How I’d like to see Sanderson’s Cosmere on screen

[Cosmernaut]

The title is pretty self explanatory. This is my opinion of how the Cosmere on screen should be conducted. This is for something along the lines of how it could be done with Netflix even though the rights have been taken by DMG.

I know Brandon has said that it’s not likely to be done as an animated movie given how stuff like that has to be framed for kids, but there seems to be an advent of love for adult fantasy lately.

Netflix seems like the easy answer for a platform here, but really, they’re already dipping their toes into expanding shared universes.

I’m thinking two movie specials. One of Elantris and one of Warbreaker. These cover the books as much as they can. 

Then a spring release of Stormlight Archive season 1 covering Way of Kings.

Then a winter release of Mistborn season 1 covering The Final Empire.

It will keep with the regular alternating release of Stormlight then Mistborn and maybe a summer double feature movie of White Sand somewhere down the line.

It should take about 10 years total to cover most of the Cosmere. Stormlight will end on ten books and Mistborn will end Era three on ten books. (Final era Mistborn will be addressed in a bit).

At this point, the Cosmere franchise will be left with the Dragonsteel storyline. Given that the other backbone series have been completed, this will be sort of a ‘rebirth’ moment for the audience where the Cosmere line will be more streamlined. Only having to follow one series after all these would make everything feel fresh. (Honestly, it’d be like that moment you organize your books and declutter).

So. Dragonsteel would cover seven seasons (one per book). Maybe they could do a Voltron thing where they sometimes release two seasons per year. When that’s finished, the final Mistborn series comes into play. Maybe they make the audience wait a little longer than usual for its release given how for more than a decade, a movie or tv series have been given in quick succession.

Given how Mistborn Era 4 is the capstone to the Cosmere, it should probably be released as it’s own series and not under Mistborn. Maybe under a title like Cosmere: The Final Era. It will tie up the universe and should have longer than normal episodes to try to get as much of the books in there as possible.

Naturally, even under a format like this where there’d be more story material than a movie, we still can’t have everything from the books present. As a compromise, Brandon would be a regular consultant and source for what should absolutely be kept from pivotal scenes to character moments.

Stuff like this probably won’t happen but I wanted you to know what you guys think of this. Maybe you have a better suggestion of how things could be done?

[TheLordRuler]

In my mind, Mistborn has always had greater potential to be pushed on screen as a series. The world is very Earth-like, and it won't be anywhere near as CGI intensive as Stormlight Archive. Think of the costs of glowing/steaming Radiants/Blades, spren, storms, fauna/flora. Its something beyond most series producers. The only way I can see someone picking it up is if it already has a large proven audience, which can be obtained through Mistborn. Also, Mistborn was my introduction to the Cosmere, so I think it would be cool if it was the first adaptation.

As for movies, I would prefer Warbreaker to Elantris. I just think its the better book, but that might be recent bias from seeing Nightblood in Oathbinger haha. I wonder how characters like Vasher will be handled. Unlike the books, you can't make him have a subtle cameo since the same actor would be used presumably. 

[Personification]

10 hours ago, Cosmernaut said:

The title is pretty self explanatory. This is my opinion of how the Cosmere on screen should be conducted. This is for something along the lines of how it could be done with Netflix even though the rights have been taken by DMG.

I know Brandon has said that it’s not likely to be done as an animated movie given how stuff like that has to be framed for kids, but there seems to be an advent of love for adult fantasy lately.

Netflix seems like the easy answer for a platform here, but really, they’re already dipping their toes into expanding shared universes.

I literally posted exactly (well, not word for word, but the exact same sentiment) this on the Mistborn Movie thread.

[Cosmernaut]

11 hours ago, TheLordRuler said:

In my mind, Mistborn has always had greater potential to be pushed on screen as a series. The world is very Earth-like, and it won't be anywhere near as CGI intensive as Stormlight Archive. Think of the costs of glowing/steaming Radiants/Blades, spren, storms, fauna/flora. Its something beyond most series producers. The only way I can see someone picking it up is if it already has a large proven audience, which can be obtained through Mistborn. Also, Mistborn was my introduction to the Cosmere, so I think it would be cool if it was the first adaptation.

As for movies, I would prefer Warbreaker to Elantris. I just think its the better book, but that might be recent bias from seeing Nightblood in Oathbinger haha. I wonder how characters like Vasher will be handled. Unlike the books, you can't make him have a subtle cameo since the same actor would be used presumably. 

