The Wheel of Time Will Be Adapted as a TV Series

[Nightstrike]

Yeah, I know he didn't say all of it needed to be cut, but there is almost always someone that doesn't like a thing, whichever it is. Pick something, and someone almost always doesn't like it.

Edited April 30, 2016 by Nightstrike

[Occams whiskey bottle]

AMC has churned out really good shows, but the Wheel of Time is going to require a big budget to get adapted well. My guess is that we'll have a good idea on how good the series will be judging by the budget. 

[Graendals favourite]

I love it. I hope, I know it is known, that it is not the think I hope is not cut, well It won't, well I trust well. Have the male nudity! (You'll have the rest then)

[Nightstrike]

Yeah, I think I could accept seeing cuts even among my favorite parts. The end result is what matters. If they can make the story work for TV, then I think I'd be willing to accept a whole lot. The writers probably know what they're doing.

[SinisterDeath]

Yeah, I think I could accept seeing cuts even among my favorite parts. The end result is what matters. If they can make the story work for TV, then I think I'd be willing to accept a whole lot. The writers probably know what they're doing.

I see a tv series as a gateway drug to get new readers of the books.

[szilard]

It was astonishing to see that 'fans' say that: "it's an adaptation! The books are too long and boring, they should cut everything! TV is better than books" (the usual GOT reference) etc. Wait a minute, wait a ******* minute ...


OK, it's an adaptation.  It certainly wouldn't be the first time that a series will not cover all of its source material. It happens all the time. Think (and 'plan') realistically. They will concentrate on Rand of course, I have no problem with that, but there are other characters too. So

 

TEOTW: 8-10 episodes (480-600 minutes) would be enough
TGH: ditto
I see them as different seasons (you know, the budget), although it could be a combined season (16 episodes, $80-90-120 million ...)

Maybe TEOTW will be a massive failure. End of story. But maybe it won't:

TDR: 8-10 episodes
TSR: 10-12 episodes (I would give Perrin a few small crumbs plus a full episode)
A brilliant screenwriter can compress these into one season (16 episodes, $100-120 million ...)


Let's speculate on season one and two only!
 

[Beidomon]

Season 1: EOTW through the beginning of TGH (Rand meets Siuan).

 

Season 2: TGH and TDR

 

Season 3: TSR (easily the best book of the series and needs its own season).

 

Season 4: FOH and LOC

 

Season 5: COS through WH, culminating in the cleansing.

 

Basically cut COT and KOD completely.

 

Seasons 6-7: Finish it off with the Sanderson stuff - hopefully better.

 

There you go.

[szilard]

Season 1: EOTW through the beginning of TGH (Rand meets Siuan).

 

Is there enough material in TEOTW for one full season?

[Gudrean]

Exciting news. I give this maybe a 50/50 chance of being made, and maybe another 1/3 chance of any production being good. But no harm in trying. Even if the production is terrible, we'll always have the books to enjoy (the first 6, at least).

 

I realize I'm not preaching to a very receptive audience, this being a fan site for a series that's long concluded, but WOT is going to need to be carved with a machete, not a scalpel, to fit this thing into a TV show. And that might actually be a good thing, because a lot of WOT, especially after the first 6 books, was pretty terrible.

 

Seanchan and Tuon, gone. Shaido after Dumai Wells, gone. Seafolk, gone. Bowl of Winds, gone. Luc/Slayer, massive cut. Salidar, massive cut. Perrin/Neo, massive cut.

 

They're also going to need to go darker. The Forsaken and darkfriends actually need to be scary and kill some main characters.

 

In my opinion, these are all areas where the books went wrong, so I welcome a TV show as an opportunity to correct them.

you DO NOT "correct" someone's life work, and might I add an epic work at that. Just cause a few fans didn't like how certain details were portrayed or where story lines went, you don't get to re-write them. What if a few nay saying fans had wanted changes made to LotR...... don't think Tolkien would have obliged. Just saying fans need to stop trying to "fix" WoT, it doesn't need to be all perfect per some fans wants!!

[Gudrean]

It kills me that all the "fans" seem to hate everything about the books!!! But anyways, why would you need to cut alll these awesome pieces out when the single fact

 

that filming this is going to cut out half of the books just in the fact that Jordan describes everything in great detail. The scenery, weapons, faces, noses, hair, voice

 

accents, current sky appearances, dresses, food on tables, etc, etc. etc... will be unnecessary because we will see it with our own eyes. Some details can be cut, but they

 

will not be significant ones if they want this to be a success!!!

