Movie Adaption of the Way of Kings

[The One Who Connects he/him]

13 hours ago, Mr. Staccato said:

So okay I can live without Nightblood's cameo being not important - and I can also live with the worldhoppers at Purelake not appearing in the movie or whatever - but I just find it so frustrating that in the process of going with Stormlight first, we'll end up with so many things losing coherence and meaning.

Nightblood's cameo only meant a lot because we had read Warbreaker, so it would only mean a lot if we had watched Warbreaker beforehand. That would happen no matter what order the movies were produced in, since newer people would watch them in whichever order they wanted to, just like the MCU movies. There is a timeline, but without it being stated before-hand, not everyone will be aware of it when they pick their first movie. The Cosmere would have the same problem, only worse b/c most of the movies are in completely different locations, rather than Cap's narrow bit of Earth, Iron Man's narrow bit of Earth, etc.. But I agree that making Stormlight first was a strange decision

14 hours ago, maxal said:

Also, Lift's powers are regrowth which isn't the same process Nale uses to save Szeth: he uses a Fabrial which we glimpsed into one of Dalinar's visions. We could use it to present the idea.

I always figured it was a Fabrial that performed Regrowth, since we know that Fabrial science replicate the surges. I see your point though, since the audience doesn't know that fact

[Krandacth]

2 hours ago, The One Who Connects said:

I always figured it was a Fabrial that performed Regrowth, since we know that Fabrial science replicate the surges. I see your point though, since the audience doesn't know that fact

Actually, the Radiant who heals Dalinar in his vision with the Midnight Essence says that she doesn't want to use too much/waste Regrowth on Dalinar, after the initial healing of his more life threatening wounds.  So that fabrial, at least, is explicitly a Regrowth fabrial.

Edit: This, plus the Lift interlude, should be enough to set up the mechanics of the resurrection of Szeth with little-to-no ambiguity. However, the concept could probably be more clearly stated in that final scene for the film.

Edited March 7, 2017 by Krandacth
Clarification of my comment

[The One Who Connects he/him]

2 minutes ago, Krandacth said:

Actually, the Radiant who heals Dalinar in his vision with the Midnight Essence says that she doesn't want to use too much/waste Regrowth on Dalinar, after the initial healing of his more life threatening wounds.  So that fabrial is explicitly a Regrowth fabrial.

I was talking about the one Nalan used on Szeth, but thanks for confirming that those do exist at least

[Walin he/him]

There are a couple of necessities for making a Way of Kings movie:

First, realize that Mistborn has a way easier setup for movie adaptation (you don't even have to change the function of the metals; just have some sort of sound play when someone starts burning, like a soft cymbal crash-sounding thing that you could use when going into slow motion)

Second, either have Kaladin's story arc occur sequentially, or have his flashbacks occur during keywords or phrases ( i.e. when applying infield medical care to bridgemen, "How do you heal them so well?" Kaladin-"I wasn't always a soldier"- initiate flashback of training with his father /// in slave wagon or chasms "So how did a man like you become a slave?" Kaladin-"Lighteyes don't like it very much when you refuse their gifts" - initiate flashback of fighting with army and shardbearer and aftermath /// etc.)

 

Thirdly, realize that to adapt high fantasy into movies, you need it to be a freakishly long movie, or have an 'extended edition' released for dedicated, confused, or buy-everything fans like LOTR did.

Fourth, realize that MISTBORN DOES HAVE THE BEST ADAPTABILITY for movies.

Fifth:????

Sixth: profit

If they follow those four steps the movie will turn out great for first-time watchers, and maybe even for people who have read the books.

[Guest]

21 hours ago, Mr. Staccato said:

@jofwu  @BeskarKomrk  @The One Who Connects @maxal and basically everyone else who responded.

Well, I guess I see the point - it's not like TSA's appeal came from that one scene alone, everybody read Stormlight because Stormlight is, you know, AWESOME. The cameos and storyhooks are just that -- cameos and storyhooks. Basically my only fear is that unlike some books out there which get movie or series adaptations, they can afford to have scenes dropped because they're basically time wasters or page thickeners or whatnot.

