WoT Movie

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Perhaps it's because I'm relatively new to the series (just began Book 3), but aside from the sheer size of the series, I can see no reason why these books could not be made into a beautiful, compelling series of movies. What I have read thusfar practically begs to be adapted to the screen, so cinematically does it unfold.

 

Jordan writes beautifully, but anyone who can seriously argue that such an adaptation must draw from the text inviolate and keep a straight face ought to seek help immediately.

[Catsohori]

If you want a non cutsie anime look up Juuni Kokki. The Twelve Kingdoms is perfects one of the best costumed and acted anime's out there. Plus, the character expressions are fluid and the animation well done. Bleach, which is the big brother to Naruto, already shows us what animation can be done. Throw that in with the ability of anime's like Escaflowne and Advent Children's animation style your set.

 

For WoT, I seriously doubt that we have the current people to actually act. I mean, who would play Rand? I demand a over six foot man with short red hair and olive skin appear right now.

[Twinturbos101]

...i seriously might cry if they turned WoT into a movie, you just cant take 4000 something pages and turn it into a movie for theaters. It took 3 movies to do the 1000 pages of the LoTR. It would have to be heaaavvvillly cut.

 

I agree that cuts would have to be made, as is the case with nearly any book --> movie.  On the other hand, as has been said before, Robert Jordan loves to write page upon page of descriptions of minor details:  Lace on a dress.  Common room of a tavern.  Sunlight reflecting off of an army, and the 10 different groups that compose it.  And then 100 pages later when the character changes an outfit, we get it again.

 

...And I love it...

 

but in a movie all of that becomes unnecessary.  A 5-page description is cut out entirely because the audience can soak that in during the scene itself.  When you thumb through an RJ book you can see how quickly those extremely detailed bits of character/setting descriptions can add up.  In addition, RJ spends a lot of time writing what the character is thinking or feeling, which would hopefully be conveyed well enough in the movie scene without eating precious time.  Many minor scenes (wise ones disciplining Aes Sedai 20 times in the book--once would be enough for a movie) could be cut out without hurting the overall story.  The only thing is that some battle scenes and a few other key scenes may actually need to be expanded in a movie setting whereas they can be somewhat short/concise in a written format.

 

Overall I could see an approximate 2:1 book:movie ratio being feasible without cutting out too much.  Some of the latter books could likely afford to have more cut with some of the early books having less cut out.  Book 1 and 12 would likely each be a full movie.  If the remaining 10 books could be cut down to 4 movies, for a total of 6 movies, I think story-wise the movies would be fine.  I see each movie needing to be in the 3-4 hour range, however, to include enough material.  Perhaps a 3-hour for theaters with a 4-hour extended version like LotR?

 

On the other hand, I can't really see a 6 movie long series being produced unless it's low quality.  A trilogy would be much more likely to be produced in high-quality with good actors than 6 movies.  And there's no way you could cram enough into a trilogy to satisfy any WoT fans  :(

[ApostleofJordan]

I wonder how much of the books are just descriptions and things of that nature. Perhaps a project for the future...

 

 

(They would have to have WAAAAAAAY too much time on their hands)

[darkonestaint]

The only way it would be feasible is as an animated series.  Theres no way it      could be live action, because each book would need to be at least a 3 hour movie.  That being said, it would still be a monstrous cost to complete.  I think each fan would have to help fund it, but that type of commitment is hard to believe.

[Digbe]

Don't know if this topic should get a bump or not but herego:

 

 

The should never be a WoT movie made.  Or at least not the age that is portrayed in the books.  Look, its kinda' like a star wars thing.  We all know the story, might as well shed some light one the Age of Legends before converting The Eye of the World-A Memory of Light.  Doing this will add remarkable features to the density of the RJ world.  The stonework or just the framework is written out for the age of legends, therefore, really good producers get the opportunity with a little flexibility in their imagination.  If done right, this thing can be stretched out far longer than star trek movie collection and look great with todays technology.  If enough money went into this project, and advertising and publicity was just perfect, this thing could hit big for decades and would pull in money for several generations.

 

Honestly, I wish there were a way to buy stock in his creations because it has a good shot of being around for a long time.

[reyler]

*snort* Right, and they really should have filmed The Silmarillion before doing LotR...

[Digbe]

*snort* Right, and they really should have filmed The Silmarillion before doing LotR...

 

Good point!!!

