Brandon Sanderson - When Will There Be Movies or Video Games Based on My Books?

Here is the second, in our ongoing series, of questions I get asked a ton. Today, I answer the question-in depth-about my books becoming movies and video games. Enjoy!
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[@Harabusa200]

100% agree that Mistborn could be a movie, but Stormlight needs to be a series or animated series... it's just way too long for it to be a movie. Also, good for Brandon for being picky about the rights thing.

[@viktorlindqvist5308]

It would probably fit best as an animated series imo, that could be so good - imagine if it got the Castlevania treatment

[@Navhkrin]

@@viktorlindqvist5308 I think it deserves even better treatment

[@viktorlindqvist5308]

@@Navhkrin I would agree that I would hope for it to be better, I merely used it as a reference seeing how great of an adaptation it was. If it can get a treatment even better? - Great!

[@thomashowell7445]

100% this. But it would devour Brandon.

[@abrasmage]

I kind of want a full-on Stormlight anime Edit: ok this is definitely a popular opinion

[@codybream5821]

This is why Brandon is my favorite author right now. Not only does he write great books, and a lot of them, but he treats his audience with honesty and a refreshing straight forward attitude. Good on you sir.

[@biffington]

Its great i can jump onto his website and get a view on how far he is through his upcoming books too. Really gives the feeling he knows where his ideas are going and how quickly hes going to get there. I dont every worry about when im going to see the next stormlight book as opposed to say....the next ASOIAF book. He's active on reddit too and you see him pop up from time to time with status updates and answering random questions. Really refreshing.

[@alextuszynski2083]

Jamesbiff yeah. It’s awesome, and a really refreshing change as compared to, like, Patrick Rothfuss

[@TokyoBlue587]

I love that he puts out books on a regular basis, not 10+ years between books

[@laughsingay]

@@TokyoBlue587 yeah he’s a fast writer

[@culkingsed]

But I like Patrick Rothfuss better cause he treats his fans like shit and he takes 20 years to write 3 books.

[@dannychan0510]

Brandon is low-key saying that he is the Michael Jordan of fantasy novels...and I LOVE IT

[@Vin-sv9fm]

You mean the michael jordan playing baseball level of screenwriting.

[@ADHDlanguages]

Humblebrag

[@yuidesu5625]

Always has been

[@ckleman]

lol almost miss that part cause it's too nature

[@nate3274]

@@Vin-sv9fm that’s he on par with an icon and greatness

[@demagus]

Could you imagine a faithful adaptation of one of Brandon's stories? Vin just sitting in a room alone for like 10 minutes thinking to herself XD

[@emilycampbell5798]

🤣

[@aj_814]

it would just be six hours of Vin sitting in the carriage in transit between Luthadel and Fellise

[@Lestibournes]

That's why you show it for a few seconds then skip the rest.

[@astrouphel]

Sazed just sitting at a desk reading through the religion portfolios for hours

[@JustScrapHD]

lmao just kal being depressed in his room. 10/10

[@martinsjavik2730]

Imagine an Arcane style of Mistborn. Blending 2d with 3d, good choreo and music. Studio Fortiche has proven themselves.

[@The-One-and-Only]

this is it! this is what we need

[@drakejemeyson7547]

@@The-One-and-Only imo that style would fit Stormlight better. Those 7 foot long shardblades might look kinda goofy live action but great in that animation style.

[@The-One-and-Only]

@@drakejemeyson7547 now that I started reading Stormlight couldn’t agree more

[@CourtneyEdwardsR]

There are so many stories I want brought to life by that studio. Storm Light was my first thought when I watched Arcane but I was also knee deep in reading that series at the time.

[@floppavevo5920]

I always felt that Arcane reminded me of Mistborn

[@halion4487]

What I wouldn’t give for a long form animated Stormlight Archive, one season per book, can’t think of anything that would top it!

[@cbob213]

24 episode seasons might cover it. But Game of Thrones cut way too much stuff because they were trying to do a season per book. Thats still the old way of thinking. Just translate the text into scenes, and don't worry about the rest. If Book 1 is 15 hour long episodes but book 2 ends up being 21 episodes, WHO CARES. Netflix needs to start doing this.

[@halion4487]

C Bob sure, I’d be down for whatever works better. But I don’t know if you’d need 24 episodes a season. The 1st book takes 26 hours to read, and I’d say that half of the time reading is spent on this that could be shown on screen in one or two scenes, so you cut out a lot of time there. Maybe 18 would be better, but that still seems excessive to me. Unlimited time does not lead to better tv, you do need to have limits to keep directors from making overly long and boring seasons

[@cbob213]

@@halion4487 All depends on episode length. I was just trying to make a point that even Netflix is kind of sticking to the 30 minute - hour long episode lengths when these services aren't constrained by ad breaks anymore, so they can just tell the story page by page, scene by scene, chapter by chapter 🖖🏻🤘🏻👍🏻

[@ΝικόλαςΚαστρινάκης-γ6κ]

@@halion4487 True, but if we're talking about an animated series that's usually 20 mins per episode so it'd be 24 episodes=8 hours, which might be a bit small for stormlight, but great for most books.

