Wheel of Time Movie in The Works

I don’t know about this – nearly every book adaptation I’ve seen lately has been terrible. As if the writers already had a plot in mind, and hacked up the existing story to match whatever they already had in mind. I’d be surprised if this is any different.

@Stormblazer I don’t know, I’ve seen some good film adaptations of books. (Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter come to mind.) I think the people involved with WoT know what they’re doing.

@Redwall_hp: I dunno… not everyone in Hollywood know what they are doing. If they hack up TWoT, it’ll be the end of it. They’re really gonna have to stick to the story and such. I pray the movie is as close as they can get it. LotR and HP got lucky in that department because they had some people to handle it with GREAT care.

Making a book into a movie is a huge gamble. Hollywood is like Las Vegas. You can only win so much until your luck runs out.

@Sessamaru: From what I’ve heard, it sounds like the people involved in the project will approach the task with the care it deserves. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt for now. (It’s too early to really know how things will shape-up. We won’t really know anything until the teaser trailer is out, right?) There’s always plenty of room for the story to be butchered, but I’m going to remain optimistic for now.

I hope they stick to the story. I have only read the first book and absolutely love this series. The only problem is that Rob Jordan is gone and he was the only man who truly knew how the people looked spoke accents etc. I would hope they take the care put into the Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series because this series has a huge fan base and im sure there would be some riots in front of universal studios if they dont do it right.

@Bill Ledger: I think Harriet McDougal (Jordan’s wife as well as the editor of the WoT series) probably has a good idea of what things should be like.

Who will be directing?
Will it be a multiple part(s) movie?
Can Peter Jackson direct it?
Will it be one of these cheesy “Dungeon and Dragons” movie?
Don’t get me wrong, I like the game but their movies are c rated at best.

@edmund: The details are still sparse, but…

“Who will be directing?”

The director has yet to be announced.

“Will it be a multiple part(s) movie?”

It’s still early enough that they haven’t said much about it, but I think there will only be one part to the first film. I don’t think they would want to risk a multi-part film for the first book. Let’s just hope the public responds well to the first movie so they’ll make more.

“Can Peter Jackson direct it?”

Probably not. He’s involved with The Hobbit as a writer (Del Toro is directing). As The Hobbit is set to have a 2011 release date, the same year as WoT, I don’t know if he’d have the time to direct the Eye of the World film. (Not to mention the lack of announcements in the director department so far.)

“Will it be one of these cheesy ‘Dungeon and Dragons’ movie?”

No. Unless something goes horribly wrong, it should be along the same caliber as the Lord of the Rings films.

Be sure to keep an eye on Fantasy Folder in the coming months. I’ll post updates once more information becomes available.

Only time and the movie will tell. One never knows what the hounds of Hollywood will do. For any of you who have read and enjoyed Terry Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” series and have glimpsed the God Forsaken TV series farce the have foisted off on an unsuspecting public, you know how writers, directors and producers can take a good story and totally screw it up. Of course I blame the author just as much as anyone since he, unlike WOT and LofTR, is still alive and fully involved in the scripting.

So hang onto your travel cloaks and pray that they try to stay true to the story Robert Jordan has given us.

@FantasyFigure While Terry Goodkinds “Sword of Truth” was indeed destryed. you have to think about the way they did it. They were planning for the series to be watched by people who havent read the books, and from what i’ve heard people really seem to like it. Because i’ve read the books however I think its a load of **** and refuse to watch it.

I’m really hoping they do the books justice with the movies. as im sure we all have realized, Robert Jordan is EXTREMLY long winded (I actually kinda like his writing because of it.) so they should be able to cut a lot of the book right there. I mean honestly, if you take out all of the extra detail in the books you can eliminate a good 2-300 pages easy.

I’m putting my trust in these guys to do this right and I hope you will to.

I think alot of how the movie is going to look has to do with the director so i would keep a close eye on who they pick and when they do look at some of his or her work so that you can have an idea. Obviously it could turn out much different from previous work but normally directors stick to what their good at i.e. James cameron, ridley scott, peter jackson. I havent seen the sword of truth show yet but i can only imagine it being on abc and all. In good news i dont know if many of you have read george rr martins song of ice and fire series yet but i would definitely recommend them to fans of the wheel of time seriez. Anyways, it seems HBO( thank god) will be doing a mini series of the books. Ive already looked at the cast and so far it meets my approval and that of the public. So until further news on the wheel of time movies check out these books. It should do a fine job of holding you over til more news comes out.

