Author George R. R. Martin tried desperately to talk HBO out of making a TV show out of his epic “Game of Thrones” books — for fear that a flop would kill his popular series, according to a new book.
In the preface to a new book, Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones, Martin recalls telling the shows future producers, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff that ‘[i]t’s too big. It’s too complicated. It’s too expensive,’ and that ‘Hollywood Boulevard is lined with the skulls and bleached bones.’ Read More »
Sonar Entertainment has acquired the rights to author Terry Brooks’ bestselling fantasy series “Shannara” and is partnering with Farah Films to produce a television series based on the books.
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“Terry has created a rich world of characters and stories that have entertained millions of readers all around the world for a quarter of a century,” Farah said. “He has a built-in fanbase that is bigger than those for even the most recent hit book series, like ‘The Hunger Games.’ We’re very excited and proud to have the opportunity to partner with Terry in adapting his great work for the smallscreen.”
“Terry Brooks appeals to a huge and diverse cross-section of audiences throughout the world,” Till added. “There is an enormous desire to see ‘Shannara’ brought to life for television. We know this is going to be a terrific series that will both delight longtime fans and attract legions of new devotees.”
As always, I advise rampant skepticism and sheltered expectations at announcements like this. The Elfstones of Shannara has been optioned before, with a script written by Eldon Thompson, a Fantasy writer himself, and that turned into nothing but vapor and hot air. Still, Shawn Speakman, webmaster and friend of Brooks, expands with more details and some of his own thoughts on the news, which are encouraging:
There are some great things about this. In this situation, Terry is a partner, given a level of creative control that assures any adaptation is done to his vision. We also have Game of Thrones on our side. The show has been wildly popular in the episodic television format and we hope other networks might be interested in Shannara for the same reasons Thrones works. Not to mention giving eight or ten episodes to tell the grandness of Elfstones will ensure a faithful adaptation of one of the masterpieces of fantasy literature.
Terry also feels Elfstones is the right place to start. Sword mimics LOTR for the first third of the book whereas Elfstones is originally riveting from the start and also has the strong female characters Sword entirely lacks. If this gets greenlit into production and becomes a hit, the next likely place for Season 2 would be The Wishsong of Shannara.
The success of Game of Thrones is an easy reference point to point to, and has likely opened the doors for other Fantasy adaptations, like Brooks work, but I think there are a few key differences that make the comparison unfair towards The Elfstones of Shannara. Read More »
I’m pleased to announce that Stephen Susco, writer of THE GRUDGE, and writer/producer of upcoming films HIGH SCHOOL (June 1st) and THE POSSESSION (Aug 30), has optioned the film and tv rights in Prince of Thorns and the Broken Empire trilogy published by Ace/Berkley in the US and Voyager in the UK.
Great news for Lawrence and fans of The Broken Empire series. I’m always skeptical about announcements like these, because an option being taken on a book series is only the very first, small step in a film or television series being produced, but it’s neat nonetheless. Lawrence’s novel is known for both its nihilistic and brutal world and the dark humour of the protagonist, Jorg, and it will be interesting to see how this transitions to screen, without making audiences squeamish.
If interested, you can read my review of Prince of Thorns from earlier this year.
I stumbled across this the other day and thought there might be some interest, since so many of you are also fans of Game of Thrones. This concept art was created by artist Kimberley Pope in the early stages of development for Game of Thrones, helping to solidify the foundations for the ‘look’ of the show as it brought George R.R. Martin’s words to life. Beautiful stuff.
A Song of Ice and Fire‘s Westeros meets Minecraft, births and awesome video. I don’t have much to saw other than, “Awesome.” Brandon the Builder would be proud (and probably perplexed by the computer running Minecraft.)
There’s a great video after the jump.