[@halion4487]

C Bob I prefer a 30 or 60 minute episode. But you are correct, I wouldn’t mind a 45 minute standard, as it tends to cut out the unnecessary parts of 60 minute shows without being the quick watch of a 30 minute episode

[@andreiioangabor1027]

Bro a Mistborn game would make me cry.

[@midnightpizzagoblin]

Dishonored is pretty close

[@wes5457]

Similar Batman Arkham.

[@Ferderack]

One like The witcher 3, can you imagine? would be fucking awesome

[@andreiioangabor1027]

@@midnightpizzagoblin Yeah, that's why it's like my favorite game of all time hahaha

[@adunsavior]

Man I wish CD Projekt red would pick up Mistborn for their next title, that would be like the dream.

[@Bupkiss]

An animated Stormlight Archive would be A M A Z I N G

[@alexworm1707]

They can put a anime version of it in the trash for all i care.

[@kamille286]

The day that happens I will die of happiness! I'm on Dawnshard right now, but I imagine the nostalgia trip such a series would have years down the road

[@michaelmiller2210]

@@alexworm1707 Funny, I don't see anyone asking for your opinion on anime... though I can tell by your abundance of likes that it was at the very least well received

[@bakunfase8672]

Yeah I imagine Kakadu. As a goku type haha

[@maddawg9636]

@@alexworm1707 Anime would be a great and cheaper way to introduce a larger audience into the series which would in return probably yield more adaptations. If they were to make Stormlight Archive series like GOT or HOTD, they'd need A LOT of seasons or else we'd miss a lot of stuff from the books

[@Princearmory]

Brandon, I would love to collaborate to make some armor and props from your Stormlight Archive series that you could use to help generate publicity, film a small test scene, or even just for fun. Dead serious.

[@BrandSanderson]

That would be cool! Maybe drop my producer an email? [e-mail]

[@dakimuchi]

@@BrandSanderson W

[@khyrianstorms]

Wow, this is great man. Hope great things come from this!

[@xpulse3d346]

Big dubs

[@raymondlugo9673]

Gotta give us a update on this!

[@StephenIC]

I can't wait to see an adaptation of Mistborn. The mist, the cloaks, all this acrobatic pulling and pushing off metal with Allomancy just seems so perfect for the big screen.

[@recarsion]

With how the film industry is right now I'm a bit worried about it becoming a corporate cash-grab but it seems like Brandon is really ensuring that something like that does not happen.

[@yggdrasil4986]

@@recarsion Easier said than done when it comes to Hollywood, excuse my pessimism.

[@stormtendo]

I’d love that, but I’d love Steelheart even more. I love the stories like that, the “what if there were no heroes” type stories

[@Yadvindr]

He had to hold his hand with other to stop himself from writing another book🤯

[@choyou3932]

There are so many jump cuts, we know he wrote a few novels in between those.

[@Nico_Conradie]

He is called The Sanderbot for a reason🤣

[@trippa3893]

This ^

[@tarinramsaroop2758]

Haha

[@starmorpheus]

We don't see his feet so for all we know, he might be still writing 👀

[@michaelmackay4374]

I've always seen Mistborn as a trilogy of movies, and Stormlight as a TV show. Question is simply that of scope.

[@dreamingblue3939]

I agree

[@sirgog]

Definitely agree on Mistborn as a trilogy. I struggle to see how to split Way of Kings into eight satisfying shows though. I can't see the Tower betrayal being anything other than the entire second last episode (with Dalinar's confrontation with Sadeas being the start of the final episode) - but how do you fill up six episodes before that? What is the climax at the end of each? First one ends with Kaladin's first bridge run, second with the greatshell hunt, third with Kaladin being sentenced to be strung up - then what? Or does it become a five episode 'series'? GoT was somewhat unique in that the first book has a staggering number of events happening.

[@sirgerald6846]

@@sirgog you can have more than 8

[@Want300]

@@sirgog Every episode doesn't have to end with a climax... however, the ending of each part could easily be the end of an episode... My question is the interludes... some will just have to be cut I think. Plus, the two prologues with chapter 1 could be episode 1... that would be one hell of an introduction... the Heralds decision, Szeth killing the king, and Kaladin fighting in Amarams army. What a start to a Show...

[@scardeo]

@@sirgog yo I've watched some of your poe videos cool to see you here cheers man.

[@felipecampos3045]

Brandon, the world NEEDS a mistborn movie trilogy and just dont know it yet.

[@soloharcore]

fuck yeah, it will be awesome

[@diepie5144]

I like Brandon’s idea of the first and last books being movies and the middle one being a TV show

[@n0zenzur]

Yes but with building sets not green screen.

[@MARIUS1090]

Yes and no woke for profit BS, boy did they Fuck up The Hobbit, straight storyline no deviation, period otherwise don't let them make it, creative control must be approved by you or no deal. Eragon could have been epic but look what Disney did to that as well.