[szilard]

if they want this to be a success!!!

 

Their (tv, studio) target audience (VIRGIN manchildren, age 14-84) wants to see:

 

breasts, more breast, esp. nude breasts, sex scenes, more sex scenes, and other parts of the female body etc

 

I hope that there will be minimal nudity only.

[Verbal32]

Prob minimal considering WoT doesn't have that much compared to the likes of GoT.

[rand4747]

Nothing beats GoT, however WoT does have a bit of nudity but at least most of it is non essential to the series. Even the sex scenes can be cut, just gotta put across that it happened but not show anything, since in the books it doesn't really describe what happens anyway. They go into the bed chamber for some alone time then cut to the next thing.

[Beidomon]

you DO NOT "correct" someone's life work, and might I add an epic work at that. Just cause a few fans didn't like how certain details were portrayed or where story lines went, you don't get to re-write them. What if a few nay saying fans had wanted changes made to LotR...... don't think Tolkien would have obliged. Just saying fans need to stop trying to "fix" WoT, it doesn't need to be all perfect per some fans wants!!

Ok. I'm not going to quibble over words - there are a number of ways in which WOT could be significantly improved - in my opinion - and they mostly involve cutting. If you enjoyed the interminable squabbling among the aes sedai that the latter books devolved into, good for you. And I've got good news for you: nobody as far as I know is going to seize your books and replace them with abridged versions.

 

But that doesn't mean other mediums cant make significant changes, or that some fans won't embrace those changes as improvements.

 

If they ever make a tv series, you'll still be secure in the knowledge that dozens of aes sedai and wise ones sniffed, pulled braids, adjusted skirts, and generally acted catty towards each other for several books - information that people who only watch the show will miss out on.

 

And by the way, I'm a fan. But as a fan, I'm a little peeved that this series could have rivaled LOTR and ASOIAF in terms of fan base and critical acclaim if it had wrapped in 7 or 8 books instead of 14 (which, in addition to cutting a number of tedious plot lines, would have allowed RJ to actually finish the series!!!).

Edited May 2, 2016 by Beidomon

[Beidomon]

It kills me that all the "fans" seem to hate everything about the books!!! But anyways, why would you need to cut alll these awesome pieces out when the single fact

 

that filming this is going to cut out half of the books just in the fact that Jordan describes everything in great detail. The scenery, weapons, faces, noses, hair, voice

 

accents, current sky appearances, dresses, food on tables, etc, etc. etc... will be unnecessary because we will see it with our own eyes. Some details can be cut, but they

 

will not be significant ones if they want this to be a success!!!

You're not taking into account that a great deal of additional dialogue and creative storytelling will need to be *added* to replace the internal thoughts of characters. Any way you slice it, there's is way way way too much story here for a tv series of 6 or 7 seasons. It's not even debatable.

[Beidomon]

Is there enough material in TEOTW for one full season?

Absolutely. Two Rivers, flight therefrom, Shadar Logoth, Caemlyn, the Ways, the Blight, Shienar. Loads of character development. You take that through the beginning of TGH and you've got a great Season 1.

[Verbal32]

 

you DO NOT "correct" someone's life work, and might I add an epic work at that. Just cause a few fans didn't like how certain details were portrayed or where story lines went, you don't get to re-write them. What if a few nay saying fans had wanted changes made to LotR...... don't think Tolkien would have obliged. Just saying fans need to stop trying to "fix" WoT, it doesn't need to be all perfect per some fans wants!!

Ok. I'm not going to quibble over words - there are a number of ways in which WOT could be significantly improved - in my opinion - and they mostly involve cutting. If you enjoyed the interminable squabbling among the aes sedai that the latter books devolved into, good for you. And I've got good news for you: nobody as far as I know is going to seize your books and replace them with abridged versions.

 

But that doesn't mean other mediums cant make significant changes, or that some fans won't embrace those changes as improvements.

 

If they ever make a tv series, you'll still be secure in the knowledge that dozens of aes sedai and wise ones sniffed, pulled braids, adjusted skirts, and generally acted catty towards each other for several books - information that people who only watch the show will miss out on.

 

And by the way, I'm a fan. But as a fan, I'm a little peeved that this series could have rivaled LOTR and ASOIAF in terms of fan base and critical acclaim if it had wrapped in 7 or 8 books instead of 14 (which, in addition to cutting a number of tedious plot lines, would have allowed RJ to actually finish the series!!!).

