‘Wheel of Time’ TV Series Starts Turning With New Showrunner
There’s no dearth of evidence high-fantasy can work on TV, and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time may next follow Game of Thrones and MTV’s Shannara Chronicles with a chance to prove it. A TV adaptation of the 1990 novel series is finally starting to gear up, as The Wheel of Time gains a showrunner.
According to IGN, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hemlock Grove alum Rafe Judkins has signed on to shepherd an adaptation of the high-fantasy series, with Sony Pictures Television acting as studio under producers Red Eagle Entertainment and Radar Pictures. Jordan’s widow and editor Harriet McDougal will serve as consulting producer, though no network has yet been targeted for the series.
For those unfamiliar with Jordan’s fourteen-book saga, the Wheel of Time franchise is described thusly:
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time is a story that takes place both in our past and our future. In his fantasy world, the Dark One, the embodiment of pure evil, is breaking free from his prison. The overall plot is about a man who learns that he is the reincarnation of the world’s messiah and is once again destined to save the world from the Dark One – but possibly destroy it in the process. This saga is not only his story, but the story of an entire world’s struggle to deal with war and change, destruction and hope.
Adaptations of the series have been plotted as early as 2000 across both TV and film, with FXX actually airing a pilot in 2015 (reportedly to keep rights to the property). Stay tuned for more news of the series in the (wheel of) meantime.