[@eduardocastanorosales8292]

I prefer a series, like The Dark Matter

[@tomyop123]

I think a Stormlight animated series would be amazing. Whilst a live-action series would probably be fine, I think with all the weird visuals it would be expensive. Imagine the budget needed for the CGI to make spren, Roshar itself and the Radiant powers alone. Animated seems like a much better way to go imo

[@LeGeNdSlAyEr2234]

My thoughts exactly. Im reading through the 3rd book atm. I can just visualize all the crazy stuff in Roshar

[@bakunfase8672]

Shadesmar alone would be too difficult

[@ricebix]

Yeah animated for sure like how would they even do Kaladin vs Szeth at the end of book 2 in live action

[@Threaldaveoss]

100% Stormlight in animation is the only way.

[@basicoptimalmouse]

*cough* Wheel of Time

[@bastienmillecam3183]

I discovered Brandon recently during Lockdown. I am making my way through the Stormlight Archive and some of the fight scenes in book 2 are like a TV show to me. It's all happening in my head, I can see it. Love this guy, he's great!

[@JasonFanny]

There's a Stormlight mod being developed for Crusader Kings III.

[@vy1585]

Do we know nearly enough about the world?

[@JasonFanny]

@@vy1585 probably not, but CK3's new modding tools give the mod a lot of potential.

[@daddyleon]

@@vy1585 You should see what they did with the Game of Thrones mod in CK2 (and coming CK3), probably the religions are most clear. Not a lot of stuff to go on, but people just want the universe.

[@generalbacon7476]

I made a roshar map for civ 6 once which kinda worked it wasnt balanced very well but it kinda worked

[@owmypinkytoe6907]

Same for the new Mount and Blade

[@超粒方]

The Reckoners and Stormlight Archive board game are pretty good, hope to see more

[@isaacwright4910]

There's also a Mistborn one :)

[@kendallsorensen2062]

There is a Stormlight Archive board game?! 🤯

[@carsonrush3352]

Ahem... SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!

[@OscarVoigt]

Ready reckoners, I thought “wow, this will never be a movie due to the crazy environments: all steel, sunken New York, and a salt Atlanta.

[@OscarVoigt]

@@carsonrush3352 sorry reading.

[@upload2010]

It amazes me every time how candid this guy is with his fans. So transparent. In.a world of hide and seek, having this guy around is just refreshing

[@Twineline]

Skyward could be such a great movie. The story is so tightly done I feel like it's already perfect for a film adaptation without changing much.

[@hapful5850]

I think it would also be an incredible video game. idk.

[@camliona]

I would LOVE to see Skyward as a movie! It would be incredible as long as the producers didn't throw anything trashy in it

[@MokshParikh]

The first thing I thought when I finished Skyward was, "This would be an awesome video game"

[@calloban5171]

I think the absolutely explosive Kickstarter that’s been going on the past couple days is going to be a HUGE sign to major studios, showing just how popular these series are. Excited to see what comes from it!

[@rezasalamati9652]

"When art inspires art i get excited" What a quote

[@darklordshuaib]

Imagine an Assassins Creed/Witcher style Mistborn open world RPG.

[@TitasReal]

the push and pull mechanics will be pretty hard. It will need the new ps4 spider man level of web swinging mechanism but harder. Mistborn era 2 can be better adapted with less mistborn mechanics.

[@priceofiron6900]

The full open world platform is almost a decade old... I think it's time to move on. Also many games do it and I feel like less than half need it and less than half of that do it well.

[@SilvrSavior]

Would be interesting to have the core mechanics revolve around unkeyed metalminds that you build and can swap in the field to use different power sets.

[@sspearss9112]

Personally, I always liked the idea of Mistborn being like Dishonored. Action/stealth with cool powers and gadgets is already basically the Mistborn formula. Dishonored also has a really cool “oil-painting” aesthetic that I think would capture Luthadel, the mists, and environment very well. I am a sucker for RPGs though, so I wouldn’t mind a Witcher style Mistborn either.

[@giovannir1020]

You guys gonna hate me, but I can see a Mistborn game in maybe 5-10 years....in VR. Thats were the mechanics of pull and push could transfer really well. VR is still pretty niche, but its coming. !RemindMe 5 years Edit: oh and a Assassins Creed game for VR is already in development. Lets see how this will work out.

[@LostinDiscovery]

I can really picture Mistborn as a movie series as well, I think it would completely blow up if done properly. The Stormlight Archive deserves the best treatment possible, as much as Game of Thrones received if not more! These videos are great Brandon, thanks so much for taking the time to do this.

[@misbahulimam2512]

100 % agree with you.. I ll loose my mind if they make a cheap shitty adaptation of Stormlight.

[@MrPancake777]

They need a big massive budget if they are to adapt Stormlight.

[@stardroplet9499]

I think Elantris would make a great movie. You can show the character’s struggles and the ending would be epic.

[@Pakinov]

This man is BOSS

[@zierra239]

Que haces aquí pakinov? No imaginé que también leyeras a Sanderson XD

[@RonWiskyCup]

Ah, veo que también eres un hombre de cultura.

