Amazon Plans “Wheel Of Time” Series
Amazon wants to make Prime Video your destination for Fantasy Epics! They’re ordering an adaption of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel Of Time to series. This is on top of that billion-dollar Lord of the Rings series they want to make. Rafe Judkins (Chuck) will serve as showrunner and executive producer for Wheel of Time; Jordan’s widow Harriet McDougal will serve as consulting producer.
It’s taken a long time for Wheel of Time to get this far in Hollywood. NBC optioned a possible adaption in 2000 but ultimately passed. Production company Red Eagle Entertainment purchased media rights in 2004 but has been shopping the property around since then with no takers.
Perhaps the weirdest chapter in this adaption’s storied history is when Red Eagle had to air a Wheel of Time “pilot” starring Billy Zane in the middle of the night on cable network FXX. Red Eagle paid FXX money to slot the airing, as the rights were about to expire if they weren’t used. If the Amazon Wheel of Time takes off and becomes a hit, the Billy Zane version is going to become Internet Famous pretty quickly.
For those who haven’t read the books and have no idea what The Wheel Of Time is about (like me), Deadline describes it as “set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists, but only women can use it. The story follows Moiraine, a member of the shadowy and influential all-female organization called the ‘Aes Sedai’ as she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women. Moiraine believes one of them might be the reincarnation of an incredibly powerful individual, whom prophecies say will either save humanity or destroy it.”
“Developing and producing Robert Jordan’s beloved fourteen-books-series for TV is a big undertaking, and we don’t take it lightly,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Event Series, Amazon Originals. “We believe that Rafe’s personal connection to the material and soulful writing will resonate with the book’s passionate fans.”
Since the order has only just been made, it could take a while before we see any clips from the upcoming series. The Wheel Of Time currently has no release window.