Stormlight archive Tv/Movie series

[Shaggai]

Hehe, look at Brandons opinion on books/novellas: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/brandon-sanderson-on-why-we-still-read-books-in-the-internet-era/

 

Kinda looks like he doesn't like the tv/movie adaption idea too much.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't do it. It just means that he's never going to switch entirely to, say, writing screenplays. He isn't opposed to the use of other media to retell his stories. Mistborn is (eventually, in theory, maybe) going to be made into a movie. There's also a Mistborn video game scheduled for late 2015, although I wouldn't count on it coming out then.

[Beorc]

I've put...perhaps too much thought into how I'd do a Stormlight Archive TV series. I've pretty much got how I'd pace the whole first season lined out, with a 12-episode season of ~45-minute episodes...

 

Ep. 1: Stormblessed (covers the prologue and chapters 1, 2, 4, and 12)

Ep. 2: City of Bells (covers chapters 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11)

Ep. 3: Ten Heartbeats (covers chapters 7, 8, 13, and 15)

Ep. 4: Highprince of War (covers chapters 14, 16, 17, 18, and 19)

Ep. 5: Chasm Duty (covers chapters 21, 22, 23, 27, and 29)

Ep. 6: The Lesson (covers chapters 24, 26, 28, 33, and 36)

Ep. 7: Side Carry (covers chapters 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 39, and 42)

Ep. 8: Shadesmar (covers chapters 38, 40, 41, 45, 48, 50, and 52)

Ep. 9: Child of Honor (covers chapters 43, 44, 46, 47, 49, 51, and 54)

Ep. 10: The Journey (covers chapters 53, 55, 56, 57, and 58)

Ep. 11: Three Glyphs (covers chapters 59 through 65)

Ep. 12: Words (covers chapter 66 through 75)

[navybrandt he/him]

I've put...perhaps too much thought into how I'd do a Stormlight Archive TV series. I've pretty much got how I'd pace the whole first season lined out, with a 12-episode season of ~45-minute episodes...

 

Ep. 1: Stormblessed (covers the prologue and chapters 1, 2, 4, and 12)

Ep. 2: City of Bells (covers chapters 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11)

Ep. 3: Ten Heartbeats (covers chapters 7, 8, 13, and 15)

Ep. 4: Highprince of War (covers chapters 14, 16, 17, 18, and 19)

Ep. 5: Chasm Duty (covers chapters 21, 22, 23, 27, and 29)

Ep. 6: The Lesson (covers chapters 24, 26, 28, 33, and 36)

Ep. 7: Side Carry (covers chapters 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 39, and 42)

Ep. 8: Shadesmar (covers chapters 38, 40, 41, 45, 48, 50, and 52)

Ep. 9: Child of Honor (covers chapters 43, 44, 46, 47, 49, 51, and 54)

Ep. 10: The Journey (covers chapters 53, 55, 56, 57, and 58)

Ep. 11: Three Glyphs (covers chapters 59 through 65)

Ep. 12: Words (covers chapter 66 through 75)

I love this.  Each episode is 4-7 chapters long except the last one - which could be a 2-hour season finale.  It just needs the budget and skill/talent to make it good.  I'd donate to a Kickstarter for this.

 

Edit: Don't forget the Prelude to the SA in Episode 1.

Edited August 26, 2014 by navybrandt

[menacekop]

I love this.  Each episode is 4-7 chapters long except the last one - which could be a 2-hour season finale.  It just needs the budget and skill/talent to make it good.  I'd donate to a Kickstarter for this.

 

Edit: Don't forget the Prelude to the SA in Episode 1.

 

I agree, the problem is it would require a Blockbuster Hollywood level budget, which TV shows just dont get.

 

I think this would work much better as an anime, especially if you can get the team that did A:TLAB/Korra to do it.  Studio Ghibli would be even better but i can imagine getting a Japanese animation studio onboard would be difficult.

[Guest]

I have just seen a video from Rodeo FX, the special effect company, based in Montreal, behind GoT They won an Emmy.

 

It was really interesting to see how they literally built the whole scenery and how it was simply added to the main frame. They built all the castles and the landscapes, speaking of which there are quite a few more then in SA. They also created "artificial knights" to render real life battle without having the need to hire real actors.

