Way of Kings in popular media

[Sasukerinnegan he/him]

Hi, I started this thread to ask u guys a question. In what form would u like the Way of Kings to appear in popular media? Presently there are two major options - as a movie or a tv series. Both have their pros and cons.

 

A movie would have awesome special effects and  I can totally imagine some awesome scenery, like Avatar. However the con is that such a movie would have to be heavily edited and half or more of the scenes would have to be cut to be within a reasonable size. Even Lord of the Rings became too long with 4 and 1/2 hr long movies. The Way of Kings which is way larger would not fit within a reasonably sized movie. Also note, while The Eye of the World was bought by a studio, it hasn't yet been made into a movie primarily because of its length, I think.

 

But, on the other a tv series like Song of Ice and Fire has its own defects.While more of the plot could be captured, they would have nowhere near the budget of a movie and therefore none of the superb special effects. While political fantasies like the SoIaF can be accurately represented, there is no way epic fantasies like TWoK can be shown with all the special effects needed.

 

Which brings me to an out-of-the-box suggestion. I believe that there is a format that could accurately capture both the length and special effects needed. I believe ANIME is a good option. Now, I admit I have no idea how it could be done nor any idea about the process involved. But, I must point out that visual novels (which are more or less like Western novels) have been made into anime for a long time. I admit that I am biased toward anime. The advantages, however are obvious. Far fewer scenes will have to be edited and it definitely will not look bland. So I wanted to ask u guys, What do u think??? Anyone interested in seeing Kaladin or Dalinar in an anime???  

 

Any other suggestions are also welcome.

Edited November 13, 2013 by Sasukerinnegan

[cem he/him]

If it has to be anything, video game with an unrelated plot, different characters, a different time frame and/or different nations. I don't like it when books are directly converted into movies or TV. They always have to alter stuff to fit better. Every time I notice a difference between a book and a movie, I think to myself "that wasn't like that in the book", no matter how small the difference. It spoils all the fun and I usually end up driving myself crazy.

[Sasukerinnegan he/him]

I totally agree.......

[Gloom he/him]

I like it just fine as a book. I can see some of Brandons work being converted into a film format, but I don't think the Cosmere works would benefit from this at all.

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

I had to say none of the above. I think it would require the time of a TV series, each having the budget of a single movie. Video games almost never turn out well, which is why, as someone who plays a lot of them, I am both excited and worried about the Mistborn game. Of course I will own it and play it, but I find myself in constant cringe mode. (If only Spider Man II had turned out poorly, I could say they NEVER work out.  )

[king of nowhere]

WoK will never be converted into a tv series. There aren't enough sex scenes or it.

sad but true.

Same applies to a movie, but it would be too long for it.

as for the anime option, I'm now picturing myself a dragonball-style version of way of kings. It's hilarious, in a trash-movie way. I definitely want to NOT see it.

And videogames, even when they have a good plot, tend to turn it into an endless excuse to mow down mooks and do sidequests. I can picture kaladin going around the camp bringing messages and talking to people to get the early sidequests. no thanks.

 

So, unless some billionaire fan decides to single-handedly finance a 10-hour long movie just for the sake of it, I think we're better off without adaptation.

[Argent he/him]

I would vote for a TV adaptation - it allows for more content. Though I admit that the special effects might be an issue... Still, Game of Thrones has done wonders for the genre and series offers and deals are flying left and right. 

[Meg]

I believe ANIME is a good option.

 

I don't know how Mr. Sanderson thinks about making a movie (or series) of TWoK, but I totally hope it's not gonna be an animated cartoon or an anime or something like this.

 

I cannot give a objective reasoning, it just feels absolutely wrong.

[Gloom he/him]

I think a good comic book company could do the series justice. I think TWoKs graphic novel would be rather thick, but similar things have been done with other books.

[Natans he/him]

WoK will never be converted into a tv series. There aren't enough sex scenes or it.

sad but true.

 

They allways could call Esme Bianco to play a "courtesan" and  fill the quote

 

I would be happy with anything, I even liked Sword of Truth serie, with all cheesiness included =)

 

But give the nature and legth of the books I think that only a anime could, in a not astronomical budget, show all the awesomeness of the books. (let's be frank Kaladin brigde 4 rescue in the midle of a battle would be the nightmare of any producer).

 

For now I would be happy with  ARC copy of the book two =)

Edited October 23, 2013 by Natans

[deddinty]

I wouldn't want to see anyone try a live adaption unless it was a huge budget production.  With such a strange world, emphasis on eye color, and so much glowing it would require a very large budget to pull off.  I just can't see that kind of budget being realistically committed. 

