Amazon's cancellation of Game of Thrones ending being widely controversial, the HBO fantasy adaptation is still regarded as one of the best and most influential TV shows of all time. Every television studio and streaming service has made some attempt to capitalize on its popularity, looking to provide its massive pool with a worthy follow-up, especially with other adaptations of massive fantasy book series.
Amazon canceled The Wheel of Time, ending an experiment that was nearly a decade in the making, with Rafe Judkins initially announced as the showrunner back in 2017. Beyond just the uproar from audiences who'd grown to love the series, there's more at stake for other shows like it.
Hollywood's Fantasy TV Boom Might Be Over
Streaming Studios Won't Provide Fantasy Shows The Budgets They Did Five Years Ago
As I said, The Wheel of Time was the greatest chance to develop something on the scale of Game of Thrones, with the books offering potential for addictive drama to rival HBO. If a show like this can't succeed, Hollywood will have a more difficult time green-lighting other productions of a similar scale. The fates of shows like The Rings of Power and The Witcher are less certain than ever, and that's not even mentioning the numerous fantasy book series that have been stuck in Hollywood development hell for years.
Now That The Wheel Of Time Is Cancelled, I'm Disappointed We Won't See These 6 Book Moments
The Wheel of Time was canceled after three seasons, and we won't get to see some of my favorite scenes from Robert Jordan's book series.
Take the fantasy trend that sparked with movies in the 2000s, following the success of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films. From Eragon to The Golden Com to The Chronicles of Narnia, there were several opportunities to capitalize on beloved works, all of which were botched to varying degrees, resulting in an absence of fantasy adaptations until Game of Thrones reignited the boom in another medium.
Constructing these vibrant, imaginative worlds with the respect they deserve requires immense resources that studios won't be willing to shell out to an unproven IP.
The bottom line is that fantasy is a challenging genre to adapt. Constructing these vibrant, imaginative worlds with the respect they deserve requires immense resources that studios won't be willing to shell out to an unproven IP. Even when the IP is familiar, shows like House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power demonstrate that massive budgets don't guarantee a hit. The monetary risk is high, especially when setting out to adapt a TV series from a fifteen-book series like The Wheel of Time.
Most Fantasy Projects In Development Will Likely Be Shelved
Epic Fantasy Titles Stuck In Development Lulls Probably Aren't Happening Anytime Soon
In the years since Game of Thrones hit its peak, several beloved fantasy books have been announced as having movies or TV shows in development. Then, months and years go by, and nothing is heard about them. Joe Abercrombie's The First Law universe had an adaptation in the works with Rebecca Ferguson attached. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn reportedly had well-known actors trying on costumes before getting scrapped. Titles like Malazan and Earthsea saw initial announcements and then... silence.
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The Rings of Power is Amazon's biggest fantasy production, and I'm worried about its future after their other major title's cancelation.
If the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes weren't enough to have Hollywood studios regret their decisions to spend billions on adapting fantasy books to an unproven and oversaturated streaming market, seeing a show like The Wheel of Time get the axe is bound to do it. The years won't have a welcoming, ive environment for epic fantasy adaptations, until something slips by, managing to have that culture-changing appeal that Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones did. When that day comes, let's hope studios take an honest look at The Wheel of Time and learn what went wrong.
Could Any Fantasy TV Shows Still Get Made?
Fantasy Titles With A Different Approach To The Genre May Have Better Luck
While titles like Malazan, The Stormlight Archive, or The Kingkiller Chronicle might be challenging to get off the ground right now, fantasy comes in all shapes and sizes. Greta Gerwig's Chronicles of Narnia movies are in production for Netflix, which should offer a vastly different tone from the darker fantasy adaptations that have come in the aftermath of Game of Thrones. Something like Fourth Wing, which has a widely different target audience, could still make it to the screens. Video game fantasy adaptations like God of War could also still find success.
The contemporary literature market has demonstrated that fantasy can appeal to a much more diverse demographic than what the Lord of the Rings-derivative genre of the late 20th century might have suggested. Fantasy epics like The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice & Fire are some of the best-selling book series of all time, but titles like Fourth Wing have managed to crack a different audience pool. Likewise, God of War could share a more similar audience pool to The Last of Us than it might with The Wheel of Time. There are other markets to try targeting.
There Are Valuable Lessons To Take From The Wheel Of Time's Failures
Epic Fantasy Can't Be Rushed
Strictly referring to epic fantasy, The Wheel of Time is essentially the blueprint for how not to treat this genre. I don't mean to disparage the show, as I personally found season 3 to be very enjoyable, and my critiques are more targeted at the behind-the-scenes process than the final product itself. Season 3 was excellent, but by the time the reviews started being more complimentary, a significant and necessary viewership pool had already been lost. The streaming numbers declined drastically between when season 1 first aired and when the season 3 finale hit Prime Video's site.
To commit resources to a show like The Wheel of Time, the product must be properly executed from the beginning.
To commit resources to a show like The Wheel of Time, the product must be properly executed from the beginning. The proper time and care need to be invested in each step, ensuring that there is an overarching plan for the series and that all elements are in place for long-term storytelling. Brandon Sanderson, the author who wrote the final books of The Wheel of Time series, once explained on his Intentionally Blank podcast that a common argument he had with the TV writers was that they would dive into each season without a finished script before filming.
I'm Disappointed Wheel Of Time Can't Give Elayne Her Amazing Book Story Change Set Up In Season 3
Elayne was one of my favorite characters in Amazon's Wheel of Time show, and I'm disappointed we won't get to see where her story was heading.
It's evident, particularly in the early seasons, that while the book series could be used as a blueprint, the project hadn't had the attention and care needed for long-term success. Each season improved steadily, and that could have meant a continued upward trend, but to tackle and invest in this magnitude of production requires the know-how from the start. When researching the production of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies, years were spent in production before filming, building the world of Middle-earth. Every fantasy universe, The Wheel of Time included, needs that degree of care.
The Wheel of Time
- Release Date
- November 18, 2021
- Network
- Prime Video
- Showrunner
- Rafe Judkins
Cast
Moiraine Damodred
al'Lan Mandragoran
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Sanaa Hamri, Ciaran Donnelly, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Thomas Napper, Maja Vrvilo, Wayne Che Yip
- Writers
- Amanda Kate Shuman, Dave Hill, Rohit Kumar, Justine Juel Gillmer, Celine Song, Rammy Park, The Clarksons Twins, Katherine B. McKenna
- Franchise(s)
- The Wheel of Time
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