses Egwene's relationship with Perrin, how they escaped the Whitecloaks, and what Bela is planning

 

 

[2RiversFan]

I had a strange article pop up in my Google news feed today... odd in particular because it was the first time in my feed, but the article is dated as Nov. 11.

https://moviesr.net/p-the-wheel-of-time-renewed-for-season-3-at-amazon-studios

I've not seen any mention of this article, and I've also not seen any verification of this claim.  I'm pretty sure it isn't real or certainly wasn't at the time it was written.

[DaddyFinn]

1 hour ago, 2RiversFan said:

I had a strange article pop up in my Google news feed today... odd in particular because it was the first time in my feed, but the article is dated as Nov. 11.

https://moviesr.net/p-the-wheel-of-time-renewed-for-season-3-at-amazon-studios

I've not seen any mention of this article, and I've also not seen any verification of this claim.  I'm pretty sure it isn't real or certainly wasn't at the time it was written.

That has been posted somewhere here around that time IIRC. It's not official so we'll have to wait. Maybe it will be greenlit after episode 8

[AdamA]

I remember season 3 greenlight being announced, but not the source. Rationale was they wanted to film back-to-back after finishing season 2 principle photography to make up for the lost time from Covid.

[JenniferL]

Yeah, I’m treating season three as rumor, not fact right now. But I would not be surprised if they do green light it soon. 

[grayavatar]

As that article was November 11 and all the reviews came out November 17 i'm worried about what studio execs are thinking now.

[JenniferL]

It’s one of the top streaming shows in the world right now. They are probably too busy rolling around in a pile of money to read the reviews. 
 

https://www.businessinsider.com/top-streaming-tv-shows-netflix-arcane-amazon-wheel-of-time-2021-12

[Els]

An interview with Zoë Robins I just stumbled upon. She honestly seems like such a sweetheart ?

 

 

 

[TheMountain]

 

Focused on the production quality and cinematography

Edited December 8, 2021 by TheMountain

[ArrylT]

42 minutes ago, Els said:

An interview with Zoë Robins I just stumbled upon. She honestly seems like such a sweetheart ?

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing & thanks for the reminder.   

 

As most people are likely already aware - every week the WOT show has an after episode show that usually has Matt from The Dusty Wheel, a cast member (think this week is Zoe) and several WOT Content creators.

 

Your video reminded me I had to go watch that youtube video, and then I will watch this one.  ? 

[DaddyFinn]

Has everyone seen these?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kudzu]

46 minutes ago, TheMountain said:

 

Focused on the production quality and cinematography

 

Have seen this video posted in about 3 different places now. Finally got a chance to watch it.

 

The first half of the video that was more technical focused was really interesting. Her analysis of the lighting especially, it's not really something I would usually notice. All really valid criticism I think.

 

The rest of the video she was mainly focused on plot elements she didn't like or thought there were issues with. Most of these have been brought up here at some stage or another and not things I thought were problems.

[ArrylT]

23 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

Has everyone seen these?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those are the videos I was talking about - thanks for getting them all put together ? - now you have to keep adding the new ones each week. ?

[ArrylT]

https://www.haaretz.com/life/television/.premium.REVIEW-the-wheel-of-time-a-fantasy-series-for-people-who-don-t-like-fantasy-series-1.10403531

 

I guess this falls under the more evidence typical non fantasy lovers will like WOT category.

 

‘The Wheel of Time’ – a Fantasy Series for People Who Don’t Like Fantasy Series

Amazon Prime’s lavish new show ‘The Wheel of Time’ is surprisingly gripping and rewarding, even though ‘Game of Thrones’ fans will be disappointed by the lack of sexposition"

 

His summary

 

Spoiler

If you’re a fan of the fantasy genre, I’m sure there’s plenty to enjoy here. But in some ways, this may be perfect for viewers like your correspondent, as it serves as a kind of “greatest hits” of fantasy epics (working title: “Look Who’s Tolkien”): Ancient prophecies, dragons, sorceresses, bad folk songs, color-coded societies, woodland chases, mountain treks, occasionally clunky lines, naïve heroes, ferocious monsters who can destroy anything except for our protagonists – they’re all here. And I’m happy to go along for the (horse) ride.

 

Also scroll down to the very bottom

 

Spoiler

If you are not a fan of Fox News

 

[king of nowhere]

i assume they'll wait the end of season 1, judge whether it's a success with whatever metrics they use, and then decide whether to greenlight season 3

 

also, the egwene interview shows - if it wasn't clear from the episodes - they made her a lot kinder and less bitchy than in the books. part of that must be rafe, he said she's his favourite character. but i think they made her more likable also for the audience, having a large part of the audience hate one of your main characters is not good.