 

The problem with saying an "anime" adaption is people always think cheaply animated kids shows, rather than well done animation.  Anime like "Cowboy Bebop" style, or cartoons like "Avatar" would be more the way I would see this animated.  

 

Personally I would love to see a full CGI version rather than live action.  That way there would be a better chance of the effects and things like eye color being done properly. 

 

Either that or a video game on Roshar, not necessarily this entire story.  The world and the magic system as we know it now would be a great basis for an MMO or RPG.  We have ten classes (the orders) who have to learn and level up their powers?  If it turns out the Voidbringers are almost like anti radiants (using the same surges but in different ways or combinations) that would be even better as a basis for PvP play.  I would probably want it set during a time of desolation.

[name_here]

I've been watching a frankly embarrassing amount of Anime over the last year. TWoK would fit in quite well with, uh, anime that most of you have probably never heard of.

 

A TV show would be an utter disaster because of budget constraints, and a movie probably wouldn't fare much better and run into time constraints.

[jag519 he/him]

I think videograme would be great. Just being in the world but probably not very plot related.

 

Even like an Age of Empires, Way of Kings or Age of Stormlight game would be cool. lol

 

But specifically a game based in the far past would be cool, fighting voidbringers and saving villagers. 

[Chrono she/her]

I think that if the Way of Kings was adapted into a manga style graphic novel, that could be good. My beef with movies is that there's only so much that you can reasonably cram into two hours, and that's if you cut out all of the emotional and mental turmoil of the characters, which is very hard to portray accurately onscreen. A TV show wouldn't have the budget for a huge project like this, mainly because of all the CGI and special effects things like Stormlight and Soulcasting would be expensive to produce. A videogame... Now that's a good idea, but I think it would be hard to come up with a fun gameplay system. Perhaps if you played as a Knight Radiant before the Recreance, that would be cool. 

[Iredomi]

If it has to be anything anime or unrelated game would be the best idea. However I certainly would not want to see a direct adaptation, a spin off suitable for the medium of film of TV series would be cool though.

[Arondell]

I think to do the story justice it would really be best as a television series either animated or live action.   That being said given the differenece in format there would have to be some changes but if the director/screen writers truly want to stay true to the story such changes can be fairly smooth.

 

If the makers are fans of the work then it could turn out great.  On the other hand even if the director and writers are competent if they aren't fans they will inevitably make changes to the story that they think makes it better.

[Argent he/him]

Now that I think about, something like Fullmetal Alchemist or even Avatar (though I find the latter much more... childish, even in its second iteration) miiight work.

[name_here]

I was thinking more in the animation style of A Certain Magical Index. Fullmetal Alchemist is pretty good and quite serious, but its style of animation involves a lot of silly animation gags.

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

RETRACTION: I don't think Brandon is above putting out a sort of alternate storyline that would make a video game work out really well. I've spent time thinking about it and it really would not be so far off from a sort of "Force Unleashed" / "Assassin's Creed" game if you based it on the right characters. I started a topic in the technology forum (or whatever it is called) talking about this. What I find really fun about these books is how creative the characters can be with their powers, so the system for casting those would have to be really well constructed to make it feel right. But doable, and that is what I would want in an ideal world.

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

Way of Kings and Mistborn would both make great animes. Most of you know that I used to work for TOKYOPOP, so I am biased toward Japanese media.

[Gloom he/him]

Well, the oversized swords would certainly fit into the genre.

[Sasukerinnegan he/him]

Mr Peter thnxs for the support.  

 

I'd like to ask you, would it be possible to actually convert TWoK into an anime? Although Japanese light novels and visual novels are often converted into anime, I've never actually heard of a Western novel being converted into an anime. X men did become an anime but that's a comic. 

 

In fact, I remember that Mr Brandon was once asked if he would consider converting Mistborn into an anime. At the time, he replied that he'd like to but that he had no idea how to go about doing it.

[name_here]

There is no reason it would be impossible. There's some anime-style stuff for western video games, such as Halo and Dead Space, as well as for some movies and TV shows. I don't know about western books specifically. The hard part would be finding an animation studio willing to make it; the problem with us fantasy/SF fans is that all too many of us are enamored of streaming and DVDs and make for poor ratings. Though by the same token, Hulu and Netflix are getting into making their own shows these days.

[Shardlet he/him]

If you ask me, anime was made for Mistborn!  I truly and emphatically believe that this would be far and away the way to present Mistborn.

[Krazeemee he/him]

 

So, unless some billionaire fan decides to single-handedly finance a 10-hour long movie just for the sake of it, I think we're better off without adaptation.

I'd watch it...