@brobro: I watched the Legend of the Seeker show before trying the books. I really enjoyed the pilot, and some of the following episodes. I then read some of the books (haven’t had the time or initiative to read the whole series, with other books in the way). They certainly are different, but it helps to look at them as different, partially related, series.

@Bodhi: I haven’t read A Song of Ice and Fire yet, but it’s something I’ve wanted to try when I have time.

As the two of you are obviously WoT readers, you’re probably aware of the new book coming out, with Brandon Sanderson writing in Jordan’s absence. If you haven’t tried Sanderson’s series yet, you can enter a drawing here on Fantasy Folder (thanks to Tor) for a copy of Sanderson’s Mistborn and a copy of The Eye of the World. Details here, all you have to do is leave a comment on the announcement post to enter:

http://www.fantasyfolder.com/n.....-mistborn/

im going to cry… );
this is most defonately going to be an epic fail… but i will have to see it anyway i guess… *dying inside* D;
the books are like my favorite books ever!! i want to be able to just like watch them make it and change what i think ought to be changed… its probably going to be the only way i can watch it and not cry… i really hope the dont mess up… );

ooooo!! and i cant wait till the next book comes out!!! just 3 days!!! 😀

@Chevy K: Don’t judge it until you see it. It’s too early to know anything about it yet, really. I’m going to remain optimistic until we get a trailer, then we can open the hatches and start criticizing things.

As for the book, believe me, you’re not the only impatient one. I have a copy right here, but I have a library book that I need to finish before I can start it. Gonna stay up late with the one book so I can get to WoT.

@Chevy K: Oh, and if the series makes it to the third book, the third film will have an epic Faile in it.

As long as the keep Michale Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer out of the same area code as the filming the movie has a chance. And as long as the dont cast every mega name in hollywood such as:

Kevin Spacey as Tom Maryland
Charlize Theron as Moraine
Vin Diesel as Lan
The 49ers as Children of the light
Brad Pitt as Mordith
Tom Hanks as Shai’tan
Meryl Streep as Siuan Sanche
Kyaneu Reeves as Ellias
etc…

you get my point…

“Tom Hanks as Shai’tan”

o_0 ?

But yeah, that’s a good plan.

I’m REALLY unsure about this. I love those books, and despite his death, I want to read the series through until the end. What I’ve seen in most movie adaptations of books has sickened me for the most part. What about the length of the series? The fact that so many little details need to be recognized? What characters are they going to leave out? (Likely a lot). How do they plan to make twelve movies which span only a few years in the time of the story in which the main characters will age little and the Aes Sedai WILL NOT ATE AT ALL! A TV series would be better, I think, though even that would be a streatch after a while. In all likelihood, they’ll screw this up as badly as they screwed up a few other fantasy movies I could name and be unable to make any sequals, so perhaps the aging actor factor won’t matter much at all…

I just want to know where I can audition. I really want to be in this movie.

i was thinking a television series would be better, like what they’re doing for the Sword of Truth series. each book could be a season. i think it’d be popular enough to get through all the books.

this is a fun site, for casting.
http://www.grupthink.com/topic.....Time_movie

i always felt at least Rand, Mat and Perrin should be relatively unknown but strong and talented actors

animated would probably be easiest, special effects-wise

@amanda: A TV show certainly is an interesting idea, but I really don’t like the animated idea. CGI is pretty cheap these days, and I’d rather see something of higher quality than an animated show would likely deliver. (Then there’s the persisting stigma that anything animated is for kids…)

It certainly won’t be easy to make movies of a series so enormous, but I think it can be done tastefully. Lord of the Rings worked well, Harry Potter hasn’t turned out too bad. I think it can work.

When i first heard this i wanted to wretch. I just couldn’t see how they could fit all of this in three films which is what there saying now, but i wasn’t optomistic about the last book either and i just finished it and loved it so i’m gonna give these guys the benifit of the doubt untill i see somthing myself. I just hope RJ’s wife is intimately involved as she could keep them on the right track.

@Gooch: Who said anything about is being compressed into three films? I haven’t seen a statement that says anything near that. So far we know that they will be doing a film of The Eye of the World, and if it’s successful they may move on to adapt the other books.

You know, of all the stories I wouldn’t mind them hacking down, wheel of time would be one of them. I really feel they could hack the entire story down to just focusing on Rand, Mat, and Perrin. They could even just focus on Rand. There are so many unnecessary details in these books that reading them becomes a nightmare. I know that everything written is supposed to be some forshadowing of future events, but I sweat sometimes when I read through these books it seems like RJ just got lost and wasn’t really sure where he meant to go with that. Oh well, let’s blow some people up at the end and that will make a good book! Anywho, I would appreciate a WoT movie but I hope they really do capture the essence of the characters and the general plot line.