[@AgustinRodriguez-Bdm]

No me esperaba al grande de paki leyendo Sanderson xD

[@mariob411]

While I was reading Mistborn, I kept thinking how cool it would be in a video game, actually visualizing the atmosphere and the outfits and all the animations. I'm about halfway through the Way of Kings and I 100% see it being made into a show on a level of GoT. Im new to the cosmere, only book i have fully read from it is Mistborn, but whatever the future holds for the cosmere, I'm excited.

[@loganmontgomery1955]

Have you read the second Mistborn series yet?

[@mariob411]

@@loganmontgomery1955 not yet, no

[@loganmontgomery1955]

@@mariob411 It's worth reading i think, you should.

[@mariob411]

@@loganmontgomery1955 I plan on it :) just not sure when

[@phalkenjr]

I say HBO series for Stormlight Archive. I waited 6 years for the mountain and the viper (GoT), I can wait another 6 for Kaladin stretching forth his hand for Syl.

[@davebaitz]

Preach!

[@bilgeturkkan6095]

@F G2000 Stormlight is not ready for a movie, with the current technology. Maybe 20 years later, otherwise I would like to see an animation of it.

[@mikeyfreeman5776]

Storm light *has* to be animated

[@mikelxanadu]

I wonder if TOR has some kind of exclusivity contract with Amazon. Would make it hard to do WoT and Stormlight at the same time

[@AntoineBandele]

Brandon Sanderson, a fan of the POA movie? Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well.

[@henrywayne5724]

Antoine Bandele Oh My God! Like, I’m literally just from seeing the Bolin And Eska video and here you are! You’re a fan of Sanderson too! What’s your fave book of his?

[@thequeensthief5593]

What is the POA movies?

[@uptown3636]

@@thequeensthief5593 I think that is a reference to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. PoA=Prisoner of Azkaban in Potterspeak. I don't think the OP intended to make it plural.

[@ddfstar7588]

i used to watch your vids when i was 14 lol

[@benjipixel1438]

Lol, He invented culture

[@Rekizence]

An animated Stormlight TV show would be incredible, the style of switching charater perspectives would fit really well!

[@savianlopez1387]

jeez the transparency from Brandon is awesome! Love that he is so comfortable keeping us in the loop like this. Totally gained some points for me

[@miwiarts]

Hello Brandon! I just wanted to thank you for sharing your lectures on writing. I am an aspiring comic book writer, and I value worldbuilding, character portrayal and narrative a lot. I've only just now had the time to watch through your first lecture of the 2020 series, and I felt as if your analogy of the Magic the Gathering game not only works as an analogy for writing, but skill acquirement in general. You've given me new motivation to work on my passion projects. Thank you so very much. best regards

[@kiara6237]

I would love to watch a animated series or a movie. As a huge fan of CDPR would be nice to see how they would build Mistborn into a game.

[@BladeofmoonlightKitto]

CD Project Red or Arcane studios could probably make a great game outta Mistborn

[@TeamAwesomeDK]

Or CDPR could make a game in a new Cosmere series with the world built by Brandon ala what George R. R. Martin is doing with From Software

[@jus10beare]

Mistborn is perfect for a game. The loop of leveling up your weak/minor allomancy into the strong/major. Having different availability of the metals to find throughout then world and having to choose when to burn certain ones. Building a team of companions based on their powers. Stealth, Tech tree, base building, ancient lore, "flying." Multiplayer would be amazing.

[@abhishekjm8611]

@@BladeofmoonlightKitto Arcane would be an amazing choice. They treat the core concepts right

[@fredericofetter]

If the series are not easy to adapt to games, they should make a new story in the same world with the magic systems. I bet it would be safer

[@GetWriteOnIn]

"When art inspires art, I get excited," -- YES! I'm hoping the TV show for The Golden Compass will do much better than the original film take on it. Love that Michael Jordan comparison, as well as your thoughts on having the filmmaker buy into your vision first, even if you don't write the screenplay yourself. I totally support you having your own treatment for the show. If your films do get live action over anime, I hope they're not too CGI based. That's what I liked so much about stuff like Lord of the Rings and fantasy movies before that, when they had to get innovative about how they showed the story. With an imagination like yours, especially if you write the treatment, I think that would be a great adaptation.

[@Cryogenius333]

If they turn any of his books I to an anime I will hunt them down and castrate them. Animated is fine. Especially well animated. But no weaboos. Go away

[@Esteban-c1t]

@@Cryogenius333 anime doesnt necesarily mean weabos. Even inside the anime cominity there are different divisions depending on the genre. The weabos you mention probably are the kind of otakus that like echi, and shit like that. But there are genres in anime such as shounen, seinen, action, fantasy/supernatural/superpowers that feels kinda similar to the Cosmere. And the japanese voice actors are leagues above other languages. I think the Cosmere would be well recieved by the anime comunity even if they dont know the books

[@Esteban-c1t]

@@Cryogenius333 I only wanted to defend a little bit the anime comunity, of course if the Cosmere gets animated adaptation it probably wouldnt be by a japanese studio

[@Trisjack20]

@@Esteban-c1t A balanced and well put answer.