But TSA is just, like, 600, 700 pages of character building and foreshadowing and so many many many things going on that I feel like the process of even converting one book into some kind of video adaptation will inevitably drop the ball on something necessary or another (I love the Harry Potter books but seriously, if you did not read any of the books, the movie logic will melt your brain into grey matter and frustrated, liquefied nerves). So okay I can live without Nightblade's cameo being not important - and I can also live with the worldhoppers at Purelake not appearing in the movie or whatever - but I just find it so frustrating that in the process of going with Stormlight first, we'll end up with so many things losing coherence and meaning.

Then again, if the thing ever gets into television, I'll probably forget my outrage for the next thirty days as I slug through the cinematic experience.

On a side note, I still think that if we're going to stick to one book, one movie, we'll either end up with a nearly two-hour spectacle focusing on the core character of the book (Movie 1 Kaladin), (Movie 2 Shallan), (Movie 3 Dalinar) alone with every interlude being dropped - or something like LoTR extended edition where every movie nearly reaches 4 hours. I can't help but think that either way I wouldn't mind haha.

We all love SA, so we all end up thinking every single scene within the book is crucial and mightily important, but when it comes to bringing the story from point A to point B, turns out many serve little purpose. The interludes, for instance, were design as a mean to explore the world without clogging the main narrative with endless characters. The upside is they are fulfilling their target, the downside is many feel they are breaking the pace and I would add they still introduces too many characters which ends up thickening the plot in a perhaps too complicated way.

We don't need Axis, we don't need Rysn and we don't need Purelake into the main narrative for the story to happen. We also do not need every single piece of foreshadowing. 

The Stormlight Archive is a story which the author decided to tell in a given way: it is the way Brandon feels is the best, but it isn't the only way. What works in a book might not work in a movie which is why I think it likely the producers will decide to re-shuffle the events and the narrative to form a more cohesive entertaining movie. In this optic, Nightblood being a cross-over from another book also isn't needed. It doesn't matter, it isn't really relevant: it can have a backstory in a future movie or it can also not have it. 

I personally wouldn't divide the movies into a Kaladin's movie, a Shallan's movie and so on. Remember, Brandon divided the books in such fashion because he wanted to structure the narrative in this way: he agrees it wasn't a requirement, just something he wanted to do. The movie maker thus do not have to respect it and I would advise they don't. In a franchise, viewers get attached to the characters: you want them to keep on re-appearing from one movie to the next. The backstory of all characters can be revealed at a different pace through out more than one movie: no need to focus on just Kaladin within the first movie. If we do so, then we risk having the viewers get bored through the other characters arcs as many reader did in the books.

7 hours ago, The One Who Connects said:

I always figured it was a Fabrial that performed Regrowth, since we know that Fabrial science replicate the surges. I see your point though, since the audience doesn't know that fact

One doesn't have to be introduced before the other: the fabrial however absolutely needs to be presented before it is used. This being said, seeing Lift perform regrowth might have other purposes. For instances, maybe it will come into play with Renarin in Oathbringer.

[Modal Seoul he/him]

I don't know how we would fit this giant of a book in one movie, but...

David Tennant as Hoid/Wit

[Darkness he/him]

On ‎7‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 9:29 AM, Andy92 said:

I guess I need to read Warbreaker...because those references crop up a lot in SA and I have no idea what they mean lol. 

Brandon posted the entire book onto his website for free. Here is the link. http://brandonsanderson.com/warbreaker-introduction/

There is a drop-down menu to each chapter of Warbreaker. Forewarning: don't start until you have several hours free

[Andy92]

2 hours ago, Darkness said:

Brandon posted the entire book onto his website for free. Here is the link. http://brandonsanderson.com/warbreaker-introduction/

There is a drop-down menu to each chapter of Warbreaker. Forewarning: don't start until you have several hours free

Thanks for the link. I remember seeing it was free on his website, I just haven't gotten around to reading it. I've been reading some Rothfuss recently. I think Warbreaker is the last Cosmere novel currently out that I have left to read. 

[legolasgalactica]

On 2/3/2017 at 9:43 PM, Nashan'Elin said:

Based on the similar thread about adapting Mistborn: TFE to a movie, I ask: if you were in charge of turning the Stormlight Archive into a movie, how would you go about doing it? What would receive more screentime? What, more importantly, would you have to get rid of?