@Doug: I would mind them hacking “the entire story down to just focusing on Rand, Mat, and Perrin.” I admit that some things can be left out, and that it is necessary in order to have a successful film. But doing something so radical would doom the movie from the start. The books’ core fan base would absolutely hate it, and without them I can’t see the movie succeeding.

The “unnecessary details” and the quantity of the characters are one of my favorite parts of the series, and many others certainly agree with me.

On the plus side, I think the story will move a lot faster as a movie than as a book, as there won’t be all of the description and narrative.

It is a really long book in which tons of stuff happenes. It will be butchered and trimmed. But it may still end up being a great movie if you put your books down and just watch.

All those “unnecessary” details are, believe it or not. necessary! You may not realize it but they are. There are pieces of the puzzle that you find in the first book, that make little or no sense until say 9 books later. Some people say RJ’s problem was that he didn’t know how to end the series (HA) when really he was just tying up the loose ends.

I really hope the big names of Hollywood aren’t involved. While some fan castings are good, if the concentration is on spending the money for faces, the rest of the movie isn’t going to be as good because the budget will be spent. The faces aren’t necessary because the books are so widely known, and the storyline alone is enough to attract audiences. I would hate to see WoT corrupted horribly by big faces in Hollywood. I think new, YOUNG, actors are important for it, just as they were important to Harry Potter in the beginning.

I agree that the details are important, but movies of that scope and caliber are not important and can be cut down effectively into screenplays, details divided into wardrobe, environment, visual effects and such. While there is much “action,” most of it can be cut down, but they need to make good decisions about those cuts and what other improvisations can be used to replace that information.

I hope a movie never comes to fruition. Everyone acts so in love with The Lord of The Rings trilogy and I absolutely hated those movies once the last one came out, Return of the King was just childish BS with that dwarf and Legolas counting off how many people they killed in a battle, that was just terrible and ridiculous and that kind of thing completely undermines the tone of the books which I did read. I have read all 12 books now and loved every second of them I wish RJ was alive to continue these stories so I would never have to stop reading them for the rest of my life. I do however agree an HBO mini-series would be the only way to go about it without completely selling out the material to attract all age groups.

@Armon2269: You can’t judge a movie that’s not even in production yet against some random fantasy film that you happened to not like. Personally, I’m totally against the HBO series idea (and there haven’t even been rumors about that…). First of all, I don’t subscribe to a cable TV service. Second, I’d much rather have 10-14 well-made movies over a mini-series.

On another site a guy had an article saying that a TV series would give the makers an ability to cover much more base material than movies would because an hour long episode a week could pull out more storyline than a movie that is 2 hours long that audiences may or may not even relate to. Besides, what series of movies do you know about that has 10-14 well made movies? As far as I remember Harry Potter and Star Wars have half that. So Matt I am discussing a series that I have been into and what I would like and you think you can call me out, First of all I never asked what others thought and don’t care if you are too cheap to subscribe to cable this isn’t all about you. I was giving my opinion. And second “F” off what other fantasy movie could WOT follow besides the most successful fantasy movies of all time The Lord of The Rings?

@Armon2269: I’m not trying to “call you out” on anything. I’m just stating my opinion.

By the end of the Harry Potter series, there will be a total of eight movies (Deathly Hallows being in two parts). That’s not too far off twelve. None of the movies have been bad so far, and I don’t see Deathly Hallows going that direction. I see no reason why they couldn’t make 10-14 movies.

I avoid cable TV for more reasons than just being “cheap.” I see no point in paying $60/month to watch TV shows, when I’m not all that into TV to begin with. There are only a few shows I really care about, and I’d love to see the cable/broadcast TV industry fall apart right now, and have shows move towards online distribution.

But this isn’t just about me not having cable. How many people watched the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter films? A lot. Now how many people do you think would have watched either as an HBO mini-series? I can’t see a mini-series ever having the same success as a blockbuster movie. I want to see a reasonably faithful adaptation of the books, but I also want to see as many people as possible discovering Wheel of Time, and possibly moving on to read the books.

In response to your last point, ignoring the “F off” part, who says they have to imitate any fantasy movie? A good director doesn’t need to look to another film to make a new movie. Wheel of Time isn’t any other fantasy story, and it can stand on its own.

