Apple TV is betting big on the next major fantasy franchise, securing the screen rights to Brandon Sanderson’s expansive Cosmere universe in what sources describe as an unprecedented deal.
Borys Kit for The Hollywood Reporter:
The first titles being eyed for adaptation are the Mistborn series, for features, and The Stormlight Archive series, for television.
The deal is rare one, coming after a competitive situation which saw Sanderson meet with most of the studio heads in town. It gives the author rarefied control over the screen translations, according to sources. Sanderson will be the architect of the universe; will write, produce and consult; and will have approvals. That’s a level of involvement that not even J.K. Rowling or George R.R. Martin enjoys.
Sanderson’s literary success and fan following helped pave the way for such a deal. One of the most prolific and beloved fantasy authors working today, he has sold over 50 million copies of his books worldwide, collectively across his series.
Powered by his unique and loyal legion of fans, he has raised nearly $100 million through crowdfunding, including a record-breaking Kickstarter publishing campaign for four novels that totaled nearly $42 million, the most successful in the platform’s history.
Perhaps most astonishingly, he has been headlining his own fantasy convention that has sold out every year since launching earlier this decade.
MacDailyNews Take: This is a major coup for Apple TV which is now positioned to potentially build a sprawling, interconnected fantasy epic on par with The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but rooted in Sanderson’s meticulously crafted magic systems and cosmology.
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