What do you think would the best Sanderson book series geared towards a movie or television show?

[Moash]

It is likely that this kind of discussion has definitely been done before, I could not find one though and really wanted to discuss this with fellow users on this website.

 

 

 

I am wondering what you all think would be the easiest to adapt and the most fitting for film book series by Brandon. Personally I think Steelheart would be the best option as it has a good sized cast, tons of action, post apocalyptic setting and superpowered villains. A good sized budget and good cast would allow the book to fit nicely onto screen with most of the content smoothly being transferred to the screen. What do you think would be best for a movie or tv show out of his books?

Edited November 27, 2014 by Moash

[Newan]

Steelheart would make a great movie, and Legion would be a pretty cool tv show.  

 

As far as cosmere stuff goes, I think that most of his books could be turned into movies, but they would have to be heavily watered down (except for The Emperor's Soul).  

 

If I got a cosmere tv show, I would want to see original content that was created with the medium in mind.  Wouldn't it be cool to see a tv show that takes place in the Roughs?  Or maybe one on Threnody?  

 

A Stormlight Archive tv show would be absolutely amazing, but it would require a budget the size of Alethkar.  I hope to see it someday, but I doubt that day will come soon.  Maybe in a couple of decades.  

 

I hope they never adapt Alcatraz.  The best part of those books is the ridiculous narration, and I just don't think it would translate over to film.

[mail-mi]

I remember reading that Legion was written specifically to have that "TV show" feeling. I think it's actually been optioned.

[Moash]

I remember reading that Legion was written specifically to have that "TV show" feeling. I think it's actually been optioned.

Yeah it has been optioned as a tv show. I have yet to read it but now that I have a Kobo I will start to download the Legion stories as they sound pretty interesting. It always irked me that i could not read some of brandon's novels because they were ebook only. Not anymore!

[Moash]

Steelheart would make a great movie, and Legion would be a pretty cool tv show.  

 

As far as cosmere stuff goes, I think that most of his books could be turned into movies, but they would have to be heavily watered down (except for The Emperor's Soul).  

 

If I got a cosmere tv show, I would want to see original content that was created with the medium in mind.  Wouldn't it be cool to see a tv show that takes place in the Roughs?  Or maybe one on Threnody?  

 

A Stormlight Archive tv show would be absolutely amazing, but it would require a budget the size of Alethkar.  I hope to see it someday, but I doubt that day will come soon.  Maybe in a couple of decades.  

 

I hope they never adapt Alcatraz.  The best part of those books is the ridiculous narration, and I just don't think it would translate over to film.

 

I heard that Dreamworks at one point had rights to Alcatraz, I don't know as i would have somewhat liked them as some animated kids movies with great Dreamworks humour.

 

I would love a ten season epic fantasy show called Stormlight, budget for that show might even dwarf that required for a wheel of time show since we are getting some insane stuff with all the effects, roshar and all the insane emerging systems of magic plus the cast.

 

What do you mean by almost every cosmere book would have to be watered down? Do you mean less violent or shortened and some content cut out?

 

I would have liked a Mistborn tv show but the problem again comes back to budget. I doubt there is any tv show out there with the budget to pull off allomancy, scadrial's atmosphere and its organisms. I think 5 seasons might work as you could definitely split books into a few seasons. The problem is that there are not great starting and stopping points to do that. Mistborn of course could just be 3 long seasons but that feels short. The good thing about a tv adaption is that all characters would be able to shine and the story and lore could really be explored. I think the best option is a trilogy of films (actually hero of ages would no doubt be split into two parts, thank you for this cycle of two parts Harry Potter). Have a trilogy of films like Lotr. I mean the lotr films were all quite long, longer than average and I think mistborn would need that. Then just have a big budget. Movies have the budget and television has the storytime. If you extended the movies you could give every character their moments and show off other cool little things. I think a trilogy of films each at least 2 and a half hours long or longer in order to not omit anything epic. Do the trilogy that way and do it precisely then use your huge budget to make something great.

[ChullRider]

Stormlight Archive, would be cool, but it'd be hard to make with all the important narration in the books.

 

Edit: Also, aren't they making a movie for Mistborn?

[Unhinged]

Also, aren't they making a movie for Mistborn?

I heard that a video game was in the works but it's still vary much up in the air. the only thing I've seen for a movie was one fan made trailer. 

