Interviews and News Articles

[ForsakenPotato]

On 12/30/2021 at 9:33 PM, SingleMort said:

Yeah but this guy would have actually had to read the book to know that. Also congrats on him using his word of the day "byzantine" I don't even remember RJ using language that archaic in any WoT book even those 30 years ago. 

I hope someone who invented "tel'aran'rhiod" wouldn't criticize other writers for long words

[notpropaganda73]

9 hours ago, ArrylT said:

No idea how long this link will last - and will totally understand if Dragonmount deletes this post but here is (from twitter) a link to a really early script for Ep1

 

http://tvwriting.co.uk/tv_scripts/2021/Drama/Wheel_of_Time_1x01_-_Leavetaking.pdf

 

 

 

Some stuff here I am very glad didn't make the final show, and the actual leavetaking is still badly done (but as noted, no mention of the Dragon), but overall the script reads better than what we got in my view. At least from a perspective of the entire season, it would have been great to have more of the small interactions between characters here to establish them further.

 

And I really think they messed up by cutting Rand carrying an injured Tam to Emond's Field from this episode. 

[Agitel]

17 hours ago, MasterAblar said:

 

By far the greatest difference here is that Moiraine does not reveal that one of them is the Dragon Reborn.

 

I blame executives.

 

Probably.

 

I don't know.

 

Seems like an executive thing to do.

[AdamA]

On 1/2/2022 at 6:54 AM, Sir_Charrid said:

Actually I think it is a fair reflection of book 1. When I first read WOT Lord Of Chaos had just come out in Paperback in the UK, I was looking for books to take on our family holiday, 6 weeks in a caravan in France so bought the first 6 books (I didn't realise at the time that the series wasn't over). I think, had I not bought all 6, I would have stopped at Eye of the World for many of the reasons this reviewer gives. Many of the people I have leant Eye of the World to have told me they won't be carrying on, some didn't make it half way through that book. RJ has talked about how the book was written as an homage to Tolkein and for me, who reads Lord of the Rings roughly once a year or so, that leaps off the page for me. In fact it wasn't until books 3 and 4 that I really started to love the series as opposed to reading it because I had nothing else on holiday with me. 

I felt exactly the same way about this. Getting through the first two books was a slog. My wife decided to read them since the show premiered and I convinced her that it gets better about halfway through The Dragon Reborn when Mat gets healed. She stuck it out and is coasting now halfway through Fires of Heaven.

 

Honestly, the later books have some flaws, too, the more famous "slog" where you have to deal with all the fine details of Caemlyn city management and the prologues becomes 100 pages each because Jordan has 40 concurrent storylines he needs to remind us of that haven't had a mention for six books, but the series from book three on is when it takes on a distinct character and really comes into its own as a fully-realized universe that stands out from other fantasy tales and doesn't just feel like a LOTR ripoff. Everything from Rhuidean to Rand battling the Seanchan outside of Ebou Dar, at least to me, is absolutely gripping page turners I could not put down.

 

Eye of the World does at least have really strong characters, though, just a generic, hackneyed, and predictable plot. Season one did not develop the mains nearly as well as the book did.

Edited January 4, 2022 by AdamA

[Chivalry]

3 hours ago, AdamA said:

I felt exactly the same way about this. Getting through the first two books was a slog. My wife decided to read them since the show premiered and I convinced her that it gets better about halfway through The Dragon Reborn when Mat gets healed. She stuck it out and is coasting now halfway through Fires of Heaven.

 

Honestly, the later books have some flaws, too, the more famous "slog" where you have to deal with all the fine details of Caemlyn city management and the prologues becomes 100 pages each because Jordan has 40 concurrent storylines he needs to remind us of that haven't had a mention for six books, but the series from book three on is when it takes on a distinct character and really comes into its own as a fully-realized universe that stands out from other fantasy tales and doesn't just feel like a LOTR ripoff. Everything from Rhuidean to Rand battling the Seanchan outside of Ebou Dar, at least to me, is absolutely gripping page turners I could not put down.

 

Eye of the World does at least have really strong characters, though, just a generic, hackneyed, and predictable plot. Season one did not develop the mains nearly as well as the book did.

 

It took me about 200 pages to really get into The Eye of the World, but once I'd adjusted to the pace...I loved it. As for The Great Hunt, it's still one of my favorite fantasy books of all time. For me, the books were much more enjoyable when the story seemed to be moving forward and the characters still had some innocence.  Jordan stretched the series out too long.

[MasterAblar]

I don’t really mind reading a predictable plot, it can be comforting. Also I hadn’t read that much else when I did so it wasn’t an issue anyway.

[WhiteVeils]

Interview on Sound Effects:

https://www.asoundeffect.com/wheel-of-time-sound/

[ArrylT]

6 weeks straight. ?

[DaddyFinn]

10 minutes ago, ArrylT said:

6 weeks straight. ?

That list is new series only?

[Skipp]

35 minutes ago, ArrylT said:

6 weeks straight. ?

Surprised that Boba Fett is so low.  Would have thought Star Wars would dominate.

[ArrylT]

47 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

That list is new series only?

 

Believe so.  Think The Witcher S2 is a little below or a little above in terms of demand.

[Spiritweaver1]

So I have a special thread on my phone for WoT stories.    After reading the thoughtful interviews and the puff jobs paid for by Amazon, I was wondering if anybody has compiled a list of those reviewers that are suspected of being Amazon PR shills.  I read one last night where the person said there were 19 books in the series.