  Hide contents

Personally, I think most of Shallan's story would have to go. The focus of the first book is Kaladin, so the movie would be mostly Kaladin as well. Even the flashbacks, except for the most important ones (Tien's death, the Cenn one) would have to be removed/combined/summarized. The interludes, as well, would have to go. Except for the prologue and the last Szeth interlude. 

I would put focus on the worldbuilding, as it is harder to get that across in a movie than a book.

4

But that's just my thoughts. What are yours?

 

I actually think the world building might be easier to show visually as you just show it and don't have to describe/explain it.  

I would keep some of the Dalinar stuff, though.  His visions, etc. and the politics between the houses.

[Vissy]

A bit of a necro, but I think I just found the song that has always been playing in my head when I visualize Szeth's introduction scene on live action.

 

[+Wax he/him]

Frankly, the best chances for movies are:-

Legion

Reckoners

Perfect State

White Sands

Shadows of Silence (for a horror movie)

Warbreaker

Elantris (maybe)

 

Rithamist

Metal consumption and running low on particular metals is so hard to show on the screen.  So, just doesn't work out.

Stormlight - random spren appearances everywhere.  How does one work them in.  Just gets too complicated.

I know some of the books above are not in cosmere or optioned.

[Vissy]

Stormlight movie is already in the planning stage, they're writing the script and generally in the early production stage right now. It's also going to have a full asian cast, from what I heard.

[Andy92]

Mistborn is in the planning stages by the same company too. They started working on Stormlight first, but the most recent update I saw from Brandon was that the Mistborn movie had caught up to Stormlight due to the massive size of that movie.

You could limit the Spren appearances to the most important ones like Syl and Pattern, and they're easy enough to pull off with CGI. And I don't see how Mistborn would be very complicated to film in comparison to other action movies that are currently out there. 

[Vissy]

Yep. And it's also got great potential for that wow factor - take the first scene where Kelsier trains Vin, for example. Vin shoots up the side of the wall via Allomancy, camera flips from motion blur into a wide, slow panning shot of the entire city from on high, wind flapping her cloak and the theme music blaring in the background...

Edited April 21, 2017 by Rob Lucci

[billyswifty]

I think a movie COULD work if they did it right. Check out this website where you can suggest a dream cast for The Way of Kings movie and vote

[Jondesu he/him]

10 hours ago, billyswifty said:

I think a movie COULD work if they did it right. Check out this website where you can suggest a dream cast for The Way of Kings movie and vote

I like the few suggestions they have for characters for WoK, but their ideas for Mistborn are kinda ridiculous. Ellen Page as Vin?

Ken Watanabe as Dalinar could be awesome though.

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

I like the few suggestions they have for characters for WoK, but their ideas for Mistborn are kinda ridiculous. Ellen Page as Vin?

Ken Watanabe as Dalinar could be awesome though.

Actually, Ellen Page isn't ridiculous as she is the one actress Brandon once said he pictured as Vin. Though he later admitted she had sadly gone too old but physic wise, she remains the perfect fit, were she still 20.

Ken Watanabe is often listed as a potential candidate for Dalinar. My personal thoughts is he isn't physically imposing enough: I would prefer someone taller and bigger, but being one of the few known Asian actor able to play in English, he becomes one of the "only choices". 

Alex Malari was first suggested by the Tor.com casting. I do not have a problem with him per say. I think he could work.

I dread to see whom they will cast for Adolin: I have never found one casting for Adolin which I actually liked.

[Jondesu he/him]

1 hour ago, maxal said:

Actually, Ellen Page isn't ridiculous as she is the one actress Brandon once said he pictured as Vin. Though he later admitted she had sadly gone too old but physic wise, she remains the perfect fit, were she still 20.

Ken Watanabe is often listed as a potential candidate for Dalinar. My personal thoughts is he isn't physically imposing enough: I would prefer someone taller and bigger, but being one of the few known Asian actor able to play in English, he becomes one of the "only choices". 

Alex Malari was first suggested by the Tor.com casting. I do not have a problem with him per say. I think he could work.

I dread to see whom they will cast for Adolin: I have never found one casting for Adolin which I actually liked.

Huh, didn't know that about Ellen Page, but I do maintain that she'd be a poor choice now due to her age (I think you may have been agreeing). 