 

It makes me believe SA could really be done, in real life. It wouldn't necessarily be more costly than GoT. Most of the actions is contrived on the Shattered Plains, so far. Making an artificial shattered plains would not be more difficult than making any other landscape we've seen in GoT. In the video they showed one with mountains and an amount of details which would be more than sufficient to make a good shattered plains.

 

I think the real-life TV series should not be ruled out because "it is too expensive" or "the special effects are too difficult". It is doable. I am a believer. Think on how amazing it would be to see SA portrayed with real-life actors!

[navybrandt he/him]

The fact is, if they do this, they can just have all my money, because I'll buy pretty much everything related to it.

[xland44]

I would love this as an anime. It wouldn't be too difficulty to hire a japanese animating studio I suppose, as america isn't good at making anime... The only decent cartoon (Animation wise) would be Avatar or Legend of Korra.

 

Also, SA in a movie or TV show would just be weird. Take the movie of The Last Airbender as an example.

[Guest]

I would love this as an anime. It wouldn't be too difficulty to hire a japanese animating studio I suppose, as america isn't good at making anime... The only decent cartoon (Animation wise) would be Avatar or Legend of Korra.

 

Also, SA in a movie or TV show would just be weird. Take the movie of The Last Airbender as an example.

 

Why would it be weird?

 

I think Anime would be weirder... it is a very niche market that does not attract a wide pool of spectators. Many people won't see it just because it is anime. Besides, no matter how good the animation, it would still remain, animated characters. I feel real-life actors would convey much more power to the story. Look at GoT. It is amazing. People are watching it all around the globe, people who have never picked up a fantasy book. This is great and this is exactly what I would love to see SA becoming.

 

Edit: High quality anime would not be cheap either. I am thinking big here, something more than you every TV series with outstanding character rendition. It has to look real.

Edited September 4, 2014 by maxal

[Surgebound Rainspren he/him]

the problem is the clash that would occur between styles. the scenery and plants would suit a 3d animation style but this would make the combat look clunky and awkward. so the combat would work whit 2d but the world wouldn't. and a mix would be hard to pull off.

[Guest]

the problem is the clash that would occur between styles. the scenery and plants would suit a 3d animation style but this would make the combat look clunky and awkward. so the combat would work whit 2d but the world wouldn't. and a mix would be hard to pull off.

 

For television, it has to be 2D.

[navybrandt he/him]

I still think live-action is the way to go.  My wife, for example, says anything animated is for kids (I know she's wrong, but that's what she says).  I don't want this to be a kids show.  I'm really thinking more along the lines of a less vulgar GoT.  It really comes down to money and talent no matter what medium is used.  My opinion aside, it's really up to BS and whomever pays for it.  Any millionaires out there want to produce this?

[Guest]

I still think live-action is the way to go.  My wife, for example, says anything animated is for kids (I know she's wrong, but that's what she says).  I don't want this to be a kids show.  I'm really thinking more along the lines of a less vulgar GoT.  It really comes down to money and talent no matter what medium is used.  My opinion aside, it's really up to BS and whomever pays for it.  Any millionaires out there want to produce this?

 

Yeah, I tend to agree with your wife... I do know it is not the case, but it would need to be above outstanding quality anime to appeal to the large crowd. If not, it'll remain marginal.

 

I agree again with you: something with less sex than GoT. I would not mind if they added a few scenes, but I would not want to see orgies in every episodes, especially since the books are not written this way.

[kaellok he/him]

Yeah, I tend to agree with your wife... I do know it is not the case, but it would need to be above outstanding quality anime to appeal to the large crowd. If not, it'll remain marginal.

 

I agree again with you: something with less sex than GoT. I would not mind if they added a few scenes, but I would not want to see orgies in every episodes, especially since the books are not written this way.

There were more sex scenes in the first 6 chapters of Clash of Kings (okay, you got me, I'm possibly exaggerating because I'm lazy) than in all of Sanderson's books combined.

[Guest]

There were more sex scenes in the first 6 chapters of Clash of Kings (okay, you got me, I'm possibly exaggerating because I'm lazy) than in all of Sanderson's books combined.

 

Yeah I know.... which is probably why there is so much of it on TV... I would not want SA to be turn into a porn show However, I do think it is quite feasible to make a real-life series that respect the books. I do realize they would probably add a few things here in there, but as long as it does not clash with the story, I would be fine with it.

