The Wheel of Time Will Be Adapted as a TV Series

[szilard]

The reason that TV is reaching a pinnacle is because of the streaming services and DVR’s. They are now able to tell longer much more complex stories than ever now. Movies aren’t even able to tell these kinds of in-depth stories. In the movies you for the most part have to decide if you want character development or action, but you really don’t have time in a 2+ hour movie to do both. Some can pull it off, but most of the time they just pick sides. 

 

1. Being concise is very important but extremely difficult to accomplish.

2. As a movie guy, what can I say? Watch films from Bunuel, Lumet, Hitchcock, Kieślowski, Herzog, Jancsó (The Red and the White) etcetcetcetc

3.  The pinnacle of the television must be Dekalog by Kieślowski (along with Married... with Children)

 

 Had RJ lived and made better decisions with the rights we may be watching the Wheel of Time on HBO now instead of Game of Thrones...

 

Ah, HBO, the tv for virgins and perverts...  but 'everybody' call this quality in these days...

[Occams whiskey bottle]

 

 

Ah, HBO, the tv for virgins and perverts...  but 'everybody' call this quality in these days...

 

Virgins and perverts? If you’re blinded by boobs and an occasional f-bomb then you might be the virgin...

[dexterryu]

 

 

 

Ah, HBO, the tv for virgins and perverts...  but 'everybody' call this quality in these days...

 

Virgins and perverts? If you’re blinded by boobs and an occasional f-bomb then you might be the virgin...

 

 

I have to agree. HBO puts out some good series. While many of it's shows don't shy away from Sex/Nudity, Skinimax it is not. I think most of the cable networks have realized people get that sort of stuff from the internet now and have focused on making good series.

[Nightstrike]

I watched the first ... 3 seasons, I think, of game of thrones. I read the first few books as well. I think perverts of all kinds are a little (hopefully a whole lot, but maybe I'm too kind) over-represented in the show and in the books. They seem to enjoy causing suffering to others and a decadent life for themselves. Morality and good intentions, even some degree of it, causes them to die horrible deaths in that story. In any case, it doesn't make me enjoy the story as much as if there'd been some little hope for humanity, or for the reader to have something decent to cling to when reading. The occasional boob would have been acceptable, though. 

 

Wheel of time certainly have some horrible things happening, and the good guys (there are such in WoT) usually make it out alive. Some die, of course. They would be reborn in the endless wheel (they or the same soul, at least), so maybe that's a glimmer of hope. I don't feel that WoT makes it out as a pleasure to read about the specifics of each horrific event that happens, but that's me and maybe others feel differently.

[dexterryu]

I watched the first ... 3 seasons, I think, of game of thrones. I read the first few books as well. I think perverts of all kinds are a little (hopefully a whole lot, but maybe I'm too kind) over-represented in the show and in the books. They seem to enjoy causing suffering to others and a decadent life for themselves. Morality and good intentions, even some degree of it, causes them to die horrible deaths in that story. In any case, it doesn't make me enjoy the story as much as if there'd been some little hope for humanity, or for the reader to have something decent to cling to when reading. The occasional boob would have been acceptable, though. 

 

Wheel of time certainly have some horrible things happening, and the good guys (there are such in WoT) usually make it out alive. Some die, of course. They would be reborn in the endless wheel (they or the same soul, at least), so maybe that's a glimmer of hope. I don't feel that WoT makes it out as a pleasure to read about the specifics of each horrific event that happens, but that's me and maybe others feel differently.

 

The characters of focus are different in GoT. It is primarily on the nobility/royalty that are vying for power and position. It would be like a series based on Cairhien from the time of TGH through TFoH, which is basically the nobility fighting over the Sun throne. As for morality and good intentions during that, doing so really leaves you vulnerable. In GoT (both the show and first book) Ned gets himself killed because he's stubbornly honorable. All he had to do was play the game for the right reasons (Pretty much like Rand does) and a lot of the mess that makes up the series could have been avoided.

[Kesiera_Sedai]

This is an attempt to sum up the suggestions/desires of the fans (10+ msgboards, forums):

 

no book after LOC

no Perrin

no Faile

no Aviendha

no Min

no Wondergirls

no Asmo

no Siuan

no battles

no Fain

no Gawyn

no TAR

no BA

no SF

no WC

no Seanchan

no Ogiers

number of AS is limited to <10

number of Fs is limited to <3

number of WOs is limited to <3

 

This will be so much fun!

 

If they cut all that, what will it be about? It will only loosely based on TWoT...Oh well, they did the same thing with The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith on CW, and it's an excellent show. I guess it all depends on whether the script writers are fans.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

This is why they don't play to the fans

[Thrasymachus]

I would hesitate to call anybody who wants to take out most of that stuff Wheel of Time fans.

