Does the fate rest with Eragon? (WoT Movie)

[Guest TigerToe]

It's been some time since i've read it .....

 

The' date=' Urghals was it?, sound way too much like Trollocs to me...

 

 

[/quote']

 

 

 

I cannot believe you even mention Trollocs as an original...sounds alot like TROLL to me.

 

 

Its a fantasy adventure with monsters,magic and good vs evil for the fate of the world....whats original about any of that.

 

perhaps its the writing?

 

 

 

 

any good fantasy movie would rock, both D&D movies were pretty bad...though the low budget one was better...

[Lights]

I'm afraid there's no way the WoT series could fit into a movie' date=' or even a trilogy. Normal movies are generally equivalent to short stories, or perhaps novellas. Even an ordinary novel makes an epic movie.

 

Think of the Lord of the Rings movies. Each book translated to an epic 3-4 hour movie, and they still had to cut parts. And J.R.R. Tolkien is just as known for long descriptive passages, etc., as RJ is. So we can expect each book to produce a movie at least as long as that, if they're going to stay faithful to the books. So we're talking about a 12+ movie series, with each movie being 3+ hours long.

 

No producer is gonna go for that. The best we can hope for is a trilogy, with some serious cutting going on. Either they'd take some small portion of the storyline, maybe three or four books, or they'd cut the plot down to the bare essentials and take out most of the minor characters. I'm not sure I'd want that, even to see it come to the big screen. And I'm not sure the audience would want it.

 

As for a TV series or miniseries, that would work better with the length. But the low-budget problem that's been raised is very real; this is not a series that can get away with bad effects or acting. And the quality level it would need is bigger than even the big-budget shows today. So although a TV series would be better than a movie in my opinion, it's still not there.

 

As strange as it is, I think the best medium for the series may actually be an animated series. I don't think any of the styles in vogue today would do it well, but the anime industry is probably the closest to what's needed. It produces long series for mature adults, and they're fairly high-quality. The Japanese and anime culture would have to be stripped, though. Perhaps a special consulting company could be brought in to do character development and animation style. But I think it could be done, and it's perhaps the only medium that could provide the effects necessary over the length of the series.[/quote']

 

 

I can't believe this thread is still going. Three cheers for me! Huzzah!

 

 

I would be perfectly content with a major studio simply adapting TEotW into a single movie, and I honestly think it could be done. The question is if it would be done correctly and well. With enough of a production budget, I believe that it's possible. (A single movies, 3/3.5 hrs long.) Unfortunately, that would take a HUGE budget and it's tough to say how well it would do with audiences. Jordan is popular, but he doesn't have anywhere near the ridiculous amounts of fans of, say, Tolkien or Rowling. The studios would have to have some serious evidence that their investment would be returned. LotR, Narnia, and HP have all shown it's possible, but you cannot forget the other's that haven't done nearly so well (D&D). That's why I think Eragon is so important, and I really hope it does well.

 

 

For the record, I really don't think a TV mini-series would be good. Not big enough budgets, and the whole commercial interuptions thing really messes with the flow. An animated series really would be amazing, though, if you could find a team that's talented enough and dedicated enough to make it happen.

[Jonn]

A live action movie is possible. Let's say a page in a script translates into 1 minute.

 

I'd say you can cut a script for Eye of the World at about 150 pages, which would put the film at 2 and a half hours. Let's say 15-20 pages get cut...It's doable.

 

If you get a studio with come guts you have a whole 180 pages to make The Eye of the World work. That's plenty of room. You just need a talented writer to drop a serious screenplay.

[Vo0]

How is Trollocs like TROLL ?

 

Considering you pronounce it "Trah-locs"... heh :P

[wtfv]

I guess the only way of a story as long as WoT being adapted into something watchable is by an animated series.

 

I think that Movies or "common" tv series would require too much money and time, turning into an investment very big and not likely to be profitable.

[Crusher]

personally i think even if theyhad to make12 movies it wud still work

 

look at harry potter theres probably gonna be at least 7 and maybe 8 movies this is only 4-5 more

 

star wars 6 movies plus abought 50 games based on them

 

so i dont think it wub be too hard

[n00l3y]

sorry if im repeating a few points...i mostly briefed through the 4 pages.

 

Anyway, I think WoT COULD be done in a few 3h movies. Most of each books 700+ pages are descriptions, dialogues and expressions, and if there are good actors/actresses, the story would still be alive without cutting out too many parts. Although there is the problem that viewers would get bored after the first 3 movies. :P

 

About the original point...I'm not so sure that Eragon would really affect WoT movie. I mean, just get some famous director and actors, and u easily get lots of viewers.

[Zardi]

look at harry potter theres probably gonna be at least 7 and maybe 8 movies this is only 4-5 more

Just to be picky, but there can't be 8 HP movies since there will only be 7 books ;)

 

I like what they did with LotR, as far as taking mostly unknown actors. No offense meant to anyone, but I look through people's WoT cast lists and cringe at some of the big names I see on there. I mean, if I see a movie with, say, George Clooney in it, then I see George Clooney, not Tam al'Thor. Bleh.

 

I actually kind of like the idea of WoT being an anime TV series, and I don't even like anime.

[Ehecatl]

The big problem with using any medium outside of live action is that some people are going to be turned away from it based on the style. I personally don't like anime, and I'd be reluctant to see a WoT movie or TV series if they did it in that style, regardless of how much I like WoT.

[Werthead]

Doesn't WoT have a larger fanbase these days then Narnia or LotR? I think i read that somewhere.

 

No. Not even close. Combined sales of Lord of the Rings' date=' The Hobbit and The Silmarillion are somewhere over 270-280 million. Narnia is about 70 million, last time I checked. Combined worldwide sales of Wheel of Time are at about 30-35 million.

 

As for how to adapt the novels into a film. Easy: [i']don't base the movie on the books[/i]. Do the story of Lews Therin Telamon and the War of the Shadow instead. That way you can have something original on screen (SF/Fantasy hybrid, rather than a story with a very similar opening to Lord of the Rings), have lots of really cool effects and battles for the action fans, show a story that no-one's seen before and be able to cast big names in many roles since only a few (the Forsaken, Lews Therin) would recur. Then, if that's really successful, do a cycle of mini-series to cover the novels (though even these would require a budget and length similar to the HBO Rome series).

 

A straight movie adaption of The Eye of the World would work as well (it's self-contained, aside from the epilogue), but it's doubtful they'd be able to do an 11-book series (since Crossroads of Twilight would be covered in about three minutes of screen time ) justice on-screen.

[Ilyena]

Definately Agree with Werthead. Begin with an Age of Legends Trilogy in Theaters. This would bring a whole new group of fans into WoT. Later, create an anime mini series ( for the ageing of characters, and special stunts) and air it on HBO or some such thing. Also, just to point out to everyone, a real life mini series could work given computer animation today to make people look young. And TV science fiction series have lasted a long amount of seasons, for exapmle, Stargate SG-1 on Space.

Space would also be probably the best bet to air WoT, though Im not sure if americans recieve the channel ( I get it, but I'm in Canada)