[@juliannasreddin5226]

I always wanted the stromlight archive to be adapted into an anime for some reason. It just fits so well. I'm already imagining different scenes and epic opening songs.

[@xpulse3d346]

lol yea, especially with the giant shard blades/plate, and the magic stuff, it definitely sounds like an anime

[@carlsmith4568]

Love the awkward pause at the start of the video haha. I also love how much you interact with your fandom! Brandon, you are the best author I have ever read, and you inspire me to be a better person whenever I watch your videos.

[@theforlornknight]

I would love to see Warbreaker done as a movie or 12 ep series from Kyoto Animation. What they've been doing with Violet Evergarden recently plus their past amazing catalog, I think they could pull off the BioChroma look and feel. Or Mistborn by Platinum Games.

[@KaNoMikoProductions]

Give it to Ufotable. Their CGI department is uniquely suited for biochroma lighting.

[@sf12394]

Bear with me: Arkane Studios Mistborn game. To capture that insane movement described in the books.

[@Xandude19]

That's what I came to post, definitely Arkane. The flexibility in approach you get in Dishonored would work fantastically with Mistborn.

[@indoril6923]

Arkane would capture it well with their smooth gameplay design but their problem has always been weak narrative, if they get better writers that are familiar with the Mistborn world, then yes, that'd be good.

[@DanielLopez-ob9jz]

@@indoril6923 well, the problem is adapting the characters and narrative. How they would adapt the inner thought of someone like Vin into something like a video game is very hard. Video game stories can be amazing, Nier Automata(the best), God of War, The Witcher, etc. But adapting novels would be hard as hell.

[@loganmontgomery1955]

I've thought of binds for controller already on how you could control the magic

[@FractalParadox]

Now that I think about it, yes, Anime Mistborn would be absolutely insane, depending on who makes it

[@onepresence9460]

Yes, it would be super insane!

[@FractalParadox]

@@onepresence9460 or anime skyward. I think skyward would fit the mold of one of those cute girls+big military semi-mechas against some kind of alien invasion anime like -strike witch- ... I mean not that I watch that kind of stuff. It would fit a standard 12 ep arch structure pretty well, I think. Plus there's the love interest from a traditional family, the clumsy (nerdy?) onee-san sniper, the mechanic best friend, the cute animal sidekick that could float over their head on the cover, the badass one I don't remember the name of, ship has an AI and the cockpit _spins_ . They could come up with a lot of -fans- ... I mean cool camera angles and exquisite action.

[@onepresence9460]

@@FractalParadox Skyward anime would be incredible.

[@JH-up5zj]

Can't help but appreciate just how open, honest and direct to the point he is.

[@CptDansky]

This transparency and honesty is priceless.

[@keirscott-schrueder5625]

Finally an author who has embraced the internet to it's full potential. I think you are going to get a ton more fans and subs very soon.

[@loganbrown8752]

I think a Mistborn game by Insomniac in the vein of Spider-Man would be awesome. The navigation is one of my favorite parts of Spider-Man, and I think it would be cool to see it adapted for Mistborn pushing and pulling.

[@loganbrown8752]

Thoughts on additional metals: Tin could be like AC eagle vision pulse stuff, highlight meaningful things. Pewter would probably be somewhat automatic in use, or like a quick heal type thing while having it available, maybe to power up an attack too Copper would be kind of a stealth mode option to turn on Bronze could do a subtle visual cue in the direction of someone burning metals Soothing and rioting could be a complicated subsystem, or something as simple as making people attack others, like an AC berserker dart I also think subtley seeing all the lines to metal object would be cool

[@carsonrush3352]

When it comes to the Mistborn world story, I'd say that the Alloy of Law books would be the easiest to convert into a video game. You only need to focus on figuring out the mechanics of a steel pushing and storing weight as Wax, and maybe using bendalloy time bubbles with a healing factor if you play Wayne. This is way better than cramming in the full gamut of mistborn powers into a single character.

[@connarkent282]

Allomancy is a great video game mechanic

[@martinortiz5851]

I watched Castlevania recently and I've been consistently daydreaming of an animated series/seinen anime style adaptation of mistborn. I think that would be the best choice because it would capture the fight scenes and the atmosphere pretty well. Also characters would have the necessary screentime for it to not feel rushed and, honestly, it would be fucking awesome.

[@Bragglord]

I think I would actually cry with happiness if the Castlevania team took over a huge Mistborn project...maybe longer than a Castlevania season for each novel (I'd say 8 40-minute eps).

[@mattisanimation2373]

Tbh I can't imagine era 1 mistborn as anything other than live action. Era 2 tho, wax and wayne as a legend of korra style animated show would be **chef's kiss**

[@Bragglord]

@@mattisanimation2373 no way man, all the Mistborn stuff would look great either in Castlevania/Last Airbender style. But maybe you're not as terrified as I am of them cocking up the casting for Vin/Kelsier if it was live action.

