In January, mega-bestselling fantasy author Brandon Sanderson signed an “unprecedented deal” with Apple TV to adapt his sprawling Cosmere shared universe, a collection of 18 novels published over the past 20 years. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first projects being considered are a series of movies based on Sanderson’s original Mistborn trilogy and a TV show based on his ongoing epic fantasy series The Stormlight Archives. Sanderson told Polygon in 2024 that he was very hesitant to sign a streaming adaptation contract, and now that he has, I’m worried he’s starting with the wrong books.

The wild success of Game of Thrones gave Hollywood an endless appetite for epic fantasy. But most attempts to replicate HBO’s success at adapting George R.R. Martin’s books have failed. Shadow & Bone, Netflix’s adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse, was canceled after two seasons. Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time was scrapped after three, well before it reached the material Sanderson wrote to finish Robert Jordan’s fantasy epic after the author’s death. Netflix’s The Witcher will get its fifth and final season, but its viewership suffered a massive decline between season 3 and season 4, when Liam Hemsworth took over the role of Geralt of Rivia from Henry Cavill. Speaking to Polygon, Sanderson cited the issues with all three series when explaining his concerns over seeing his work adapted.

These shows demonstrate that having the rights to a........

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