 

Steelheart has all the makings of a great film in fact some of Brandon's comments at the end of the book say he hopes it will be made into a movie. But film companies do tend to wait till the books are done so I'd say a few years before we have any chance of seeing it.

 

I could see Mistborn or Stormlight getting a TV series but there needs to be further advancement in the field of computer generated effects before ether show becomes a possibility... a lot further, but I wouldn't rule it out completely.

[Blaze1616]

I would not want an adaptation of Mistborn for the simple fact that it would no doubt be a screw up. The novels were fine and all, but Allomancy would be difficult to portray. How do you show that Breeze is influencing someone's emotions? What about copperclouds? You can't make them visible, but how would you show it? And let's not even venture (see what I did there?) into the realm of using iron and steel, for they would no doubt screw up the whole center of mass stuff. Also everyone would be flaying their arms around to show that they are pushing/pulling, which will make for an easy excuse to not use the center of mass factor. It would be terrible. Possibly worse than Eragon. Never mind, nothing can be that bad...

 

I would like to see a television show called Warbreaker. Or Hallandren. Or better yet, Colors. Given that the magic is not heavily used it would not break a TV show's budget. Moreover, the color distortion is a simple visual effect, and the other bonuses from the Heightenings can be easily shown. It would be easy to do, and would fall under the political intrigue genre that is getting popular right now.

[harry31j97]

^^ This. Most of the Mistborn magic system, if they do manage to get the budget for it, wil look like telekinesis to those who haven't read the books. The entertainment of that magic system comes from imagining it in our mind & I don't think they will able to make justice to that.

 

Edit: Also I don't like the idea of Brandon getting pulled out of his writing to adjust his novels to screenplay, instead of giving us new novels.

Edited November 28, 2014 by Ookla the Ensconced
please do not double post, use the edit feature

[Fedcomic]

Reckoners seems like the easiest to adapt for a movie and Legion would be great on TV, for the reasons mentioned above. 

 

Edit: Also I don't like the idea of Brandon getting pulled out of his writing to adjust his novels to screenplay, instead of giving us new novels.

 

I also worry about this. The HBO Game of Thrones series is popularizing GRR Martin's work, but it's certainly not helping him finish the novels any faster. And I have heard that David Wolverton/Farland's time working in Hollywood and on video games may have slowed his writing down for a while also. 

[Moash]

Some of the valid criticisms at the idea of mistborn as a film make me sad, they are true and I reluctantly agree. I would like Nalthis as a tv show and as a game but I hear there will only be two books and that world deserves more. Also two middle sized books are not enough in my opinion for a show.

[Shaggai]

Mistborn would work. Steel and iron have the blue lines, remember, and Kelsier explains them to Vin before either one really gets used. Copperclouds don't need to be visible, because they get explained. Bronze could be done with sound effects. Brass and zinc are more difficult, but even in the book you can't really tell whether or not Breeze is doing anything, unless it's specifically noticed by one of the characters.

[gjustice99]

I think that Elantris would probably be the best as a movie. Warbreaker would be hard because of the scenes where Susebron is writing to Siri because of his inability to speak. Mistborn would be hard because it would be hard to portray the magic. I can't think of any such problems with Elantris.

[king of nowhere]

I would not want an adaptation of Mistborn for the simple fact that it would no doubt be a screw up. The novels were fine and all, but Allomancy would be difficult to portray. How do you show that Breeze is influencing someone's emotions? What about copperclouds? You can't make them visible, but how would you show it? And let's not even venture (see what I did there?) into the realm of using iron and steel, for they would no doubt screw up the whole center of mass stuff. Also everyone would be flaying their arms around to show that they are pushing/pulling, which will make for an easy excuse to not use the center of mass factor. It would be terrible. Possibly worse than Eragon. Never mind, nothing can be that bad...

 

I would like to see a television show called Warbreaker. Or Hallandren. Or better yet, Colors. Given that the magic is not heavily used it would not break a TV show's budget. Moreover, the color distortion is a simple visual effect, and the other bonuses from the Heightenings can be easily shown. It would be easy to do, and would fall under the political intrigue genre that is getting popular right now.

 

The guys who had optioned the mistborn movie were working with sanderson on the script to fix that. I remember that or iron and steel they would eliminate the blue lines (which would overly complicate the image) and instead make metals glow blue. there were other solutions described also. in general, it can be done, and mistborn 1 can be adapted to a movie of reasonable lenght. So I think that would be the best series to convert to a movie.

still, they haven't found anyone willing to produce it until now.