 

We do have the Jasnah bath scene in WoK... which is quite reminiscent of the Melissandre's bath scene in GoT. I assume that yeah, they would probably make Jasnah get out of it naked I am sure most people would not mind Some scenes between Dalinar and Navani could be made more explicit without ruining the story, without turning them into a hardcore sex tape ala True Blood

 

I have read some people expressing fears the casting would suck... because Hollywood suck at casting... I would say that television is a different than movies. Television casting does need big names to attract an audience. If you look at GoT, most of the actors were quite unknown. Sure they added Sean Penn to help jump start things, so I guess they could try and get Alan Rickman (or someone similar) to play a secondary, but important character such as Sadeas or Amaram. The rest of the cast would be low profile. You need a bunch of youngsters to play Kaladin, Shallan, Adolin and Renarin. It must not be this difficult to find young actors (under 25 at the very most please) with the proper physique and sufficient talent to pull it of. Adolin's probably the hardest to cast because whoever you cast has to be not only talented but handsome of top it all and blond. Jasnah could be played by any pretty actrice between 30 and 45 able to pull of cold and distant. You could get a slightly bigger name for her. You need a few older people to play Dalinar, Navani and co, doable.

Edited September 6, 2014 by maxal

[kaellok he/him]

Honestly, if they're going to make any kind of movie, TV, or animated series based off of the Stormlight Archive, I want them to wait.  GoT is running into the problem of not having enough published material, and so they will be faced with a choice that is bad.  They can either:

 

1.  Stop shooting new episodes, until next book is published--possibly 2-3 years from now.  Very high risk of losing fans of the show in favor of whatever "oooh, shiny!" comes along to distract them.

 

2.  Invent new story all on their own, so that there will be two GoT storylines--one that is based off of the books, and one "inspired" by the books.

 

Wait, at the very least, until Book 4 is released before making any adaptation, please.  (And this is quite above and beyond the truly astronomical cost required to do true justice to the books, as others have mentioned.)

[Guest]

Honestly, if they're going to make any kind of movie, TV, or animated series based off of the Stormlight Archive, I want them to wait.  GoT is running into the problem of not having enough published material, and so they will be faced with a choice that is bad.  They can either:

 

1.  Stop shooting new episodes, until next book is published--possibly 2-3 years from now.  Very high risk of losing fans of the show in favor of whatever "oooh, shiny!" comes along to distract them.

 

2.  Invent new story all on their own, so that there will be two GoT storylines--one that is based off of the books, and one "inspired" by the books.

 

Wait, at the very least, until Book 4 is released before making any adaptation, please.  (And this is quite above and beyond the truly astronomical cost required to do true justice to the books, as others have mentioned.)

 

Oh I do agree with you here. Having SA being made into a series now would be stepping into GoT's shadow. People would think it a GoT wannabe... We know it isn't be I'd be afraid this is what the larger audience would think.

 

I also agree turning an unfinished book series into a TV series is high risk, especially when the author is rather slow in writing......... Book 4 sounds like a good plan.

[Shaggai]

Oh I do agree with you here. Having SA being made into a series now would be stepping into GoT's shadow. People would think it a GoT wannabe... We know it isn't be I'd be afraid this is what the larger audience would think.

 

I also agree turning an unfinished book series into a TV series is high risk, especially when the author is rather slow in writing......... Book 4 sounds like a good plan.

Brandon? Slow in writing? There are multiple running jokes about how he's got a Shardpen, is secretly a team of robots, etc. I agree that a SA TV series should wait until a few more books are out*, but Brandon is definitely not slow.

 

*I would recommend waiting at least until book five, and perhaps even until the series is done, because if it waits until the end, it won't be in GoT's shadow and will also have no risk of running ahead of the books, but that's just me.

[Guest]

Brandon? Slow in writing? There are multiple running jokes about how he's got a Shardpen, is secretly a team of robots, etc. I agree that a SA TV series should wait until a few more books are out*, but Brandon is definitely not slow.

 

*I would recommend waiting at least until book five, and perhaps even until the series is done, because if it waits until the end, it won't be in GoT's shadow and will also have no risk of running ahead of the books, but that's just me.