I think the biggest trick with Adolin will be trying to mix the Asian/Filipino like features Brandon envisioned with his mostly blond hair, without it looking like rebellious dying of his hair. I don't know who to choose and haven't seen any good suggestions I really liked either.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

Huh, didn't know that about Ellen Page, but I do maintain that she'd be a poor choice now due to her age (I think you may have been agreeing). 

I think the biggest trick with Adolin will be trying to mix the Asian/Filipino like features Brandon envisioned with his mostly blond hair, without it looking like rebellious dying of his hair. I don't know who to choose and haven't seen any good suggestions I really liked either.

Oh I am agreeing with you, totally over the age thing. I just meant to say I am not surprised to see others put her up there as Brandon did say he pictured Vin as a young Ellen Page.

My main issue with most Adolin's casting is they always choose to go full Asian with dyes while my personal thoughts are it looks abnormal, unnatural, like one of those pop-stars which isn't quite the look I envisioned. Also most ignored Adolin is supposed to be handsome, handsome as in breath-taking handsome, while most casting pick guys which do not exactly fit the bill.  I also do not know why most people stubbornly ignore the fact Adolin is only half-Alethi: his mother is presumably white (or as white as you get on Roshar) which means we have more liberty with his casting. He is paler skin than our average Alethi which means casting doesn't have to restrict itself to Asian, worst we would lose the fact he isn't a full-blooded Alethi which is actually a plot point. Oh and, on average, 100% of casting for Adolin are at least a decade too old. He is 23, not 33, he is described as looking young, youthful with a fresh face, not some grizzled older guy.

[Jondesu he/him]

1 hour ago, maxal said:

Oh I am agreeing with you, totally over the age thing. I just meant to say I am not surprised to see others put her up there as Brandon did say he pictured Vin as a young Ellen Page.

My main issue with most Adolin's casting is they always choose to go full Asian with dyes while my personal thoughts are it looks abnormal, unnatural, like one of those pop-stars which isn't quite the look I envisioned. Also most ignored Adolin is supposed to be handsome, handsome as in breath-taking handsome, while most casting pick guys which do not exactly fit the bill.  I also do not know why most people stubbornly ignore the fact Adolin is only half-Alethi: his mother is presumably white (or as white as you get on Roshar) which means we have more liberty with his casting. He is paler skin than our average Alethi which means casting doesn't have to restrict itself to Asian, worst we would lose the fact he isn't a full-blooded Alethi which is actually a plot point. Oh and, on average, 100% of casting for Adolin are at least a decade too old. He is 23, not 33, he is described as looking young, youthful with a fresh face, not some grizzled older guy.

Hmm, how about Jack Falahee? Not sure how he'd look blond, but if it looked right, he could fit the bill.  Or there's always Justin Timberlake, or Hayden Christensen (kidding).

Reece Thompson looks like another possibility.  

Not going to lie, I Googled "handsome young actors" for ideas, since that's not exactly something I generally track.

EDIT: How do ya'll feel about Morena Baccarin as Jasnah?  I suggested it on the site @billyswifty linked, and I think she'd be a good fit that I hadn't thought of before.  Maybe not Asian enough, but there's going to have to be a good bit of leeway there anyways, to hit enough good casting.

Edited June 3, 2017 by Jondesu

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

Hmm, how about Jack Falahee? Not sure how he'd look blond, but if it looked right, he could fit the bill.  Or there's always Justin Timberlake, or Hayden Christensen (kidding).

Reece Thompson looks like another possibility.  

Not going to lie, I Googled "handsome young actors" for ideas, since that's not exactly something I generally track.

EDIT: How do ya'll feel about Morena Baccarin as Jasnah?  I suggested it on the site @billyswifty linked, and I think she'd be a good fit that I hadn't thought of before.  Maybe not Asian enough, but there's going to have to be a good bit of leeway there anyways, to hit enough good casting.

 I have often googled "handsome blond headed young male actors" in order to find the perfect fit for Adolin... It led to my husband having a quizzical look at to what I was actually looking into on my computer  Still, it is pretty hard because Adolin would probably go to an unknown actor, which makes matters more difficult.

I am terrible at keeping track over whom is considered handsome or not, but within SA, Adolin is the one guy everyone literally swoon over. He can't just be "handsome depending on your personal tastes", he has to be universally handsome and that is quite hard to find.

First guy is a bit too old and dark haired colored for Adolin. Second guy, nah. And too old as well.

