Need more proof that Peter V. Brett’s debut novel, The Warded Man (or The Painted Man, for those in the UK) is really, really popular? Well, The Hollywood Reporter is, erm… reporting that the film rights to Brett’s novel have been picked up by the fellows behind the Resident Evil movies.
Filmmaker Paul W. S. Anderson and longtime producing partner Jeremy Bolt, the duo behind the moneymaking “Resident Evil” franchise, have picked up film rights to Peter V. Brett’s debut fantasy novel “The Warded Man.”
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The book is set in an undetermined future where mankind is beset by nightly attacks from demonkind and has been thrown back into a feudal state. Three young people emerge with the potential power to turn the tide, including the title character, a man who has wards (spells) tattooed on his body.
“It was an occasion where it paid to be British,” Anderson said. “It launched in the U.K. six months earlier than in the U.S., and we got wind of it when it was in galley form before the U.K. release. We think it has the potential to be a new ‘Lord of the Rings’-style epic, and the book has all this great imagery.”
Added Bolt: “We put our own money to buy it. We were reading all these great reviews, and we thought someone was going to buy it pretty fast.”
Exciting news, to be sure, but I’m not without reservations. As with all things Hollywood, I’ll believe it when I see the first trailer, and even then I may take it with a grain of salt. These things have a tendency to be announced and then simply disappear into the ether. Just ask fans of Terry Brooks, whose The Elfstones of Shannara and Magic Kingdom for Sale — Sold! have been in movie-making limbo for a few years now, despite the rights being picked up, scripts being written and directors being attached to the projects.
Second… the Resident Evil movies kinda sucked.
I’m a big fan of Guy Gavriel Kay. He’s one of those authors whose novels, much like the works of Neil Gaiman, I save for a rainy day, when I’m feeling jaded on Fantasy and need a good kick in the ass. His novels are inspiring.