Agreed. My first was Mistborn too so I’d love to see it on screen. The difference here though was that the motivation behind my layout was to have the entire Cosmere adapted. I think using actors is fine but it’s a bit of a stretch to make about 36 films in the same series with people as opposed to making about 7 animated series that covers 36 books. 

Another thing I wanted to say was that I liked Warbreaker better than Elantris too but Elantris is one of those tamer epic fantasy series that don’t get too outlandish so it’d be easier for people to follow.

[Cosmernaut]

3 hours ago, Personification said:

I literally posted exactly (well, not word for word, but the exact same sentiment) this on the Mistborn Movie thread.

We’re pretty much in synch on this subject then. Anyway, how do you want Mistborn to be done? Animated or live action?

[Personification]

2 hours ago, Cosmernaut said:

We’re pretty much in synch on this subject then. Anyway, how do you want Mistborn to be done? Animated or live action?

All live action. I agree with those who say that animation would draw in the wrong people and alienate potential real fans.

[Cosmernaut]

31 minutes ago, Personification said:

All live action. I agree with those who say that animation would draw in the wrong people and alienate potential real fans.

Would it? In what way?

[Personification]

20 minutes ago, Cosmernaut said:

Would it? In what way?

Animated shows do tend to draw in a younger audience, and the people who are more likely to enjoy it might avoid it assuming it is for a younger audience.

[Cosmernaut]

1 hour ago, Personification said:

Animated shows do tend to draw in a younger audience, and the people who are more likely to enjoy it might avoid it assuming it is for a younger audience.

Ah, I see. I understand where you're coming from. I'm hoping that the relative success of something like Castlevania would help usher in some more adult oriented animation. Or maybe something like the cgi used in the Witcher 3 cinematics would be acceptable. When you get down to it, animation would be comparatively cheaper and allow for more outlandish visual depictions of the Cosmere series. (I mean, the budget required to show Stormlight alone would be insane). So I was thinking more in terms of what could be "the most bang for your buck".

[ghajan monk]

Mistborn could be done as a movie trilogy followed by a Netflix series featuring the adventures of wax and Wayne. You could also make an animated series on the adventures of allomancer Jack.

I think Warbreaker should be released in theaters after the Way of Kings but before Words of Radiance.

all Cosmere movies should come with a commentary track by khriss.

Edited December 21, 2017 by ghajan monk

[I Am Witless]

On 12/20/2017 at 6:19 PM, ghajan monk said:

You could also make an animated series on the adventures of allomancer Jack.

This is, of all of the discussions about cosmere movie potential, the most ignored and yet most important of ALL of them (I only jest in part). Imagine a relatively realistic style of animation, so that it doesn't get mistaken for some dinky kid-tv show, only it would appeal to both adults AND children. You have Jak running around, shooting things and doing all of the stupid things that heroes are supposed to do, with Handerwym following along behind, occasionally handing him a bag of tin, sighing loudly, correcting spelling, and wondering how in the world he can't just avoide THAT problem this is impossible NONONONONONONONONONO.

You'd be free to follow some of the cheeziest plot lines, with Jak doing some of the stupidest things and STILL coming out alive, as long as you have Handerwym to make comments like the annotations in Allomancer Jak.

Pure gold.

[ghajan monk]

@Ookla is Witless Exactly. I would love to see that show as you describe it. 

[Cosmernaut]

On 12/20/2017 at 6:19 PM, ghajan monk said:

Mistborn could be done as a movie trilogy followed by a Netflix series featuring the adventures of wax and Wayne. You could also make an animated series on the adventures of allomancer Jack.

I think Warbreaker should be released in theaters after the Way of Kings but before Words of Radiance.

all Cosmere movies should come with a commentary track by khriss.

Interesting. I was thinking tv series for the sake of packing in as much of the books in as possible. (most people don't like that stuff was left out of Harry Potter and LotR) but if Sharders are generally okay with that, then that's great. Multimedia exposure would, in some instances, help give a presence to the Cosmere line. Having a foothold in movies and Netflix would be a fair strategy for the Cosmere. In this case, we'd have to start the film sequence with our best foot forward. Probably Mistborn. The magic system is easier to understand and the environment is similar enough to here where the audience can find it to be somewhat relatable. As soon as we get people on board, we move on to the more 'alien' planets.

Allomancer Jak would be a good series of animated shorts. Maybe told in a grainy old west film style? We could have Jak narrate the actual events. The look of the series would be a cheesy animated spaghetti western fantasy. If it's successful, we could have some original stories done for the series. 

