The long-gestating “
Wheel of Time” TV series adaptation is moving forward with
Sony Pictures Television.
The series will be based on the high fantasy novels written by Robert Jordan, the pen name of James O. Rigney Jr. There are 14 novels in total, beginning with “The Eye of the World” in 1990 and concluding with “A Memory of Light,” which was finished by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s death in 2007. They follow the quest to find the Dragon Reborn, who it is said will help unite forces to combat The Dark One.
Sony will produce along with Red Eagle Entertainment and Radar Pictures. Rafe Judkins is attached to write and executive produce. Judkins previously worked on shows such as ABC’s “Agents of SHIELD,” the Netflix series “Hemlock Grove,” and the NBC series “Chuck.” Red Eagle partners Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon will executive produce along with Radar’s Ted Field and Mike Weber. Darren Lemke will also executive produce, with Jordan’s widow Harriet McDougal serving as consulting producer.
This is the first news on the series since April of last year, when McDougal shared an update on the planned adaptation online. “Wanted to share with you exciting news about ‘The Wheel of Time,’” she wrote on
Google+. “Legal issues have been resolved. ‘The Wheel of Time’ will become a cutting edge TV series! I couldn’t be more pleased. Look for the official announcement coming soon from a major studio.”
An adaptation of “The Wheel of Time” novels has been in development in one form or another going back as far as 2000, but the projects mostly never made it past that stage. However, a pilot episode called “Winter Dragon” aired on FXX back in February 2015 starring Max Ryan and Billy Zane. It aired at 1:30 a.m. with no prior publicity. After the episode aired, McDougal
released a statement saying she had no knowledge of it being produced.
Anybody who has read the "Game of Thrones" has probably heard of this book series because the "Game of Thrones" books have always been compared to the "Wheel of Time" book series. I believe GRRM has even made references to "Wheel of Time" book series in the "Game of Thrones" books and/or TV show.