[Rednalloc]

 

This is an attempt to sum up the suggestions/desires of the fans (10+ msgboards, forums):

 

no book after LOC

no Perrin

no Faile

no Aviendha

no Min

no Wondergirls

no Asmo

no Siuan

no battles

no Fain

no Gawyn

no TAR

no BA

no SF

no WC

no Seanchan

no Ogiers

number of AS is limited to <10

number of Fs is limited to <3

number of WOs is limited to <3

 

This will be so much fun!

If they cut all that, what will it be about? It will only loosely based on TWoT...Oh well, they did the same thing with The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith on CW, and it's an excellent show. I guess it all depends on whether the script writers are fans.

 

 

 

All of the above are horrible suggestions. If I wanted to make a list of how to ruin the show and have it cancelled immediately it wouldn't be much different. A faithful adaptation is the only way to succeed with this series, naturally you would cut out a lot of less important scenes and background characters and even some of the late-mid story arcs (I'm looking at you Faile/Shaido mess) and a fair amount of minor changes will have to be made (which could very well be improvements in many cases). but all of the above are important elements to the story and what makes WoT my favourite fantasy series.

 

And seriously, no battles!? Who doesn't like battles!? Naturally you can't have them all the time but in the first half of the series at least they are usually limited to one per book which should be easily manageable with a decent budget. 

 

And seriously, in this day and age people are suggesting that we remove virtually all important female characters from one of the most gender-balanced fantasy series of all time, turning it into an all-male main cast? Really?

[Guest theologicus]

Has anyone any ideas, why there are no new announcements regarding the tv show? I am not quite sure, if this is a bad sign, but I hope it isn't...

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

I think people, perhaps including the people in the negotiations, misunderstood what was happening or when or if it might happen.

 

It's possible that nothing more was settled than red eagle and the option was then opened for some other production company.

 

It's possible another production company did option the rights but either has a long term plan or no plan at all. Things get shelved for years, decades, forever.

 

It's possible they had a plan but the plan changed because they developed something else instead.

 

Anything is possible but it doesn't seem like anything is happening right now. I've read the original announcement many times and I don't see in it any definite anything. Who knows? They always a reread.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Mrs. Cindy Gill

[Kesiera_Sedai]

I think people, perhaps including the people in the negotiations, misunderstood what was happening or when or if it might happen.

 

It's possible that nothing more was settled than red eagle and the option was then opened for some other production company.

 

It's possible another production company did option the rights but either has a long term plan or no plan at all. Things get shelved for years, decades, forever.

 

It's possible they had a plan but the plan changed because they developed something else instead.

 

Anything is possible but it doesn't seem like anything is happening right now. I've read the original announcement many times and I don't see in it any definite anything. Who knows? They always a reread.

 

I read somewhere last week that it may be 2-3 yes b4 the show airs because of difficulties with scripting and location, and the cast will consist of mostly unknowns (fresh faces) because of a astronomical costs of production and the ages of the main characters ( late teens, early 20s, remember). Also there will supposedly be lots of CGI involved to show channeling, the Green Man, etc. I saw a picture of the channelling, it was beautiful...A glowing woman with colored streams of light emanating from her, intertwining themselves. I'll post it when I get the chance.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Kesiera_Sedai

[wheeloftimetv]

Narg thinks you were dreaming or confusing fan speculation..... Pretty sure it would be all over the internet if anything like that was even semi officially announced.

If the silence continues past Jordancon, Narg thinks it's not going to happen and it's been shelved.

Oh and Cindy, you can't be more definitive than "Will be a cutting edge tv series". Other than saying an air date that is :)

Edited March 2, 2017 by Narg_The_Trolloc

[wheeloftimetv]

Has anyone any ideas, why there are no new announcements regarding the tv show? I am not quite sure, if this is a bad sign, but I hope it isn't...

 

The more time that goes by with silence, Narg thinks something along the lines of this becomes more likely. 

 

Bandersnatch needs to leak something given they have officially been gagged. All the hype, excitement and good will is rapidly dying if not dead already. Put the onus on who ever bought the rights. They've left Harriet holding a big bag of poo. Though I guess if they also left her a big pile of money she probably doesn't care that much.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Oh and Cindy, you can't be more definitive than "Will be a cutting edge tv series". Other than saying an air date that is :)

Jordan and Harriet, through the years, said many definitive things about the wheel of time that turned out to be not quite the case. It will be a trilogy, there will be six books, there will be nine, the next book will be the last book, I will never let anyone else finish my work, etc.

 

The announcement was enthusiastic but lacking in any real detail:

 

Announcement

 

The following is a press statement that has been approved by the studio involved in contract negotiations:

 

Update: Wanted to share with you exciting news about The Wheel of Time. Legal issues have been resolved. The Wheel of Time will become a cutting edge TV series! I couldn’t be more pleased. Look for the official announcement coming soon from a major studio —Harriet

Legal issues have been resolved says nothing more to me than that the legal issue of red eagle, the only legal issue pending at that time afaik, had been resolved.