[MasterAblar]

12 minutes ago, Spiritweaver1 said:

So I have a special thread on my phone for WoT stories.    After reading the thoughtful interviews and the puff jobs paid for by Amazon, I was wondering if anybody has compiled a list of those reviewers that are suspected of being Amazon PR shills.  I read one last night where the person said there were 19 books in the series.

 

Well I mean clearly there are: 14 + New Spring + the Strike at Shayol Ghul + River of Souls + BWBOBA + Wheel of Time Companion. See, 19.

[Gothic Flame]

14 minutes ago, Spiritweaver1 said:

I read one last night where the person said there were 19 books in the series.

Wow. I'm jealous. My books only go to 14, not including "New Spring..

[EmreY]

6 hours ago, Spiritweaver1 said:

after reading the thoughtful interviews and the puff jobs paid for by Amazon

 

= anything Spiritweaver1 likes is thoughtful, everyone else is an Amazon shill.  

 

I'm tempted to go full Rafesworn.

 

 

[Raal Gurniss]

15 hours ago, Skipp said:

Surprised that Boba Fett is so low.  Would have thought Star Wars would dominate.

Many people will wait till the series is complete and then subscribe, Disney don’t produce enough content to subscribe for the full year, more efficient to get one month every six months.

 

Amazon Prime you get the free delivery which is why people subscribe for the year.

 

Netflix just about have enough content to rate a 1 in 3 months.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Raal Gurniss

[WhiteVeils]

Nice article:
https://www.goonhammer.com/wheel-of-time-season-one-a-streaming-masterpiece-in-keeping-it-rolling/

[flinn]

 So far I think Boba Fett is really boring. I keep losing interest in it and I have tried to watch it multiple times. I am 50 years old and Star Wars was impactful on my youth. Boba Fett was one of my favorite figurines.

[Skipp]

10 minutes ago, WhiteVeils said:

Nice article:
https://www.goonhammer.com/wheel-of-time-season-one-a-streaming-masterpiece-in-keeping-it-rolling/

What an odd review.  Haven't heard of goonhammer before but the article was well written even if I think the review was overly positive, especially considering his tweets from September.  But if he truly didn't remember much of the books then his reaction is similar to most nonbook readers that I have seen, if overly cheery.

[Cauthonfan4]

20 hours ago, Skipp said:

Surprised that Boba Fett is so low.  Would have thought Star Wars would dominate.

Disney + doesn't produce a lot of content, so I'm waiting until it's done to marathon it and only pay for 1 month of stuff.

meanwhile a lot of people i know are amazon primed because it offers a lot more content just on the streaming side. let alone the other obvious benefits of amazon prime means that most people are already subbed.

[ArrylT]

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/covid-costs-film-tv-production-1235113051/

 

Article on the costs of covid to film/tv production. 5-6% of budget spent on covid protocols.

 

5% of 80 million (the rumoured but not official?) is 4 million.   And that is in California.

 

The protocols in Europe are perhaps more stringent.  For example

 

• The United States is on the list of Very High Risk countries for COVID transmission according to Czech government guidelines. Please see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website for details and travel requirements.

 

https://cz.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information-71/

 

Here are the current protocols:

 

https://filmcommission.cz/en/self-regulatory-recommendations-samoregulacni-opatreni/

 

So assuming the 80m budget for S1 is legit, I would estimate between covid protocols, cost of inflation (6m in 2011 is 7.4m in 2021), building their own production studio and all that intails, the actual per episode budget is likely slightly less than that of GOT S1, but is obviously more effects driven.

 

 

[ArrylT]

https://www.telltalesonline.com/34499/expensive-tv-shows/

 

Remember to include inflation when considering costs. Ex: 9 million in 2005-2007 is not 9 million today but more like 10.5-11 million.

 

16. Westworld

Per Episode: $10 Million

Source: Hollywood Reporter

 

15. Friends (tie)

Per Episode: $10 Million

Source: Finances Online

 

14. The Witcher (tie)

Per Episode: $10 Million

Source: Screenrant

 

 

13. The Get Down

Per Episode: $11 Million

Source: Deadline

 

12. Band of Brothers

Per Episode: $12 Million

Source: Screenrant

 

11. ER

Per Episode: $13 Million

Source: Ninja Journalist

 

10. The Crown (tie)

Per Episode: $13 Million

Source: Market Watch

 

9. The Morning Show

Per Episode: $15 Million

Source: Business Insider

 

8. See (tie)

Per Episode: $15 Million

Source: Metro

 

7. Game of Thrones (tie)

Per Episode: $15 Million

Source: Vanity Fair

 

6. The Mandalorian (tie)

Per Episode: $15 Million

Source: Film Goblin

 

5. The Pacific

Per Episode: $20 Million

Source: Hollywood Reporter

 

4. WandaVision

Per Episode: $25 Million 

Source: Me Aww

 

3. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (tie)

Per Episode: $25 Million 

Source: Hollywood Reporter

 

2. Loki (tie)

Per Episode: $25 Million 

Source: Cheatsheet

 

1. Hawkeye (tie)

Per Episode: $25 Million 

Source: Screenrant

[EmreY]

Astonishing amounts, really.

[VooDooNut]

How the heck did those Disney shows cost so much?!

[DaddyFinn]

51 minutes ago, VooDooNut said:

How the heck did those Disney shows cost so much?!

CGI, big name actors.

 

Edit. Marvel movies cost on average ~$200m according to google. If Loki has 8 episodes it's pretty consistent with that

Edited January 7, 2022 by DaddyFinn
Million, not thousand