[@mattisanimation2373]

@@Bragglord oh yeah no, 100% casting is terrifying! Still tho, personally i feel the grit and darkness of era 1 would come across better in live action. Has to be said though, attack on titan is a great example of how amazing mistborn movement could look in animation

[@onepresence9460]

@@Bragglord Yes! Another option, would be the Arcane art style.

[@jackfico3021]

Glad to hear that you are willing to let your work adapt but you don't want it done poorly. Respect.

[@ashs5612]

I think "The Emperors Soul" could be a great movie adaptation. A 2hr movie can capture the entire essence of the story.

[@16m49x3]

Even 1.5hr for that one to be honest. Short and (bitter)sweet

[@Want300]

It just might not be the most entertaining movie... especially to people who are not invested in the Cosmere

[@lunawilkes9459]

@@Want300 yeah the emperors soul relies a lot on internal exposition. maybe if they did a kind of narration in a diary style it would work

[@randimcmillan3148]

This is my favorite book. Have a signed copy ♥️

[@David-un4cs]

There's no reason an adaption couldn't expand on what's in the book. You could show the Emperor's life in flashbacks, you could show the attempted assassination, you could show more political stuff, you could show the attempted theft of the scepter, etc. If the movie was filmed artistically and philosophically with an eye for elevating the cinematography, think certain Wuxia films, people would forgive a slower pace.

[@deantakelly6653]

Personally, I'd love to see an animated Reckoners movie in a similar style to Into the Spider-Verse. I think the cities in it would look amazing in that animation style (particularly Babilar), and the more stylized style of it (I'm thinking in particular the speech bubbles that occasionally appear for characters' thoughts) would give a lot more freedom for including some of the narration that's a large part of why I like the series.

[@lonsunocook]

I feel like Mistborn and The Reckoners would make great live action films, Warbreaker would be a fantastic Borderlands style movie, But Stormlight Archive I feel has so much happening that I feel the best way to do it would be an epic anime. But that being said I would love pretty much any expansion of any of the Sandervers.

[@overlorde7526]

I agree. Mistborn and Reckoners have really efficient plots, point a to b, but stormlight is waaaaay to long with waaaaay to many characters

[@agentetaeko1422]

the swords are huge, like anime things are in general

[@charlieh7529]

The only thing I disagree with is in Mistborn as a live-action film. For me it should be animated. The fight scenes would be way more epic, even the art design would way easier in this regard. Especially for complex magic systems, I think animation is the way to go(maybe because I am a big fan of Avatar, and I am scared that a Mistborn live-action would be as bad as the Avatar one).

[@mrsirperson9656]

I would love a Stormlight anime, but only if it doesn't have those anime "tropes." A lot of things I don't like about anime can be summed up into: Fanservice a surplus of Inner dialogues Characters constantly just saying the things that are happening, such as narrating very obvious scenes like we couldn't figure it out on our own (like a scene in Fate Bladeworks where one of the characters is remarking "oh wow, my arm feels so numb and stiff, I wonder why that is" when no one is around, and that bugs me) Fight scenes where a dude throws a punch and the next two minutes are everyone watching talking about the exact details of that punch and why it's so cool (I'm looking at you, JoJo) Characters acting over the top in the most inorganic way (Like the scene in Persona 4 the Animation where Yosuke breaks a DVD belonging to Chie, apologizes, and promises to pay her back, and what does she do? She runs over there and kicks him in between the legs! What in the name of roast turkey) Bad English dubs (obviously this wouldn't really apply to a Stormlight anime, but still) I don't think Stormlight would suffer from some of these automatically, but I just really hope it can avoid all of them

[@lonsunocook]

@@charlieh7529 Well I am glad you disagree, I am really torn about Mistborn being animated vs live action because of characters like OreSuer and Sazed who have very unique powers. But I also feel like how internalized 90% of the powers are it would be a really great way to see how human the people of Scadrial are.

[@koopaslayer7598]

Just got done reading Mistborn I loved it. So many surprises and twists I didn't expect. It would make a great movie.

[@Childoftheking89]

Thank you so much for sharing where you are at. It was very encouraging to hear. I hope that all of this happens. 🙏 I can't wait to see what you do!

[@ahouseofbees]

My kiddos LOVE the Alcatraz books, and my husband and I love all of your other books. 🧡 As a former actress/singer/performer/film connoisseur, I think you are very wise to recognize that book adaptations need to work for the different mediums, and usually cannot be a complete faithful adaptation. Hoping that someday we will get to see some of your stories on the screen. 🧡🙌🏻

[@AnakinTheWeird]

The setting in Stormlight and the ecology on Roshar are so far out there that a live action adaptation would probably be too difficult and expensive, and overly reliant on CGI (imagine having to do the makeup on all those Parshendi). It'd likely be more effective if it were animated.

[@timdegriselles1216]

They did it for LotR... But I do agree on everything else with the magic. It is the one system that I am most afraid to see in a movie theater live action if it ever happens.

[@willphoenix5464]

​@@timdegriselles1216 Although I agree with the Orc and Parshendi parts, I do see the rest being really hard to do. Roshar is simply too fantastic and alien

[@timdegriselles1216]

@@willphoenix5464 it's true. I've always hoped that Brando Sando isn't wanting stormlight to be live action.