 

Sorry I did not mean Brandon when I wrote my post, I was talking about GRRM. I apologize it this was not clear.

[Shaggai]

Sorry I did not mean Brandon when I wrote my post, I was talking about GRRM. I apologize it this was not clear.

Ah, okay. Yeah, that's true.

[Kruppe he/him]

I you got the right director it could be another lord of the rings.

[navybrandt he/him]

I wouldn't worry too much about GoT.  No matter when they do this, there will be something else out there that they could be accused of copying. I do agree however that they should wait for couple more years.  As others have said - at least until book 4 is out.  Then, you have 4 years of TV-seasons for Brandon to write book 5.  They could even just do 5 seasons (the first arc) now and the last 5 seasons (the second arc) 10-15 years from now. Kind of like they are doing for the Star Wars movies.

[killersquirrel59 he/him]

I definitely agree this should not be made now. I'd say to wait at least, given Brandon's far more active writing pace than some <cough Martin cough>, I'd say waiting until book 3 is published to start work on a series is a good bench mark. Given Brandon's pace that means that book 4 would probably be published around the time that the first season is airing. This then gives Brandon 3 more years (a pittance to someone burning as much Bendalloy as he does when writing) to finish book 5 and there we have our tv series of the first half of the Archive.

 

I'm sorry but anime is a terrible idea. Whether correct or not, public opinion on the matter is that animation is for children. Animated series would not do well enough to carry an interest. Even ones meant for adults are deliberately juvenile. The prevailing opinion is that animation cannot convey anything serious, and certainly not anything epic. On top of that, there is something special about the connection you can make with a piece of live-action film that just isn't there with animation. The nuances of emotion on actors' faces are so much more than can ever be conveyed in frown lines drawn on furrowed brows. Particularly for a series like this where so much is down to the eyes, that is a perfect opportunity for face close-ups that can show so much. An real actor could convey 3 pages of Kaladin moaning and being depressed in a few seconds of closeup. An anime could not.

 

As to casting, again, correct or not, there is a general impression in most of America at least that fantasy should be populated by British actors (I noted this on the Warbreaker casting thread as well; I'm half convinced most Americans think England is a fantasy land). Couple that with the fact that British actors are usually just better anyway and I now present my proposed cast list for The Stormlight Archive. 

 

Note: I know that Brandon says he pictures Alethi as being a cross between Asian and Hawaiian. That is wonderfully progressive and cosmopolitan of him (particularly for a white American from Utah) to be able to write epic fantasy and not picture everyone as white. I really mean that. However, the fact is that the inherent racism of our times means that a film or tv series entirely filled with Asian and Pacific Islander actors would not market well in the west. It's not a good thing and it's certainly not something to be proud of, but it is reality at least for now and quite frankly I'd rather have a series that does well than one that is the most progressive in its casting choices. It is generally accepted in fantasy, and this works for marketing, that whatever the dominant culture presented is (in this case The Vorin kingdoms) is presented as some form of British, and anything outside of that (Shin, Thaylens, Horneaters, Reshi, etc.) are shown as foreigners in some way, usually through skin colour, accents, and other obvious means of not being native.

 

 

Kaladin – Richard Armitage

 

Shallan – Emma Watson

 

Dalinar – Ben Daniels

 

Adolin – Bradley James

 

Renarin – Eddie Redmayne

 

Jasnah – Emilia Fox

 

Navani – Sarah Parish

 

Taravangian – Jeremy Irons

 

Kabsal – Martin Freeman

 

Szeth – Raza Jaffrey

 

Syl* - Maisie Williams

 

Pattern* - Paul Bettany

 

Eshonai – Jaime Murray

 

Gaz – Bill Bailey

 

Sadeas – Ian McShane

 

Amaram – James Purefoy

 

Hoid/Wit – Rowan Atkinson

 

Elhokar – Harry Lloyd (2^nd Choice, Ryan Gage)

 

Rock – Robbie Coltrane

 

Moash – Michael Fassbender

 

Sigzil – David Harewood

 

Lopen – Sam Troughton

 

Honour/Stormfather* - Christopher Lee (hoping he lives long enough, the guy is 92 now).

 

*CG role. Judged only on voice.

