WoT Movie?

[jenn]

I've seen a little discussion about whether there's going to be a Wheel
of Time movie. Does anyone have any updates? The Narnia movie coming
out this December looks kewl.

[Lorfarius]

Post by jenn
I've seen a little discussion about whether there's going to be a Wheel
of Time movie. Does anyone have any updates? The Narnia movie coming
out this December looks kewl.

I cant see it happening myself. Theres just way too much storywise for a
film or even a set of films.

[steveo]

Post by Lorfarius

Post by jenn
I've seen a little discussion about whether there's going to be a Wheel
of Time movie. Does anyone have any updates? The Narnia movie coming
out this December looks kewl.

I cant see it happening myself. Theres just way too much storywise for a
film or even a set of films.

Not necessarily. The kids are supposed to age from mid-teens to early
adulthood, so that's pretty easy to manage. Also, given RJ's propensity to
include _a lot_ of detail, the books aren't really all that long in terms of
plot. EOTW and LOC might need to be split, but CoS, PoD, and WH could
probably be combined into one film, as could TSR and FoH (if it were 3
hours).

So, we would probably be looking at 7-9 films for the series. Harry Potter
is still going strong at #4 and it is a reasonable assumption that, provided
there isn't a decrease in quality, #7 will be just as well received as #1.

steveo

[Lorfarius]

Post by steveo
Not necessarily. The kids are supposed to age from mid-teens to early
adulthood, so that's pretty easy to manage. Also, given RJ's propensity
to include _a lot_ of detail, the books aren't really all that long in
terms of plot. EOTW and LOC might need to be split, but CoS, PoD, and WH
could probably be combined into one film, as could TSR and FoH (if it were
3 hours).
So, we would probably be looking at 7-9 films for the series. Harry
Potter is still going strong at #4 and it is a reasonable assumption that,
provided there isn't a decrease in quality, #7 will be just as well
received as #1.
steveo

But Jordans books dont sell anywhere near the number the harry potter books
do worldwide. HP is a merchandisers gold mine, its pretty much guaranteed to
make millions whereas the Jordan books dont come anywhere close. Yes you may
have some initial interest from fans but it would be a risk in the sense
that you would need to attract more and going from the books general themes
it would have to be an adult audience not the childrens one related to HP.

[steveo]

Post by Lorfarius

Post by steveo
Not necessarily. The kids are supposed to age from mid-teens to early
adulthood, so that's pretty easy to manage. Also, given RJ's propensity
to include _a lot_ of detail, the books aren't really all that long in
terms of plot. EOTW and LOC might need to be split, but CoS, PoD, and WH
could probably be combined into one film, as could TSR and FoH (if it
were 3 hours).
So, we would probably be looking at 7-9 films for the series. Harry
Potter is still going strong at #4 and it is a reasonable assumption
that, provided there isn't a decrease in quality, #7 will be just as well
received as #1.
steveo

But Jordans books dont sell anywhere near the number the harry potter
books do worldwide. HP is a merchandisers gold mine, its pretty much
guaranteed to make millions whereas the Jordan books dont come anywhere
close. Yes you may have some initial interest from fans but it would be a
risk in the sense that you would need to attract more and going from the
books general themes it would have to be an adult audience not the
childrens one related to HP.

Good points. Maybe one of those TV multi-parters like Dune from SciFi would
do the trick, or maybe a maxi-series like what they produce on HBO? Lower
production and distribution costs, but still enough budget to do things
fairly well.

Seriously, though, I doubt this will ever get made for any venue because RJ
has very strong views and opinions of where his story should go (and OMG I
just noticed right now how much he and Lucas are alike), so I doubt that the
movie production crew and he could ever agree on what to produce, given that
the rights RJ sold include a proviso for him having an executive veto over
all aspects of the project.

steveo

[Tim Bruening]

Post by steveo

Post by Lorfarius

Post by steveo
Not necessarily. The kids are supposed to age from mid-teens to early
adulthood, so that's pretty easy to manage. Also, given RJ's propensity
to include _a lot_ of detail, the books aren't really all that long in
terms of plot. EOTW and LOC might need to be split, but CoS, PoD, and WH
could probably be combined into one film, as could TSR and FoH (if it
were 3 hours).
So, we would probably be looking at 7-9 films for the series. Harry
Potter is still going strong at #4 and it is a reasonable assumption
that, provided there isn't a decrease in quality, #7 will be just as well
received as #1.
steveo

But Jordans books dont sell anywhere near the number the harry potter
books do worldwide. HP is a merchandisers gold mine, its pretty much
guaranteed to make millions whereas the Jordan books dont come anywhere
close. Yes you may have some initial interest from fans but it would be a
risk in the sense that you would need to attract more and going from the
books general themes it would have to be an adult audience not the
childrens one related to HP.