[Cosmé]

Haha, I’m a bit cynical on movie adaptions, especially for books as long and complex as Comsere novels. You’d have to cut out so much goodness to get it into two hours. And then there are the movie writers who will want to change stuff to make the plot less complex, fit in more action scenes. 

There’s potential in a TV show though. For it to be a hit, they’d need to pick one world and stick to it for a while, so that people could get used to the characters. Stormlight would be beyond epic. I’m not sure where you’d film it though. Are there any places on earth that are actually like the Shattered Plains? With the right execution though, you could get some serious attention to that series. Alethi politics could draw the GoT crowd, who will be out of content soon, and who wouldn’t love to watch Kaladin inspire a motley bridge crew? Stormlight is an infinite well of content, that a TV show probably couldn’t catch up to until at least 4 or 5 years after a show’s debut. There’s so much stuff in each book that they could drag it out, too, if they needed to.

Mistborn, I’m not as sure. Each book has its own settings, tones, and roles. It might be a bit of a rollercoaster ride to move from

Minor book 1-3 spoilers:

Spoiler

Kel’s crew evading TLR, to running a kingdom, to besieging Faddricks. Book 1 is a heist story, book two more politics, book three more a struggle between armies. Great books but TV viewers will prefer the plot to be more stable i think

Warbreaker, Elantris, etc would be a hard sell since there isn’t good sequel opportunity. TV viewers would have a harder time understanding the nature of the cosmere, in that each story is on a different planet, so would be more likely to see them as unrelated stories. It would be an easier sell though if Stormlight or Mistborn became a hit first

Edited December 27, 2017 by Cosmé

[TheMediocreMind]

I completely agree that the Stormlight Archives should be made into a tv/netflix-esque series* for the sake of including a complete storyline in the style it was written. With these books it takes a serious amount of words to build the world and the characters to the point that we know them as and I don't think it's possible to fit all the best pieces of this story into a set of movies. 

*Referred to as tv series below for lack of better term, though I love what's happening with all the Netflix shows, where they get a year to make an amazing season and drop it all it once to be binge watched to the heart's content.

As mentioned above, Lord of the Rings is a series where movie makers put in a valiant attempt at a proper movie adaptation. In however many hours the movies are long, they've still had to leave out more than enough scenes to upset or disappoint the true fans. The word count of the LotR series is 455,125 words. (Not counting The Hobbit, because of the whole three-movie thing that went on there, which I'm not exactly an avid supporter of.)

The Stormlight Archive is already at 1,179,000 words and counting. Not to mention all the other Sanderson works such as Mistborn and Warbreaker. I simply don't think it would be possible to do the grand story of the Cosmere justice by simply trying to fit it into a matter of films. A few here and there could make into good films. I think Warbreaker is one and I'd like to speak for the Mistborn series but unfortunately I've not had the chance to read those yet.

For the record I want to say I'd like to see the Reckoners as a mini-series as well. I think they could make an... epic show with about three seasons or so. Four if we get another book

Recently there has been a major trend developing towards supernatural and superhuman oriented tv shows. One need only visit Netflix to see evidence of this. Also tv series adaptations of book series are starting to catch on; (Game of Thrones, Mortal Instruments, The Magicians, Series of Unfortunate Events, to name a few off the top of my head) as well as comic adaptations.  The Marvel/DC universes seem a particularly good analogy for what the Cosmere could be, as they have several shows and LOTS of screentime going in to backstories and worldbuilding collecting towards the same universe. This opens up the options of crossover shows and even movies which all tell different parts of a greater story. In proper detail. It seems to be the most complete, and hopefully ever more common way to tell a well-written story. 

I don't feel cgi would be a big issue these days because a large amount of series based shows are HEAVILY cgi enhanced and well done on top of that. I'm no expert on the subject but I would hazard a guess that we have the technology to pull off something like Stormlight or the Reckoners without breaking a sweat. (Live action 'animation', anyone?)

I'm not exactly invested in these other series as I am with Brandon's works so I don't know how accurate the producers have been but I figure all they need to do to get Stormlight right is to recruit a team of cosmere experts as production consultants. The existence of this forum proves that shouldn't be too hard of a thing to do.. and they know where to look.

  Seems like a perfect time to unleash some Brandon among the world of series based shows and start building the Cosmere the way it was meant to be told. Also I would be supremely disappointed to see them try to cram the SA into a movie and sacrifice easily 3/4 of this world we all love so much.

I want to scream this at anyone pushing for a stormlight movie. And now I've found a place where it's appropriate... Thanks OP

Edited January 6, 2018 by TheMediocreMind