 

 

It does rival them in critical acclaim.  Maybe not LotR, but definitely aSoIaF (at least before the TV show).  Either way, who's to know if the series would have been better/worse had it only been 7-8 books?  I happen to enjoy EVERY book in the series, even the "slower" ones.  While I can admit I wanted to hit Faile in the head with a shovel on occasion, I still would change nothing (other than having Jim alive to finish it himself).

 

My point:  in all book series that are interpreted into TV/movies, condensing needs to happen.  For every fan that doesn't like how long the series went on, I can find another that loves it.  You sound almost as if you don't want the TV series to become a reality.  :-(

[Beidomon]

My point:  in all book series that are interpreted into TV/movies, condensing needs to happen.  For every fan that doesn't like how long the series went on, I can find another that loves it.  You sound almost as if you don't want the TV series to become a reality.  :-(

The folks who are clammoring for a faithful adaptation of Books 7-11 are the ones who don't seem to want this tv series to become a reality, because that is NEVER going to happen.

 

I absolutely want this TV series - and I think it likely would be much further along in development, if not already airing, if the series had been kept more concise.

[Edorion]

Am I the only one surprised by the lack of traffic in this thread? I realize not much is known at this point but it is more clear than ever that WOT on TV is going to become a reality.  Personally, I dont care if the trimmer is a barrel stave or an Ogier saw, just please make whatever it is look cool and not campy.  There is plenty of high drama if the performers take the material seriously.  The magic is just such a central part of it that the production has to do it justice.  You wouldnt really have to hit new audiences over the head with it in the first season though, which could help a production company gain time to justify the massive budget a scene like the battle of falme of The stone of tear or 'gasp' Dumais Wells would require.  And i wonder what will happen with travelling, once they learn how to do that the patience for plot devices that prevent them from just bleeping going there will wear on the casual fan im afraid.  As an aside, please dont be sony. Their higher ups wouldnt know a good product if it kicked them in the face. And second, I'll be interested to see if the showrunners try and take this decidedly pg13 world and darken it up just for the sake of it.  Either way, im sure ill be watching.

[wotfan4472]

I will be watching. As well. I am already wishing it was here now. I am excited to see what they do with the show. How it all works. I cannot wait.

[Verbal32]

 

My point:  in all book series that are interpreted into TV/movies, condensing needs to happen.  For every fan that doesn't like how long the series went on, I can find another that loves it.  You sound almost as if you don't want the TV series to become a reality.  :-(

The folks who are clammoring for a faithful adaptation of Books 7-11 are the ones who don't seem to want this tv series to become a reality, because that is NEVER going to happen.

 

I absolutely want this TV series - and I think it likely would be much further along in development, if not already airing, if the series had been kept more concise.

 

 

Nothing had come yet because REE sat on the rights and nobody else could do anything.  I'm sure, like with any other adaptation, that this could be done brilliantly......or horribly.

 

I hope for brilliance.

[Beidomon]

Am I the only one surprised by the lack of traffic in this thread? I realize not much is known at this point but it is more clear than ever that WOT on TV is going to become a reality.  Personally, I dont care if the trimmer is a barrel stave or an Ogier saw, just please make whatever it is look cool and not campy.  There is plenty of high drama if the performers take the material seriously.  The magic is just such a central part of it that the production has to do it justice.  You wouldnt really have to hit new audiences over the head with it in the first season though, which could help a production company gain time to justify the massive budget a scene like the battle of falme of The stone of tear or 'gasp' Dumais Wells would require.  And i wonder what will happen with travelling, once they learn how to do that the patience for plot devices that prevent them from just bleeping going there will wear on the casual fan im afraid.  As an aside, please dont be sony. Their higher ups wouldnt know a good product if it kicked them in the face. And second, I'll be interested to see if the showrunners try and take this decidedly pg13 world and darken it up just for the sake of it.  Either way, im sure ill be watching.

 

Agree with this completely. Cutting down the story is only the first challenge. Depicting the channeling in a live action show is going to require some interesting devices. But I just want this be GOT great and not campy.

[What's a Seawolf?]

Feels good to be back on this board.

 

Toughest part about trying to discuss the potential TV series is balancing what I personally want to see (a very close adaption with corresponding huge budgets to accomodate everything) vs what actually has a chance to happen.

 

For example, some combination of Nyn, Egwene, Min, Siuan etc can be cut or combined.

 

But to me, that would lose so much of the WoT feel.