[Blaze1616]

The guys who had optioned the mistborn movie were working with sanderson on the script to fix that. I remember that or iron and steel they would eliminate the blue lines (which would overly complicate the image) and instead make metals glow blue. there were other solutions described also. in general, it can be done, and mistborn 1 can be adapted to a movie of reasonable lenght. So I think that would be the best series to convert to a movie.

still, they haven't found anyone willing to produce it until now.

 

But there is more to it than the simple solution offered, and I'm quite convinced any real changes could easily ruin any adaptation they make. Glowing metals would not allow Inquisitor's to see, because a glow would cause any objects to seem larger to the Inquisitor's. In addition, due to the medium being one of mostly sight and some sound, the movie/show would need to somehow portray that the magic was being used. So the following solution would not work:

 

Mistborn would work. Steel and iron have the blue lines, remember, and Kelsier explains them to Vin before either one really gets used. Copperclouds don't need to be visible, because they get explained. Bronze could be done with sound effects. Brass and zinc are more difficult, but even in the book you can't really tell whether or not Breeze is doing anything, unless it's specifically noticed by one of the characters.

 

Emphasis added. This solution would not work because, even if a scene were to occur where they specifically explain the mechanics, the lack of any visual or audible cues detracts from the movie. Sound effects could be used for the emotional allomancy, but then an awkward scene would need to be implemented to specifically point out that the in-world characters do not hear anything.

 

the proposed solutions sound great to us, people who have read the books and greatly enjoyed them. But to everyone who has not read the books, who has not enjoyed the story in it's original medium, I think the movie would fall flat. Examples would be Scott Pilgrim and The Last Airbender. Fantastic stories that captivated in their original medium (graphic novel and television show respectively), but fell flat on their faces once in movie format (though Scott Pilgrim was a very enjoyable movie to all the people I know who read the comics).

[RawToast225]

I think Warbreaker would be an incredibly dull movie and a worse TV show.

 

Steelheart would be a perfect movie or miniseries. If it was a miniseries, they could do little shorts in between and that way they could do Mitosis.

 

Stormlight Archive would make terrible books and TV shows. Not even a miniseries would be good enough for it.

 

Mistborn might be a good TV show, but not a movie. Too much happens in it to be a movie, but with a TV show, you could have some good cliffhangers for each episode.

 

Emperor's Soul and Elantris would be pretty awesome to see in the same movie if there was a stronger connection between them. As it stands, ES couldn't even be called a sequel.

 

Alcatraz movies would suck. A lot. It would be a repeat of the Percy Jackson disaster.

 

The thing about a Shadows for Silence type TV series is that it wouldn't be Sanderson. It would be someone else making up the plotlines, where Mistborn already has one to follow.

 

Legion would be a good TV series because of the individual cases with the overarching background story. It's almost perfect for a TV series.

 

Those are my thoughts.

[king of nowhere]

If sanderson himself has worked  to the script, and is enthusiastic about it, I'm going to trust him on the matter.

Anyway, while a movie can't keep the same plot as a book, the main reason I'd want to watch a movie of a book is to see the setting and the characters and the visual effects. so, I would most love to see roshar, but alas, that would take too much money. the ashworld and luthadel's cathedrals come next in the list of what i would like to see on a screen. the other books don't have a strong enough visual component in my mind.

[Shaggai]

But there is more to it than the simple solution offered, and I'm quite convinced any real changes could easily ruin any adaptation they make. Glowing metals would not allow Inquisitor's to see, because a glow would cause any objects to seem larger to the Inquisitor's. In addition, due to the medium being one of mostly sight and some sound, the movie/show would need to somehow portray that the magic was being used. So the following solution would not work:

 

 

Emphasis added. This solution would not work because, even if a scene were to occur where they specifically explain the mechanics, the lack of any visual or audible cues detracts from the movie. Sound effects could be used for the emotional allomancy, but then an awkward scene would need to be implemented to specifically point out that the in-world characters do not hear anything.