[@TheRedWizard]

@@willphoenix5464 I agree, the world for the most part is basically stone, with pretty much every single plant and animal save for those from Shinovar being completely unlike anything on Earth. They would have to make up tons of new plant models, and have to film in a place without any soil or grass at all. Basically it would be impossible to do right.

[@darthgoon3028]

If they did dune they can do roshar

[@maria-hr4nz]

I think The Stormlight Archive would be a beautiful animation! Imagine an anime style Syl and Kaladin fighting 😌 those Shardblades... Pattern... All kinds of Spren... It NEEDS to be animated

[@StarBoundFables]

Good luck adapting your stories for film & video games, Brandon! I love the idea of an animated series because a budget can go soo much further & you can accomplish tonnes with the same Investment. That being said, there are some people who'll watch anything that's live-action, but wouldn't go near animated tv/movies. IE: Star Wars - Clone Wars, animation series. The team started making incredible content by season 3, & I believe it's had an amazing impact on real SW fans. All the best!

[@kngpin41]

Cannot say it enough, love this guy. Just over all profound author and world builder. Funny interesting dude.

[@harshvardhanjha4611]

" I really want to see mistborn film adaptation. It has been on my bucket list. " I felt that.

[@justeremiahsjourney]

You are hands down my favorite author. I used to read 100 pages a day for years on end. Your writing is on point. I love how flawed your main characters are and the fact that you are willing to let them die occasionally without going all GOT. Best of all, you haven't sold out to the publishers and there is an end in sight as far as a final conclusion to your epics. My one question is, do you sleep? Love you bro...

[@uptown3636]

Why do I feel that, many years from now, a full-on Sandersonaissance will be upon us, and the Mistborn film and Stormlight TV series will have mainstream appeal?

[@dreamingblue3939]

Seems too good to be true, but that would be amazing.

[@calebmauer1751]

It's got to happen eventually. It's hard to get into Hollywood, but once they have a proven success they just throw money at it. Look at JK Rowling and the Fantastic Beasts movies, they'll make anything she writes into a movie.

[@hunterloveland9115]

That is my definition of a perfect utopia

[@vallano8970]

@@dreamingblue3939 Considering the GOT show came out 25 years after the original books release it could definitely still happen for Mistborn and stormlight

[@EE12345]

@@vallano8970 15 years actually. And it's been 15 years since Mistborn came out too. By the time book 5 for Stormlight comes out, it'll be nearly 15 years for that series too.

[@brelonwy]

I recently finished the first three Mistborn books for a project at my University (I get to create book covers and a collateral campaign for the books) and I can't wait to see how it turns out. Thank you so much for some fantastic books Sanderson

[@fallaciousfeelings]

So glad to hear all this!! I fell in love with the storm light archive and it would be a beautiful series 💚💙

[@reapfield8687]

One of my big fears about live action adaptations of the books is that they'll overwrite my mental image of the characters

[@eno2870]

With Hollywood as it is today.. Shallan will be a black woman with brown eyes, Kaladin will be a white guy with blonde hair and green eyes, Dalinar will be Japanese with brown eyes, and Adolin will be HIspanic with jet black hair and brown eyes. Never mind that these characters have set nationalities/races within the world they live in.. not to mention familial relations.

[@abrasmage]

@@eno2870 Yeah, there goes Kaladin's black hair and dark eyes (while not holding Syl)

[@henrywayne5724]

Eno I know. All in the name of inclusivity. Like it’s not inclusivity if you have to change entire aspects of a character already planned out. (enters J.K. Rowling)

[@dig8634]

@@eno2870 This seems like a weird point to make. That's not actually a normal thing when those parts are vital to the plot. That happens almost exclusively when the race is non-white in modern adaptations like Ghost in the Shell. Like, J.K. Rowling changed her characters, but that wasn't even for an adaptation, and the things she changed doesn't actually matter for the plot, so who cares? Hermione being Black changes basically nothing of import, so why not be inclusive? Her books had basically no representation except that added on by meta text, so is it really that bad to add it where it doesn't hurt? I guarantee I can name 10 times the amount of stories where such things were changed in the favor of white people than you can where inclusivity was the reasoning. Even more so for stories where that even matters.