Hollywood has only one choice but to take perfect care of this series.
The world that Robert Jordan had created in his days of writing is above and beyond Lord of the Rings, they are not even in comparison. The film to come will leave fans speechless when the film hits the big screens worldwide.
This is a series that cannot be made animation of a mini-series for television, it is just too delicate. It will be a major profit for Hollywood to create a feature length film series, as was Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter, even video games will be made of this.

im sorry to say this guys but it is very unlikley that tbis movie. will be made. it will be such a huge undertaking that it will be almost impossible to handle. very likey that they will bat around a script for a year or so…shelf it look at another. get a director. then hell drop out then they will get some names attached to play the boy which may help the production but then one of them will end up in rehab and that will put a halt on the whole thing. then tell look at another script and decided that its better but wont be able to find a director that wants to do it or the producer will drop out. In any case I have to say that as much as i would love this film to be made, LOVE LOVE LOVE it we all know that it will be alost impossible to do the books justice. so its probably best left alone. lets hope that the W O T that we all know and love wont be ruined forever. lets see that its not. if they do make it lets hope that its all unknows and they pick them for their abiltiy to play the characters and not to sell tickets. cant wait for the next book. lets see if rand/lews can keep on laughing

They should spend a lot of time on it, whatever they do. Span it over 20 years. Just don’t ruin perhaps the best fantasy series of our time with rushing it.

The fans and the viewers will appreciate it

I must start by saying this is my favorite series of novels, “The Light burn me if I don’t think so!” But we all have to keep an open mind because of the interpretation of Hollywood has usually turned out for the better. The purists will want to see every character, hear Lews Therin’s every thought, see every time Nynaeve grinds her teeth and pulls her braid. My God I hope not. I want to see Eye of the World almost in full. If not, Eye of the World, The Great Hunt and Dragon Reborn all in one. MAN What a movie that would be! I have thought about it after reading them again and listening to the audio books, which is great if you have a long commute or nothing else to do for 30 something hours for each book.
My take, 4 movies, 3 books per for the first 2 movies. The only problem I think will be after the climax that takes you through Lord of Chaos, the movies will be mired in characters and not a lot of action. Depending on how the last two books go, I think that you can compress Crown of Swords through Knife of Dreams into one movie. That would end up with Wheel of Time in 4 nice and tight, bloody and exciting epics!
Whatever they decide to do with this series, you know that everyone here and millions more will be watching them on the big screen as well as owning the packaged box set on DVD, playing the video game, and owning every action figure that comes out. I know it will be at least pretty good and will turn people on to see how the books actually are.

how could they truly stick to the story? not that i dont want this movie(s) to come out, but look at the lord of the rings. It was a very nicely done movie, cut a decent amount but over all did a very good job. Those 3 books were what 300-400 page3sd long? Now i know WoT is much more detailed and a heck of alot could be cut without affecting the end result so much, but still. U would have to make a movie per book almost maybe cutting afew afay. I think it woulda been much easier making the Sword of Truth series into a movie instead of a crap tv show(that sadly i watch like yet hate haha) anyway i can rant but i would love for this to happen. I would see it the day it came out and buy any extended version they had at whatever price.

the problem with making a book as big as the eye of the world into a movie is that they’re going to have to cut a lot of stuff out unless they want the movie to be like 30 hours long!!!!!!!!!!!

I tink James Cameron,Peter Jackson,Or Ridley Scott would be a good director

If only more than 49 people could read about this..

I’m not sure there’s enough material to make a good movie out of just the first book. I think they should make the movies out of the 3 sets of books. That would be 4 movies from 12 books. That way you won’t tie up a bunch of actors where they might die or run off for another movie.

I visited a site where everyone waqs speculating on the actor/actress for the part. Some were creative and some ridiculous. BUT, the point is there was a lot of postings. The WoT has a big following…maybe as big as LotR.

I just hope they don’t pull a 3D movie on us. I’m tiered of the $12 movie ticket just so the studio’s can claim “boxoffice hit” when its a lame movie wanting big bucks.

If they make the series into a movie saga, they will have to be detailed to all hell. I seem to recall Eragon (which is an “eh” book, but i read it mainly because he based most of his setting and alot of the story line on TWoT) was completely SLAUGHTERED as a movie. I guess we will see.

