Despite some trepidation on author Patrick Rothfuss’ part, Lionsgate has optioned the rights to do a Kingkiller Chronicle series, following the expiration of the option that Fox previously held. The film company, judging by the author’s blog entry, seems serious about pulling it off and working with him to do something…different.

From Pat’s announcement, it’s clear that Rothfuss has something unconventional in mind. Some sort of hybrid story playing to the strength of cinema and television. The question is what the joint venture will come up with. A big-budget TV series or miniseries? A movie with an associated series? A serialized movie told in multiple parts, like The Hobbit and Harry Potter popularized?

When I met with Lionsgate, I said, “If you come at me with a movie offer, it’s going to be a hard sell. I’m not that excited about movies by themselves. But you guys are different from a lot of other studios. Those guys are huge. Monolithic. But you’re more agile and innovative. Your movie people and your TV people actually know each other. They could work together. Share resources.

I continued: “If you came at me with a pitch that involved a television show AND a movie, I’d listen to that. I’d listen really hard, because something like that would let us be big-budget while still giving my story room to breathe. It would give people the ability to spend more time in my world. I can’t think of anyone who has really done that, but it seems like we could have the best of both worlds that way. And it seems to me that you guys are one of the only places that could realistically pull something like that off.”