Apple TV Enters Heated Fantasy Game With Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere Universe (DETAILS)
Film and television adaptations based on Brandon Sanderson's sprawling fantasy universe known as the "Cosmere" are now in development at Apple TV.
Ever since HBO struck an unprecedented deposit of riches with Game of Thrones, Hollywood has tried to recapture that same lightning in a bottle.
As the world of Westeros expands in House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, competing companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney have chased the fantasy high with shows like Shadow and Bone, The Witcher, The Wheel of Time, The Rings of Power, and Percy Jackson.
Now, Apple is throwing its hat into the ring with plans to adapt the fictional "Cosmere" universe created by prolific and bestselling fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the "unprecedented deal" involves both film and television projects that could ostensibly last years, given the ample amount of source material to draw from.
Apple TV nabs rights to Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere universe
First on the docket is the seven-book Mistborn saga, which is being eyed on the feature side of things. Meanwhile, The Stormlight Archive, which has released five out of 10 planned novels, finds itself being developed for TV.
Moreover, Sanderson won't just be a passive observer along for the ride—as is the case with many authors courted by the entertainment industry—but an active writer and producer with a real say in the creative direction.
Known for churning out 1,000-page tomes as though it were nothing, Sanderson has published more than 70 books to date, been translated into 35 languages, and sold over 50 million copies worldwide. In addition to crafting his own literary works, the writer also stepped in to help finish the Wheel of Time series following the death of its original author, Robert Jordan, in 2007.
Both Sanderson and his literary agency confirms the news, with the later proclaiming on Jan. 28: "The JABberwocky team cannot wait to see Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive on the biggest screens we can find—congratulations, Brandon!"
This isn't the first time Tinseltown has come to call on the ambitiously crafted tapestry of interconnected worlds that make up the Cosmere.
Back in 2016, DMG Entertainment (a banner known for Looper, Iron Man 3, and Bloodshot) acquired the film and licensing to the books, while committing $270 million for the production of at least three movies.
Clearly, nothing ever came of the deal and the rights lapsed back to Sanderson, who was then able to shop it around to prospective buyers and launch a heated bidding war amid "most of the studio heads in town," wrote The Hollywood Reporter.