 

The next sentence, that the Wheel of time will become a cutting edge TV series could mean many things. It could mean that she believed that was the logical outcome of the legal resolution and expected the rights to be snapped up, it could mean that someone led her to believe that was the case. It could be that the rights were optioned and smoke was blown up skirts, as often happens. It could be anything.

 

The fact that she gave no details and no further official announcements were made, other than a statement about her disappointment at the lack of progress iirc, leads me to believe things were not as she stated and likely not as she believed.

 

I'll be surprised to see wot hit tv in my lifetime, but I've been surprised before so... idk.

 

I take these things with a grain of salt.

Edited March 3, 2017 by Mrs. Cindy Gill

[Occams whiskey bottle]

 

Has anyone any ideas, why there are no new announcements regarding the tv show? I am not quite sure, if this is a bad sign, but I hope it isn't...

 

The more time that goes by with silence, Narg thinks something along the lines of this becomes more likely. 

 

Bandersnatch needs to leak something given they have officially been gagged. All the hype, excitement and good will is rapidly dying if not dead already. Put the onus on who ever bought the rights. They've left Harriet holding a big bag of poo. Though I guess if they also left her a big pile of money she probably doesn't care that much.

 

 

 

It seems to me that if the show was shelved that Harriet would be free to let everyone know. There’s no need to remain silent over nothing. There’s some issues going on right now though that’s for certain...

[wheeloftimetv]

Depends on what is in the contract. The studio may not even be obligated to tell her it's been shelved.

[Occams whiskey bottle]

Sounds like what happened is what happened with Red Eagle. They probably entered into a contract naive of the outcome. 

[Thrasymachus]

It can take a very long time for something like this to come to fruition.  As far as anybody knows, there isn't even a script or storyboarding, or even a production lead yet.  We don't even know which company optioned the rights to make the show.  It can sometimes take a decade or more between getting clear rights to make a show and actually beginning production.  Though if you ask me, they're waiting for Harriet to die, so they can snatch up Bandersnatch and not have to pay any of those royalties to anybody.

[wheeloftimetv]

Narg says you talk sense, but that doesn't match what Harriet said which the studio approved. So either she was monumentally mislead or something has gone awry.

[Kesiera_Sedai]

Narg says you talk sense, but that doesn't match what Harriet said which the studio approved. So either she was monumentally mislead or something has gone awry.

Hearing that it may be 2019 or 2020 before even a pilot airs is very discouraging...I agree that sounds like it may be a never. I hope it doesn't end up like Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. It was 10 years between films, and the 2nd film tried to combine the 2nd and 3rd books of the series...It was horrible if you were a fan, but most of people i knew who'd never read the books loved it.

[Occams whiskey bottle]

One reason why we may not be hearing anything other than the project was shelved is that nerds can be a little obsessive. They may be going through different scripts and story boards before making an announcement. The world building could be problematic because it is littered with unique words and phrases, cultures and norms, and presenting them in the wrong way could create for boring TV.

 

Let’s hope that they are going through different scripts right now!

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

How involved would nerds be in the direct production?

[Thrasymachus]

I wouldn't put it past a studio to blow a little smoke up Harriet's skirts, just so they could maintain clear rights to it for as long as possible, dragging their feet through "production" as long as possible, waiting for that inevitable day when she wakes from the Dream.  The Wheel of Time franchise has been almost infamously difficult to work with to get any other kind of media released that's related to it, other than books, even long before RJ passed away.  History matters when organizations make decisions about things like this, and as well-deserved as it was, Harriet's outburst about the atrocious Winter Dragon pilot will not be likely to endear her to any production company.  It would naturally worry them that she might do something similar if they have to take the production in a different direction than one she favors.  RJ himself had a habit of publicly distancing himself, and by extension the Wheel of Time canon, from those other media productions, even when he approved the projects and initially helped work on them.  And they have always jealously guarded the rights to produce anything set within the Wheel of Time world, in spite of how rich that world is for continuing to create new stories and experiences within it, and how profitable allowing that to happen would be.  It's a shame, in my opinion, as the Wheel of Time universe could have been for the fantasy genre what Star Trek or Star Wars are for the sci-fi genre.  And it seems likely to me that we will have to wait until someone comes to hold the rights that wants to try to make that happen, rather than obstinately maintain the purity of vision and style of Jordan's take on the Dragon Reborn and the Last Battle.

[Graendals favourite]

• I think Harriet made a statement that the legal wranglments were done for now. And I don't share your vision that the Wheel of Time should become a money making machine. It is what it is. Nowhere in loving a series is a wish that it is raped for someone else to make money. And then the audacity to, the widow. I accept your opinion as an opinion, but you dude have better things to do with your life.