WoT News from JordanCon

Written By: Ben al'Den

Jordan Con 2010

The Seancon Invasion was this past weekend and Wheel of Time news abounds! Most of the news comes from two panels run by Tar Valon’s very own Seri Sedai: “The Future of the Franchise” and “The Codex.” Larry Mondragon spearheaded the first panel with the aid of Jason Denzel from Dragon Mount and our very own Mother. The second panel featured Team Jordan, minus Brandon Sanderson, fielding questions about the upcoming Wheel of Time Encyclopedia. Without further ado, here is the future of the Wheel of Time franchise as we know it.

Movies

Larry Mondragon and his partner Rick Selvage are in the process of producing a film adaptation of The Eye of the World. The project was at Warner Brothers Studios for a long while which seemed like a nice fit for the Wheel of Time because of the pick of excellent directors the studio offered. Unfortunately as time progressed, it became clear that the Wheel of Time was not receiving the attention it needed to become a major project and so the movie was moved to Universal Studios where it currently resides. To the Wheel of Time movie’s credit, it has survived major project cuts at Universal during these troubling economic times. The Eye of the World is currently in the process of being adapted to a screenplay. Once the adaptation has been written and found satisfactory, the search for a director will begin. We can expect an announcement in regards to the director for The Eye of the World in approximately one year. As far as casting is concerned, the current plan is to go with unknown actors for the main characters, with perhaps a couple of better-known actors to play supporting roles. There will be some changes to the story in the process of adapting the movie. For reassurance, take a look at Larry’s post about this in the forums.

Video Games

Selvage and Mondragon’s Red Eagle Entertainment is producing and publishing a video game based off of the Wheel of Time. The current plan does not have the game tied to the movie because that generally results in poor games due to the rushed nature of the process. The genre of the game will be that of an action role-playing game. The story and setting for the game have yet to be determined. Back in February, Red Eagle announced that they have entered into a partnership with Obsidian Studios, whose founders are best known for the highly acclaimed RPGs Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights 2. Best known for writing the screenplay for Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie, Chris Morgan has been tapped to be the story director for the game. Currently, the plan is for the game to be made available for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC platforms. The game will be self-published by Red Eagle which means that it will be fully responsible for the game’s advertising and marketing. However, Red Eagle has entered into an agreement with Electronic Arts to distribute the game. The release time frame for the game is in about two to three years. In regards to the rumored Wheel of Time MMORPG, there is not work being done in this direction at this time. Right now Red Eagle is focusing on the single player game. The development time for an MMORPG is about seven years, so if one were to be worked on, the game would be a long time in coming. This author will be surprised should a Wheel of Time MMORPG see the light of day (although it would be awesome).

Outriggers

Unfortunately, not much was revealed regarding the possible outrigger novels due to Harriet choosing to attend Brandon’s book signing which was being held at the same time. What we do know is that any future outrigger novels will be based on stories that Robert Jordan thought out before his death. This means that there could be around three outrigger novels. One of the ideas included elaborating on how Lan and Moiraine made it to the Two Rivers at just the right time in The Eye of the World. Brandon Sanderson, who is completing the Wheel of Time, has stated that if any outrigger novels are to be written, that he will be the one to write them. Wilson Grooms, Robert Jordan’s cousin, was present at the panel and said that, ultimately, the decision lies with Harriet McDougal, Robert Jordan’s widow and editor. Wilson said that the continued works on the Wheel of Time have brought Harriet happiness since her husband’s death. Based off of this, Wilson seems optimistic that at least some of the outrigger novels will be written.

The Encyclopedia

The Wheel of Time Encyclopedia is currently in the research phase. The exact format has not been determined yet, nor has the scope of the content. The general consensus at the panel was that spoilers need to be present in the encyclopedia to make it useful, but that it would be ideal if a system to demark from which book in the series information comes from could be devised. The encyclopedia will differ from The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, affectionately known as the Big White Book, in that it is to be an encyclopedia more in line with the encyclopedia Britannica than a “companion book.” The Encyclopedia will be sent from Charleston to New York for publication one year after A Memory of Light is completed.