 

First and foremost I want the characters and their relationships to be carried across to the TV screen.  It's what made WoT so engaging and long lasting.  We knew how the characters thought, what made them tick, and how they related to each other.

 

I'd keep all the major characters (let's call them the EotW crew plus Siuan and a few others.)  Maybe diminished roles, but have them.

 

The big decision (and this is all just a random splattering of thoughts right now) is what to do with the Seanchan and Aiel.  Seanchan first.  For budgetary and story concisness, do you want to have just one big bad (all manner of DO forces) or do you want to mix in the Seanchan?

 

The Aiel have similar considerations.  Huge new culture, requiring a ton of additional actors.  Is it worth keeping them in?

 

As readers, the obvious answer is YES.  But I can see how each would be left on the cutting room floor due to budget or story condensing.

 

Personally, I hope the approach is not to cut characters and peoples but storylines.

 

Stick to four main storylines, each spreading out as seasons continue.  Rand, Mat, Perrin and Aes Sedai.

 

What the the BIG events? (i.e season finale's)

 

Battle in the Blight/Eye of the World visit (probably need to bulk up.  I can also see this being completely changed to a new, more 'massive' TVish ending.)

Battle at Falme

Battle of Emond's Field

Battle of Caemelyn (FoH)

Dumai's Wells

Cleansing

Rand's TGS realization and nearly destroying the Seanchan/WT battle

 

Some new storyline's will be undoubetdly worked in, but take those and build all storyline's towards them.  (Yes I stopped at TGS, but I figure after that it's just one season that's basically the Last Battle.)

 

Season 1:  EotW

-Major priority: Establishing the characters, relationships and world (Dream sequences are huge, as are developing compelling villians.  Ishy yes, but if those two forsaken are going to be the big battle at the end, they need development or forshadowing as well.)

 

Season 2: TGH, with maybe some TDR thrown in

-Major priority: Further character growth, splitting of the team, Rand coming to abilities.  World building.

 

I'm not going to go season by season because I haven't put much thought into this, but the main point is that I hope the writers etc. build off of and towards main events instead of just cutting characters.  For example, the cleansing being a big event means you have to focus on the Madness of male Aes Sedai, which means some form of Asha'man and the effects the madness has.

 

Bowl of Winds storyline and most supergirl adventures?  Cut the former, and alter the latter to fit whatever major events you chose and the new storylines to build towards them.

 

As much as I hate to say it, it would not be a bad idea to leave Thom actually dead after the confrontation in tEotW.  Moraine as well after FoH.  Snakes and Foxes are AWESOME, and I'd leave them in, but maybe think of another reaoson for Mat to go back, or have it just be Moraine parting some knowledge before in Finnland before dying.  (She doesn't do much in the Last Battle anyway.)

 

Thinking through the big events, Fain is not very relevant.  He can easily be killed off early or not be in at all, and anything major he does be given to someone else.

 

One of the reasons to possibly cut the Seanchan is to give more development time to the Forsakan, who in theory are going to be the main villains.  (Can you imagine if the show creators can successfully translate the 'Where in the world is Demandred' we all went through to numerous forsaken over the course of the series?  Would make for great intrigue amongst viewers I believe.)

 

I'm going to stop now, since I could probably go on for about 10 pages.  I don't even know if any of that made any sense.  Forgive the misspelling of names, been a long time since I've reread the series.

 

I guess the main point is don't cut characters just because there are too many, work the important ones into the storylines, even if it means changing a bunch.  Just try to keep the personalities in tact.

 

Either way, looking forward to it.

 

[dexterryu]

Feels good to be back on this board.

 

Toughest part about trying to discuss the potential TV series is balancing what I personally want to see (a very close adaption with corresponding huge budgets to accomodate everything) vs what actually has a chance to happen.

 

For example, some combination of Nyn, Egwene, Min, Siuan etc can be cut or combined.

 

But to me, that would lose so much of the WoT feel.

 

First and foremost I want the characters and their relationships to be carried across to the TV screen.  It's what made WoT so engaging and long lasting.  We knew how the characters thought, what made them tick, and how they related to each other.

 

I'd keep all the major characters (let's call them the EotW crew plus Siuan and a few others.)  Maybe diminished roles, but have them.

 

The big decision (and this is all just a random splattering of thoughts right now) is what to do with the Seanchan and Aiel.  Seanchan first.  For budgetary and story concisness, do you want to have just one big bad (all manner of DO forces) or do you want to mix in the Seanchan?

