Last week, Apple TV revealed it was looking to double dip with the Cosmere novels. Instead of picking between film and television, Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy series will split its time between both mediums, with a Mistborn movie and a Stormlight Archive TV show.
Sanderson recently used his YouTube channel to shed some light on how this deal came about and what it means for his novels. To his fans, he assured that Mistborn Ghostbloods will release in 2028 as previously announced, and the next Stormlight book will also be on track.
But he was candid in saying the adaptations “will impact my writing schedule, [but] not to the point that I think you need to worry. […] I’ve kind of already built this time in.”
As for the TV and movie, Sanderson revealed he spent years finding someone to adapt Cosmere. This past May, he pitched an adaptation to “all the major streamers and studios [in Hollywood], and I had a lot of great experiences.” All of them tried to bid, but Apple won out because the meetings all went well from start to finish.
There was also the matter of control: under this deal, Sanderson will write, produce, consult, and approve the cast for Mistborn and Stormlight, which the Hollywood Reporter notes gives him considerably more control than, say, George R.R. Martin. He’ll also co-showrun the show, and the search is on for someone else to help him with that.
But to him, what really sealed the deal was that he liked Apple’s vibe and its streaming approach, including its “very careful rollout of specific films.” It’ll be awhile before either movie or show comes out, but he’s confident things will go his way and told fans to buckle up: “Follow me along as I write the screenplay, hear me grouse about how difficult it is to take a 200,000-word book and condense it to a two-hour movie. That’s going to be our next six months or so.”
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