[Pandemonium]

11 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

i assume they'll wait the end of season 1, judge whether it's a success with whatever metrics they use, and then decide whether to greenlight season 3

 

also, the egwene interview shows - if it wasn't clear from the episodes - they made her a lot kinder and less bitchy than in the books. part of that must be rafe, he said she's his favourite character. but i think they made her more likable also for the audience, having a large part of the audience hate one of your main characters is not good.

I have a feeling season 3 is already greenlit.    they are probably just waiting for the end of season 1 to announce.  usually they will do a pr about the "unparalleled" success of the show and how they are thrilled to have a new season.  I don't think Amazon wants to sink a show of this caliber after only 2 seasons, not unless it was a complete flop.  will wait to see what the end of season viewership is before commenting further.  

[ArrylT]

 

 

 

Interview with Brandon Sanderson

 

0:00 Working as a "consulting producer"

5:48 Appealing to book fans, attracting new fans

7:50 Faithful adaptations, staying true to the soul of the books

13:10 About characters (minor spoilers): POVs, Mat, Rand.

15:50 Writing for TV and Hollywood, Brandon's role in the show

21:35 Adapting characters, the influence of grim-dark

26:38 (spoiler for episode 1) Changes

36:14 Compressing material, the 4 eras of WoT according to Brandon

43:41 Cast talk

47:50 Conclusion: appreciating the show for what it is

Edited December 9, 2021 by ArrylT

[Vambram]

Loial Actor Hammed Animashaun Thinks Episode 7’s Ways are the “Highlight” of ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 1

 

 

‘The Wheel of Time’: Daniel Henney Teases a Scary Journey Through the Ways, More on Lan’s Culture in Episode 7

Edited December 10, 2021 by GanoesParan

[DaddyFinn]

1 hour ago, GanoesParan said:

 

 

‘The Wheel of Time’: Daniel Henney Teases a Scary Journey Through the Ways, More on Lan’s Culture in Episode 7

 

Quote from that

Spoiler

Going back to this week’s episode, it ends obviously with you guys going into the Ways, which is an iconic moment in the series. Can you tease how scary the Ways might be for us? And Mat (Barney Harris) is separated. Will we see the gang reunite with Mat before the end of this season?

 

Well I can’t give too much away about Mat being reunited, but I think Mat being separated was really interesting because it ups the stakes for our younger cast and them playing off of that as well. Not only playing the idea of walking into these Ways, these ancient pathways, all these unknown dangers lurking, but having one of their friends not making it through. There’s so much more to play there, a sort of give and take. That helped, in that regard.

 

The Ways, they’re scary as hell. They built an entire set on a stage the size of a football field and they built the Ways. So it’s all practical. They built black stone pathways that sort of wound around, and we spent eight days shooting on this set, and I hated the Ways by the end of the eight days, trust me. But it was so much fun, and I mean, you’ve read the books, so you know what lurks.

That sound great!

[ArrylT]

On 12/3/2021 at 7:25 PM, ArrylT said:

 

Just an IMDB update to compare

 

WOT S1 now has 33 700+ ratings, so averaging about 1k a day since last update.   Still holding firm at 75%.  The percentage of 1/10 is now about to drop under 7% (only at 7 due to rounding up), and 83%  rate the show 6 or higher.

 

Episode 1 currently has 7122 ratings (7.5 average)

Episode 2 currently has 5779 ratings (8.1 average)

Episode 3 currently has 5601 ratings (8.1 average)

Episode 4 currently has 5439 ratings (9.1 average)

Episode 5 currently has 1396 ratings (8.2 average)

 

 

 

 

 

A week later so I guess another IMDB update

 

Overall rating remains 75%.   Over 40k ratings, so still averaging 1K a day, and the percentage of 1/10 remains below 7.0 (but rounds up).

 

   

Episode 1 currently has 7883 ratings (7.5 average)

Episode 2 currently has 6466 ratings (8.1 average)

Episode 3 currently has 6317 ratings (8.0 average)

Episode 4 currently has 6401 ratings (9.0 average)

Episode 5 currently has 3572 ratings (7.8 average)

Episode 6 currently has 1592 ratings (8.0 average)

[Skipp]

Not an article or a review but a wonderful comment on how this fan is now viewing the show.