[Guest]

 

 

I'm sorry but anime is a terrible idea. Whether correct or not, public opinion on the matter is that animation is for children. Animated series would not do well enough to carry an interest. Even ones meant for adults are deliberately juvenile. The prevailing opinion is that animation cannot convey anything serious, and certainly not anything epic. On top of that, there is something special about the connection you can make with a piece of live-action film that just isn't there with animation. The nuances of emotion on actors' faces are so much more than can ever be conveyed in frown lines drawn on furrowed brows. Particularly for a series like this where so much is down to the eyes, that is a perfect opportunity for face close-ups that can show so much. An real actor could convey 3 pages of Kaladin moaning and being depressed in a few seconds of closeup. An anime could not.

 

I completely agree with this which is why I am routing for live action.

 

However I believe we disagree on casting: some of your choices are not age appropriate... Kaladin is 20, he should be played by someone younger. Ditto for Adolin: he is not thirty, he's 22 and yeah, there is a strong physical difference between a 20 years old male and a 30 years old. Guys do change a lot in their twenties, it is less obvious for women, but a thirty years old actor would never be believable in the role of a young adult in its early twenties.

 

Edit: Your Renarin is too old as well: he is 19 and he is looking much younger so you could have some 16 years old to play him.

 

For myself, I don't know where the British thing came from and I disagree that all actors in America sucks: that is not true. I honestly do not care where the actors are from, as long as they can act and they can physically look the part. I know, I am big on age, but it really gets on my nerve to see thirty years old actors play teenagers.

Edited September 19, 2014 by maxal

[WeiryWriter he/him]

First and foremost, I could not care less about a Stormlight adaptation being super mega popular.  In no way should that be a goal because there is no way to guarantee that sort of thing.  The goal should be a good and faithful adaptation.  An adaptation with a white-washed cast would fail to be the latter.

 

Animation is not a terrible idea, Ben McSweeney (you know one of the guys who actually does artwork for the books) thinks it's the best choice of medium and I agree. Yes there is somewhat of a stigma against it in older generations but going back to my first point, I do not care about it being popular.  I've discussed the pros of the medium elsewhere in the thread.

 

As you do acknowledge in your post Western culture has endemic problems with race, and that would cause difficulties with casting and marketing.  However white-washing the cast is not a solution, that's ignoring the problem (not to mention hurtful to all the people of color who enjoy reading these awesome characters that look like themselves).  (I would also not call casting the characters as Asian and Pacific Islanders "progressive" I would call it "being faithful to the source material").

 

And I should probably post this since I've been working on it sparingly all day and I'm really tired of being angry.

 

P.S.  Disregarding the white-washing, Richard Armitage would not work for Kaladin, he's 43.  Kaladin is 22 (20 Rosharan years x 1.1)

[Guest]

First and foremost, I could not care less about a Stormlight adaptation being super mega popular.  In no way should that be a goal because there is no way to guarantee that sort of thing.  The goal should be a good and faithful adaptation.  An adaptation with a white-washed cast would fail to be the latter.

 

That is your opinion... I don't know why it makes you so angry other people think otherwise. I personally do not feel much for an animated series for all the reasons I, myself, and other posters have expressed. When I watch an adaptation from a book, I do not expect it to be perfect. I expect the scriptwriters to make changes as you do not write a scenario the same way you write a book. I also expect some liberties being made when casting is involved. I am particularly sensitive on age as too old actors would not be able to properly play the youngsters, but I certainly would not cringe if not all actors turned out not looking "Asian or South Pacific" enough as long as the overall physical look of people work.

 

As for being popular, we have to keep in mind that turning SA into a series, using any medium would be costly: it therefore needs to be popular, hence it will never be made. Some choices will have to be made and I do agree having an entire Asian casting would not be ideal for marketing. I believe there are ways to remain faithful without going to any extremes, a mix cast could be use, for example. I for one do not picture many of the characters as Asian or South Pacific looking: I tend to see them as white with a good tan, dark hair and slightly more almond eyes than average. I certainly do not see Shallan and Adolin as Asians as they are light haired. I think a half and half cast could be representative enough. The darkeyes being more "pure" in terms of bloodline would look more "Asian" and the lighteyes being more "mixed" would look like a mix of both.

 

That being said, no adaptation can be perfect and I fail to see why people expressing their preference towards a life-action series ala GoT is so hurtful.