Good points. Maybe one of those TV multi-parters like Dune from SciFi would
do the trick, or maybe a maxi-series like what they produce on HBO? Lower
production and distribution costs, but still enough budget to do things
fairly well.
Seriously, though, I doubt this will ever get made for any venue because RJ
has very strong views and opinions of where his story should go (and OMG I
just noticed right now how much he and Lucas are alike), so I doubt that the
movie production crew and he could ever agree on what to produce, given that
the rights RJ sold include a proviso for him having an executive veto over
all aspects of the project.

What does RJ's death do to the WoT movie project?

[jason.powell]

I doubt we will ever see a WoT movie on the big screen. Perhaps a TV
mini-series, but not a major film. It is in the same genre as LotR and look
how long it took to make that...and it has a much larger following than WoT
does yet. It would probably take years to develop the kind of prestige to
even warrant a TV mini-series, but frankly, there's people who read fantasy
and have never heard of or read WoT. A major motion picture would lose alot
of money unless the initial film was killer in it's worth as a film, and it
was marketed well enough to draw non-fans to see it. Basically, it would
have to be like Star Wars IV. It can't ride on it's fame like LotR did to
draw customers. Given how well Hollywood turns books into movies <snicker>,
I doubt it would do the job in the first movie to bring people back to see
the rest.

Post by steveo

Post by Lorfarius

Post by jenn
I've seen a little discussion about whether there's going to be a Wheel
of Time movie. Does anyone have any updates? The Narnia movie coming
out this December looks kewl.

I cant see it happening myself. Theres just way too much storywise for a
film or even a set of films.

Not necessarily. The kids are supposed to age from mid-teens to early
adulthood, so that's pretty easy to manage. Also, given RJ's propensity
to include _a lot_ of detail, the books aren't really all that long in
terms of plot. EOTW and LOC might need to be split, but CoS, PoD, and WH
could probably be combined into one film, as could TSR and FoH (if it were
3 hours).
So, we would probably be looking at 7-9 films for the series. Harry
Potter is still going strong at #4 and it is a reasonable assumption that,
provided there isn't a decrease in quality, #7 will be just as well
received as #1.
steveo

[Jeroen Geilman]

Post by steveo
So, we would probably be looking at 7-9 films for the series. Harry
Potter is still going strong at #4 and it is a reasonable assumption that,
provided there isn't a decrease in quality, #7 will be just as well
received as #1.

Except that it won't be received at all, of course - Rowling has said since
the 2nd or 3rd book that there will be 6 books, no more.

I have sometimes wondered whether any Hollywood fluffs will have the balls
to complete the series assuming that, say, the 5th book bombs...

I seem to recall that JKR has hinted (with a sledgehammer) that things will
continue to go downhill in the last 3 books... Hollywood is dead scared of
children's stories that don't end well.

Oh well.. </OT>

[steveo]

Post by Jeroen Geilman

Post by steveo
So, we would probably be looking at 7-9 films for the series. Harry
Potter is still going strong at #4 and it is a reasonable assumption that,
provided there isn't a decrease in quality, #7 will be just as well
received as #1.

Except that it won't be received at all, of course - Rowling has said since
the 2nd or 3rd book that there will be 6 books, no more.
I have sometimes wondered whether any Hollywood fluffs will have the balls
to complete the series assuming that, say, the 5th book bombs...
I seem to recall that JKR has hinted (with a sledgehammer) that things will
continue to go downhill in the last 3 books... Hollywood is dead scared of
children's stories that don't end well.

Well, she ended the series in a strange way in the last book, then, as the
HBP was book 6.

There will be 7 (or more) books-one for each year at Hogwarts--although it
looks as if a lot of the next one will not take place there...

steveo

[Vinny R.]

Post by jenn
I've seen a little discussion about whether there's going to be a Wheel
of Time movie. Does anyone have any updates? The Narnia movie coming
out this December looks kewl.

The rights to a film have been bought by Red Eagle Entertainment, but
I'm pretty sure they're nowhere near a release date. I don't think they
even have someone to adapt a screenplay or anything, which I believe is
the first step (somebody enlighten me, if not).

- Vinny R.

P.S. If I remember correctly, Red Eagle's website is linked on Tor's WoT
site someplace.

[t***@rci.rogers.com]

http://www.red-eagle-entertainment.com/news_2.php?contentid=1



Todd

[jenn]

Thanks for the link. If they made a movie with live people, they'd
probably age too much too fast before they complete it. Maybe they'll
do a computer generated one? Kewl!

[Keith Van Hulle]

Post by jenn
I've seen a little discussion about whether there's going to be a Wheel
of Time movie. Does anyone have any updates? The Narnia movie coming
out this December looks kewl.

Even if they decided to make it, can you see anyone being happy with who
would
get cast as who? Remember the X-Men threads that went on for years about
which
actor best fit the characters? Then they'd have to have all unknowns to fill
an
expensivey large number of characters and who would go see that?