 

The Aiel have similar considerations.  Huge new culture, requiring a ton of additional actors.  Is it worth keeping them in?

 

As readers, the obvious answer is YES.  But I can see how each would be left on the cutting room floor due to budget or story condensing.

 

Personally, I hope the approach is not to cut characters and peoples but storylines.

 

Stick to four main storylines, each spreading out as seasons continue.  Rand, Mat, Perrin and Aes Sedai.

 

What the the BIG events? (i.e season finale's)

 

Battle in the Blight/Eye of the World visit (probably need to bulk up.  I can also see this being completely changed to a new, more 'massive' TVish ending.)

Battle at Falme

Battle of Emond's Field

Battle of Caemelyn (FoH)

Dumai's Wells

Cleansing

Rand's TGS realization and nearly destroying the Seanchan/WT battle

 

Some new storyline's will be undoubetdly worked in, but take those and build all storyline's towards them.  (Yes I stopped at TGS, but I figure after that it's just one season that's basically the Last Battle.)

 

Season 1:  EotW

-Major priority: Establishing the characters, relationships and world (Dream sequences are huge, as are developing compelling villians.  Ishy yes, but if those two forsaken are going to be the big battle at the end, they need development or forshadowing as well.)

 

Season 2: TGH, with maybe some TDR thrown in

-Major priority: Further character growth, splitting of the team, Rand coming to abilities.  World building.

 

I'm not going to go season by season because I haven't put much thought into this, but the main point is that I hope the writers etc. build off of and towards main events instead of just cutting characters.  For example, the cleansing being a big event means you have to focus on the Madness of male Aes Sedai, which means some form of Asha'man and the effects the madness has.

 

Bowl of Winds storyline and most supergirl adventures?  Cut the former, and alter the latter to fit whatever major events you chose and the new storylines to build towards them.

 

As much as I hate to say it, it would not be a bad idea to leave Thom actually dead after the confrontation in tEotW.  Moraine as well after FoH.  Snakes and Foxes are AWESOME, and I'd leave them in, but maybe think of another reaoson for Mat to go back, or have it just be Moraine parting some knowledge before in Finnland before dying.  (She doesn't do much in the Last Battle anyway.)

 

Thinking through the big events, Fain is not very relevant.  He can easily be killed off early or not be in at all, and anything major he does be given to someone else.

 

One of the reasons to possibly cut the Seanchan is to give more development time to the Forsakan, who in theory are going to be the main villains.  (Can you imagine if the show creators can successfully translate the 'Where in the world is Demandred' we all went through to numerous forsaken over the course of the series?  Would make for great intrigue amongst viewers I believe.)

 

I'm going to stop now, since I could probably go on for about 10 pages.  I don't even know if any of that made any sense.  Forgive the misspelling of names, been a long time since I've reread the series.

 

I guess the main point is don't cut characters just because there are too many, work the important ones into the storylines, even if it means changing a bunch.  Just try to keep the personalities in tact.

 

Either way, looking forward to it.

 

I think a lot of people are underestimating the amount of streamlining that the camera and a set of actors can do vs a book. For example let's just take EoTW:

 

Ep1 - Prologue through saddling up to leave Winespring Inn.

 

Ep2 - The ride out of Emond's Field - Leaving Baerlon

 

Ep3 - Baerlon -  escaping from Shadar Logoth

 

Ep4 - Rands/Mat/Thom to fleeing the fade at WB.

 

Ep5 - Perrin / Egwene to being captured by the WC + Nyn/Lan/Moiraine preparing to rescue

 

Ep6 - Rescue of Perrin/Egwene + Rand/Mat to Caemlyn

 

Ep7 - Time at Caemlyn to leaving via the ways

 

Ep8 - Ways + Fal Dara

 

Ep9 - Blight + EoTW

 

Ep10 - Aftermath + Amyrlyn arriving.

 

Season 2 I would do Walking Dead style with two 8 episode arcs covering TGH and TDR.

 

Really don't need to start omitting/trimming characters until TSR when the plot really begins to branch.

[szilard]

Am I the only one surprised by the lack of traffic in this thread? I realize not much is known at this point but it is more clear than ever that WOT on TV is going to become a reality.

 

There is no problem with "traffic" (DM according to Alexa: global rank before: 630,000, after 438,000, rank in US before: 190,000 after 112,000): 48 replies + 1271 views, lurkers are the problem. They should join us, you know 'More eyes see more things' ... maybe they will join later?