Morena could work for Jasnah: she is also the actress Tor.com suggested. I could see her picture a decent Jasnah, depending on how her character evolve within future book. We'll get a better idea of Jasnah's vibe and energy after reading Oathbringer. 

I am personally of the opinion going full Asian is too restrictive. While Alethi are definitely ethnic, an all Asian cast isn't realistic for a movie intending to be a commercial success within North America. While there certainly are a lot of Asian actors well... in Asia, language is an issue: we can't have actors whom aren't fluent in English. So, in the end, I do think the idea the casting should be 100% Asian isn't feasible nor desirable. I have often argued, in the past, how a mixed cast would work better. Tor.com suggested one which was mixed, but I thought they were outside the track. They insisted all Alethi HAD to be Asian, even Adolin for whom the Asian casting doesn't work out, and yet they cast Sadeas, a full blooded Alethi, with a white actor on the pretense his book description speaks of curly hair and a red face. Gee. Why does Sadeas, a 100% pure Alethi get to have a derogation, especially considering his physical look isn't a plot point, when blond headed half-blooded Adolin can't, especially considering him being blond is actually important to his character? That's the one of the reasons I disliked their casting.

So, in this optic, ethnic actress such as Morena definitely works even if she isn't Asian, she is ethnic enough, which works for me.

[Jondesu he/him]

1 minute ago, maxal said:

he has to be universally handsome and that is quite hard to find.

He ain't gonna be no Fabio.  Not that I even ever found Fabio attractive, but I'm a straight male, so maybe that's expected.

I do agree he's probably (and should) going to be a basically unknown actor, but at least we can try to find some options. I also don't think he has to be as universally handsome as you're saying; everyone in Bones (the TV show) basically swoons over both Brennan and Booth's looks, yet I don't think either of them would fit "universally handsome".

What about Ezra Miller?  I feel like he fits the overall feel of the ethnicity, even though he's not really Asian at all, and the strong cheekbones would fit (I know that's how Dalinar is described, and while Adolin takes after his mother, that could still be a link between them that would work well).

As an aside, one of the lists I just looked at had Jonah Hill listed as a "handsome actor".  Really? I'm pretty sure he's usually cast for the opposite reason.

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

He ain't gonna be no Fabio.  Not that I even ever found Fabio attractive, but I'm a straight male, so maybe that's expected.

I do agree he's probably (and should) going to be a basically unknown actor, but at least we can try to find some options. I also don't think he has to be as universally handsome as you're saying; everyone in Bones (the TV show) basically swoons over both Brennan and Booth's looks, yet I don't think either of them would fit "universally handsome".

What about Ezra Miller?  I feel like he fits the overall feel of the ethnicity, even though he's not really Asian at all, and the strong cheekbones would fit (I know that's how Dalinar is described, and while Adolin takes after his mother, that could still be a link between them that would work well).

As an aside, one of the lists I just looked at had Jonah Hill listed as a "handsome actor".  Really? I'm pretty sure he's usually cast for the opposite reason.

Fabio? Huh that's not what I had in mind either  FYI, I don't find the Fabio type particularly attractive either...

There are various type of males which females will find attractive: the older grizzled man such as Booth does have it appeal among a non negligible percentage of female viewers, but this is not a representation which befits Adolin's (though it would work for Dalinar as well he doesn't really need to be ugly). He isn't a mature older male with strong sex appeal, he is a young slightly boyish immature man with a perfectly groomed exterior and little experience. The casting has to reflect that. Adolin's hair are often messy, he alternates in between fashionable do and natural messiness. 

Nah Ezra Miller really doesn't give me a good Adolin vibe and he too is too dark colored. I mean, my main reason to be against the Asian casting is Asians do not have blond hair, hence I feel which ever actor they pick has to have light hair coloring, natural blond preferably but light brown could work too.

Honestly it is really hard: three years and I haven't found one perfect fit... I am thinking more of the "boy's next door", well rich boy's next door.

Jonah Hill? Well, I guess he is attractive to some women, but not really a contender here.

 

[Jondesu he/him]

@maxal, considered Lucas Till? I could definitely see him as Adolin.

Edited June 4, 2017 by Jondesu

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Jondesu said:

@maxal, considered Lucas Till? I could definitely see him as Adolin.

Not bad, not bad at all: he does have the right energy and look to him.