 

But they did botch LoR.  Most readers of LoR still enjoyed the movies but were disappointed in what was left out.  Considering that making a movie would be relying more on the reading fanbase already developed it would be a disappointment also if it were to exclude the necessary features geared for the 'new' fanbase.  It just doesn't seem possible to satisfy the loyal readers/Hollywood/ and the typical "new fan" formed from the movies. 

 

If they run the Age of Legends- Fans of the books have less chance of being disappointed because they won't see a story they are already familiar with be destroyed and cut up all to hell.  Likewise, new fans brought in from the hollywood movies could potentially be brought into to the current series and the snowball of greatness continues. 

 

Holywood would be satisfied because of the lack of srtict parameters of deducing 12000 pages of despription into a couple of movies .  Old school readers would be content because it would be an answer to many questions with out too much of a "rerun" effect.  New fans would be captivated(hopefully) and become interested in the rest of the story.  Thus, opening the mega market of toy, school supplies, and all the other hype that comes along with it.

 

peace ;D

[reyler]

My point, which you seem to have intentionally missed, was that nobody is going to make the "set-up" movie first. We didn't need a whole movie's worth of backstory on LotR, just enough to let us know why the Ring is so important. Likewise, nobody let me repeat that nobody is going to bankroll a movie that isn't even an actual part of a series that, while dominant in geekville, has nowhere near the mainstream status as LotR and Hairy Potter. George Lucas probably never would have gotten to make his three horrible prequels if Star Wars weren't such a pop culture behemoth. We get enough of the backstory filtered through in the mainline WoT. If WoT gets its shot at the big screen, I don't want it wasted on something that doesn't really have anything to do with the story.

 

And regarding LotR, I wasn't particularly disappointed by what they left out, primarily Bombadil and the Scouring of the Shire, because I understood the moviemaking rationale behind those cuts. Would I like to see them inserted for the sake of exactness? Sure, but that's only going to happen in a version that doesn't have to take the time to appeal to the masses and fit the whole of a book into a satisfying three hour film.

[balefireruinssteaks]

I think people are freaking out.  Obiously you can't include every detail of the WoT books into a movie or the movie would be four hours long. 

 

And also, not everyone is as committed a fan of the books as the people on this board, so some people will just have a general sense of the book and won't be looking for the crazy details.

 

The jobs of directing and writing are to hold true to the books and the story while figuring out a way to edit things or make creative suggestions so that as much of the book gets in the movie as possible.  taht way, someone who is totally unfamiliar with the series and has never read the book can follow the story well enough and understand what is going on.

 

I think they should use the same cinematics that they used to film "300", that would make an excellent WoT movie.

[lou]

my heart did break for thom bombadill's ommision from TLoTR. i did believe his role was important, and it was curious how they left out the conversations frodo had with gollum. i those those gave better insight into what turned this creature into what he was.

 

 

but aside from all that, this is just a fantasy  thread only alive in geeksville (i am ok with that).

with that said: adrian paul as taim?

[Elizabeth]

I think a movie would ruin things.

[Guest silver89]

A CGI movie/TV series could work (think FF: Advent Children). Or a mini-series like Dune, which for me did work.

 

We all know that the movie is never as good as the book. If RJ was involved in the production and writing we could be fairly certain of it being half-way good. :)

[DemandredFO]

Unfortunately RJ will probably not be with us for much longer, I really, really hope I am wrong and that he lives 50 more years.  On to LOtR, that was a Hollywood movie, they paid absolutely no atention to the themes of the books.  Maybe I'm biased but, oh well, I am visually-impaired and thus would not get the same out of camera-pan's.  I would like to see movies made but I don't think there should be one. 

[Samuraiflip05]

Sadly RJ will not see this project (Done or discarded).  It may be just as well.  I had no real problems with the omissions from tLoTR as they did not serve absolute purpose (The story can be told without them).  But, if Tolkien had been around to spearhead that project, artists pride at his creation may have demanded the exact replication of the books.  I cinematic release that type of movie isn't possible (Unless the novel was drivel to begin with).  The next time you re-read WoT think about each chapter and imagine what could be left out.  Descriptions (RJ was detailed) could be shown quickly, also many scenes could be shortened or cut due to unimportant plots.  The immense amount of material is often to increase the readers ability to visualize, something that film does for you (Not always well).  Granted RJ seems to have intentions for almost every little sub plot point that he makes, but there is room for exclusion to a degree.  Inner dialogue is tough some can be shown by actor's expressions, some would have to be vocalized.  But again, it is descriptive material made to enable reader visualization.  I think movies would kick A**, unfortunately if the wrong people get ahold of it, they will more likely suck A**.