As for Robert Jordan having passed away, I think the new “writer will do a great job. Rob left enough notes to create the books the way he wanted, so i think it will be great.

look it is all about the director. Peter Jackson made Hollywood stick do the books and thats what made a masterpiece. I have read the wot series at least 9 times, every time a new book comes out I start from the first again. I have read the Sword of truth series as much and the Fire and Ice twice. The Sword of truth story would have easily held its own on Tv if they would have stuck to the books. It has everything Tv wants. Some reason they wanted it to be a Hercules or Xena show. As for Fire and Ice it will do well on HBO as long as they stay to the book it will be hugh for them. Wot will have to be three hour movies but if they stay with the books the fanbase will support and make them a success and gain new fans like lotr.

this would make a fantastic movie however im a bit skeptic to often has movie directors butchered fantasy novels in their attempt to make it a movie i see it to much as a chance at quick money than trying to be true to the movie i Really hope they listen to what the fans of the series have to say about the book because i have been reading some sites and some fans of the book have VERY promising ideas for characters and such i can only hope that we as fans and lovers of the book will try and get involved and hope that MR.Jordans wife and brandon sanderson will hold their standards as high for the movie as they have for the book if they have any say….because i think that to see such a wonderful piece of literature be butchered by a horribly flawed movie would be such a disaster i just wanna say to any fans reading even if it doesnt seem like much keep posting on forums make sure your ideas are heard lets do our best to make sure Mr.Jordans movie will do his memory proud

I think there is enough to bring It Together. Was really upset with book 12. Thought it was the end. We will see. Got to many loose endes

No, the “last book” became the “last three books.”

Towers of Midnight was pretty good, tying up a few more of those loose ends, and I suspect A Memory of Light is going to be awesome.

I don’t know if anyone has brought this point up yet, but how are they going to pull off the stilled Aes Sedai going from the “ageless” face to the “short of her middle years” look. That, to me, would be one of the hardest obstacles. There is no way to NOT incorporate that, as it is essential to a major plot throughout several of the books.

I hope the story stays true, however i hope that the film makers throw out the awkward 13 year old mentality throughout the whole series. not once is a sex scene directly stated, hell not even described in full, also how do you think the feminist community(who praised Jordan for giving females powerful roles) would react if mat was the one raping Tylin? IMO Jordan should have hired a REAL editor (the light bless his soul) also i hope that if they do all the books that the women are unnecessarily nude as often as in the books.

i cant wait n emma watson should play the part of elayne .lol

i fear the outcome of the movies. ever sense i saw the movie eragon i lost all faith in Hollywoods ability to reproduce a book based fantasy. but i try to keep an optimistic outlook. i want so badly to believe that this movie will be even okay. no matter how it turns out, as a loyal fan i am obligated to watch this movie and any that would follow.
one thing i feel should be required for anyone working on the movie is having read the first book. if that is done i believe everyone involved could be truer to the story line.

i personally would love to see this movies become a reality. i just hope that they stick to the book. i think it’ll be great :). and i believe it’ll blow lord of the rings out of the water. cant wait to see it.

i am excited about the movie but there are some parts of the book that may be hard to put a picture on …..and there are alot of people out there that here a word they dont know then dont want to watch it
……plus so far on some of the “oficial” sites the characters have been a bad choice not to mention that most grown ups dont like all the magic and stuff like that i mean i love it because i have a big imagination ( i am only 12 )
…..some parts are a little inaproprete 2 for kids my age although the way things are headed we may enter a world that has such in first grade after all i had my first real relationship in 4th grade and i know a little girl how thinks she is already married

This would make a great movie. I read the books and listened to the audio books also (COOL). This would make a great series on scifi channel or another.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it will suck they will fail epicly

IMHO they should sell those rights to HBO that story is wayyyyyyy to long to capture in a movie, the game of thrones ppl at HBO could do magic with that and it would

I doubt they would be able to stick to the book, the trick is do the story justice and not judge it too heavily on the book. Look at AMC’s walking dead, not a direct translation of the comic but still masterfully done alongside with GoT also well done

I can’t see how this could be anything other than a disappointment. In the first book Moiraine is described, when they first see her as having blonde hair and blue eyes and she’s strange looking because Andor folk are dark featured. So later she becomes dark haired and eyed which is probably what they’ll go with but I see her always as first mentioned. There is no way that they will be able to cast a satisfactory crew unless they’re all unknown. They story will no doubt be raped like a muslims goat. I’m still reading the series, on the shadow rising, Elayne just told rand how she feels… kinda… and the description of her is such a unique woman I don’t think anyone would fit it, well I do know someone who almost does but that’s not relevant here. If this is made and it’s shit, I’ll never watch another adaptation again. BTW they should consult fans before making any solid decisions so they don’t fuck it. Like that would happen though.

I cannot comment on what the actors or how the director will do on this project, but I will say that I highly respect the late Mr. Jordan as an author. His books have been very influential to me. I have read all 15 volumes over and over and in my opinion he surpasses JRR Tolkien. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Jordan, and have studied his history. He was a great man and his books are a legacy that is beyond our time. Let’s hope the movies measure up to the standard he set.