 

the proposed solutions sound great to us, people who have read the books and greatly enjoyed them. But to everyone who has not read the books, who has not enjoyed the story in it's original medium, I think the movie would fall flat. Examples would be Scott Pilgrim and The Last Airbender. Fantastic stories that captivated in their original medium (graphic novel and television show respectively), but fell flat on their faces once in movie format (though Scott Pilgrim was a very enjoyable movie to all the people I know who read the comics).

Nobody notices copperclouds most of the time in the books. It's only when Bronze gets used that it matters, and even then it's just an absence. There could be a background sound for Bronze.

[beef man]

Stormlight Archive was made to be an Anime. The Swords and armor are straight anime style. As is the way many of the alethi customs stem from Orient cultures. Anime would also make the special effects easier than a live action. Not to mention it could be long enough for the series. Seems animes have no trouble producing hundreds of episodes that go into depth on plots and fight scenes

[king of nowhere]

Stormlight Archive was made to be an Anime. The Swords and armor are straight anime style. As is the way many of the alethi customs stem from Orient cultures. Anime would also make the special effects easier than a live action. Not to mention it could be long enough for the series. Seems animes have no trouble producing hundreds of episodes that go into depth on plots and fight scenes

Now I'm seeing the stormlight archive portrayed like dragonball Z. In my head kaladin is screaming to summon his stormlight aura while an aghast szeth remarks that he's over nine thousands, all complete with the announcer's voiceover telling the recap of the episode and trying to create suspence for the next episode while the characters are frozen in ridiculous poses.

Shame on you.

(dragonball fans, don't hate me. I've never read the original so I cannot know how it was, but the version they did for live tv was pretty terrible)

[SmurfAquamarineBodies]

I wouldn't mind if the back story for stormlight was made into an anime. Making it about the formation of the Oathpact and a couple of Desolations up till the formation of the Knights Radiant would work. Then there'd be no issue with trying to fit the book to anime and to be honest it would be far more interesting for us and non fans. IMO.

[Shaggai]

I dislike the idea of making it animated at all. Anime has a rather limited audience to begin with, and I want to see Roshar in live-action.

[Blaze1616]

Stormlight Archive was made to be an Anime. The Swords and armor are straight anime style. As is the way many of the alethi customs stem from Orient cultures. Anime would also make the special effects easier than a live action. Not to mention it could be long enough for the series. Seems animes have no trouble producing hundreds of episodes that go into depth on plots and fight scenes

 

The only problem with this, at least in my opinion, is that all the best anime is only 1-2 seasons long. That's honestly why I love anime so much. They have no problem ending their story. It's something western television needs to learn 

[beef man]

I'm not saying it should be animated. - But from the first time I read the how shards were described and the way the combat and poses were done my mind was stuck on Final Fantasy, Samurai Jack, Narutu, and various other JRPGs and Animes. Super huge swords. Over extended stances and poses. Holding their hand out to the side as they run to summon their blade. And the whole fight seen at the end of Words of radiance with two flying streaks of light separating and re-colliding over and over again. - I am willing to bet Brandon Sanderson will admit to being influenced by Anime or at least JRPGs when writing the Stormlight Archive. As such I think Anime would be its most natural form. If we could get a good live action of it, I'd take that any day.

Edited December 3, 2014 by beef man

[king of nowhere]

I'm not saying it should be animated. - But from the first time I read the how shards were described and the way the combat and poses were done my mind was stuck on Final Fantasy, Samurai Jack, Narutu, and various other JRPGs and Animes. Super huge swords. Over extended stances and poses. Holding their hand out to the side as they run to summon their blade. And the whole fight seen at the end of Words of radiance with two flying streaks of light separating and re-colliding over and over again. - I am willing to bet Brandon Sanderson will admit to being influenced by Anime or at least JRPGs when writing the Stormlight Archive. As such I think Anime would be its most natural form. If we could get a good live action of it, I'd take that any day.

He explicitly mentioned that shardblades were inspired by some rpg videogames with oddly oversized swords. and the summoning came because otherwise his characters would keep getting stuck on doors.I don't know about the rest.

So, maybe he wasn't influencced by anime, but for sure he was influenced by stuff that was influenced by anime.

Anyway, I'd really, really love to see roshar in a realistic way on a movie with good special effects. or, even better, on an oculus visor.

Annd after watching all that poor adaptation of dragonball (it was so bad it became sort of funny) I don't think I could ever take an anime seriously. Well, league of legends has anime-style graphics and I play it, but I had to keep playing for, like, one year before it stopped bothering me.