[Darth_Andrea]

Now This Pissed Me off!!

 

 

Taken From http://www.mania.com/57272.html

 

We were just discussing the subject of Sam Raimi's future in yesterday's Del Toro-Hobbit story and now we have an answer as to what he will be working on. He has hinted about this in previous interviews but the latest press release has this production moving on the fast track. Raimi is developing a new television series called Wizard's First Rule, which is based on Terry Goodkind's best-selling epic fantasy series "The Sword of Truth.", a novel series which was began in 1994 and has released 10 additional novels since...

 

The director-producer is teaming with Disney and ABC on a first-run, live-action weekly series which is being targeted for a fall launch, says the Hollywood Reporter. Production will begin in May for the first 22 episodes with Raimi acting as executive producer alongside Rob Tapert (The Grudge), longtime "Xena" partner Ned Nalle and Joshua Donen.

 

 

Where do they get off making this before WOT I mean seriously.

 

 

[glow=green,1,500]Darth_Andrea[/glow]

[Darian]

in order for WOT to be a good movie, the same and attention must be placed into it as the lord of the rings....which will make the movie very long and expensive..but the devil is in the details!  :P

[Samuraiflip05]

Long and expensive though can be a big payoff.  Look at the popularity of tLotR, even among those who had never read the books.

[Shoulderthumper]

I have not read any of Terry Goodkind, or other fantasy at all besides Wot, but the creation of a series based on Goodkind's work could bode very well for the production of something similar for WoT.

 

If this production is deemed to be a success, competitors of ABC/Disney will naturally try and find something to compete with. Perhaps even something as promising as having HBO want to produce a similar, but even better product. WoT would most likely be at the top of the possibilities list.

 

NBC used to (and still may) hold the rights to a mini-series for TEotW and it may spur them on to get off their proverbial ass.

[Mr Ares]

If this production is deemed to be a success, competitors of ABC/Disney will naturally try and find something to compete with. Perhaps even something as promising as having HBO want to produce a similar, but even better product. WoT would most likely be at the top of the possibilities list.

If HBO wants to do something, A Song of Ice and Fire would be at the top of their list.

[Darth_Andrea]

Still pisses me off. Sword OF Truth is a lesser work IMHO, WoT is better more in depth and exciting. SoT reads to me much like a series of Forgotten Realms books, it has much the same feel to me. WoT should be made especialy since we know the final book is comming and the people involved know there will be a ending to it now.

 

 

 

[glow=green,1,500]Darth_Andrea[/glow] 

[General Tam]

I have to agree with Shoulderthumper, if the SoT production is a success it will be good for further productions of fantasy series. I have read most of the SoT Series and find it to be a very good series I think it will be a success.

[Myndrunner]

I read somewhere that NBC has purchased the rights to Eye of the World a long time ago for a mini-series.  IMO, a television series ala Band of Brothers would be the best way to go.  Each book could be done as a season, starting with a Two Hour premier taking us from the beginning of Eye of the World to the escape from Two Rivers.

 

Also, I have heard some suggest that it would be better to use animation.  Perhaps a production like the recent Beowulf animation would work great, only it would cost some $$$. 

 

As far as actors, celebrities should be limited to only a few, and the main characters should be talented unknowns who look and feel the part.  I feel that celebrities with too much star power take away from the characters they often portray. 

 

Anyways, what do you all think?

 

Shade, Water, and a dance with Jack O'Shadows, 

- Myndrunner

[aevogt]

A good CGI version akin to Final Fantasy the Spirit Within or the Beowulf film they just made, would be so much more versatile and cost a lot less than live action.

 

LoTR was half CGI in any case so why bother filming actors.  fire up the super macintosh and then hire the voice actors.

[Myndrunner]

There are some great voice actors who are doing better at voice overs than their on-screen careers.  The two main readers for the Audio Book series should be a part of it.  Mark "Skywalker" Hammil won an Emmy for his voice over work as The Joker on the Animated Batman Series.  Andy Serkis (Golum) would make a great Padan Fain.  Even though the look was much different than her description, I always saw Cate Blanchett as Moiraine. 

 

CGI would allow for a lot more special effects, but would some be turned off by it?  I thought Beowulf was a step in the right direction. Who needs actors when you can create them?

 

Cheers!

 

-Myndrunner