[@eno2870]

@@dig8634 - It's an issue when it causes a breakdown in the world building. Look at the casting for The Wheel of Time as an example. It makes no sense whatsoever that there would be so much racial diversity in a tiny backwater village that doesn't even know who their own queen is, or that they're part of a kingdom at all. The same could be said for Netflix's The Witcher, though admittedly it was less of a problem (and more of a problem in some ways) in that series. Those characters were drawn from all over the world, so it was normal to expect racial diversity.. but it was still extremely disappointing to see one of the main characters changed in basically every way imaginable to the point that she really only shared her name with her namesake. Also - why be inclusive purely for inclusiveness sake? In your Harry Potter example, the books are set in Great Britain. Depending on the area you're talking about the percentage of the population that is black ranges from .2% to 3.5%. It makes sense that there wouldn't be many (or any) black characters (though there are some). Great Britain isn't a terribly racially diverse place, with nearly 90% of the population being white and most of the remainder being Asian (which is again represented as a minority). Those films were actually the RIGHT way to handle diversity - cast your actors to represent the characters as they are in the context of their own world/setting. In the case of Stormlight Archives, I'd be disappointed if I didn't see darker skinned (hispanic perhaps?) actors playing the Alethi characters. Same goes for the Veden ones, which should be pale skinned, with some (or even many) have red hair (Irish?). Eye, hair, and skin tones should match what's in the book - because each of those things is integral to that character's identity and history. Adolin's blonde/black hair says something about his parentage. Shallan's red hair means that her family intermarried with the Unkalaki in the past, and that while she's a lighteyes her family isn't (or wasn't always) well off. Modern Hollywood just doesn't seem to get that they undermine their own world building drastically by casting actors that don't fit the character and the world they live in.

[@Morfeusm]

Mistborn is perfect for an anime series! Would love to see that someday!

[@oscarhernandez4258]

"Stormlight Archive" would look awesome with "The Legend of Korra's animation🥰 It's how I see it on my mind 👌🏽

[@nsarji]

lmao someone NEEDS to reach out to the creators of avatar and just be like “find branden sanderson and work with him NOW”

[@henrywayne5724]

MastaNoah Exactly! Someone find them now...

[@Pvkasz]

Facts

[@anicealien]

And with Hiroyuki Sawano doing the soundtrack👌

[@greencubed1274]

@@anicealien that would be legendary. Kevin Penkin could be good as well

[@lukemckay8429]

As someone who works in the film industry and loves your books, I totally agree

[@RijaMo]

Bruh animated Stormlight would be so fucken cool. Just Imagining Szeth flipping around is already giving me goosebumps

[@CptZargon]

I would love to see an animated stormlight show! I feel you would be able to d more fantastical moves and scenes with the shard bearers than you would in real life. Can't wait to see what comes next!

[@TajsJespersen]

Your books are incredibly visual, and I personally have a dream of adapting them to the big screen some day. I recently re-read The Way of Kings again, and I cannot help myself, trying to come up with ways of how you can structure a story as grand and detailed as that, and how do you technically film action like those of the windrunners, without it looking awkward. I completely agree, that there's no way it can work as a film format. It's gotta be in a series format but I cannot wait for The Stormlight Archive to one day make it there.

[@dig8634]

I just always imagine drawing the fight scenes when I'm reading them. How incredibly cool it would look to animate Seth's movements during intense fights. Imagine the perspective of the camera shifting to align with the one using the gravity surges, and then cutting to the perspective of those on the ground to really give you a feeling of how the surges work! And thinking about the incredibly smooth movements of the more experienced windrunners like Seth flipping and twisting as he falls in different directions.

[@silverclaw37yiff]

I would absolutely love to see skyward made into a show like his dark materials on HBO. And I agree making books into tv shows is the way to go especially with books like yours and even the inheritance cycle

[@xarmanhsh2981]

Just a daily reminder that no matter how many of brandon"s books i read , my favourite line is still 'what is the value of one life' when dalinar confronted sadeas in front of everyone. Just thinking about it brings me chiills

[@CHIIIEEEEEEEEFFFFSSS]

I realize you won't see this, but my first Cosmere book was WoK. Reading Szeth's first chapter, my first thought was about how well the magic system aligned with standard video game mechanics. I think a game series would be incredible. Love your work - RoW is great. Thanks and keep it up!

[@garrettrobinson3826]

I have long held that a Mistborn-based rpg would be absolutely fantastic, and playing Dishonored this year really cemented that in my head. Metal selection would be difficult, but I think with a little bit of bullet time, it could be done.

[@extonjonas6820]

When i first read mistborn, i was like this is an anime. It would translate so well

[@benedictifye]

The third Harry Potter felt very magical, in a way the others didn’t

[@16m49x3]

maybe because the focus was more on the actual things people were interested in. Which is the magical world and how it's like living in it, not Harry and gang vs no-nose racist person

[@mrana2424]

Haiiry Cake yeah third and second were the best books

[@16m49x3]

@@mrana2424 I also kinda liked half blood prince

[@Highbrowser]

That’s because you had Alfonso Cuaron working on it. Very strong auteur sort of director.

[@legogandalf5453]

Prisoner of Azkaban is the strongest Harry Potter

[@K1NETIX1983]

Love to see how open and insightful you were in this, it was so refreshing to get such a well-considered view on the future of adaptation by an author. Best of luck! :)

[@megansreadingrevelations]

Oooo I can’t wait to buy the Stormlight board game ♥️♥️♥️ And movies would be so amazing! As long as Hollywood stays true to the story 😊

[@trimeta]

If you're specifically looking for a board game (not video game), you can buy the Stormlight Archives game right now: www.brotherwisegames.com/stormlight Do be aware it's not really trying to adapt the plot or characters: rather, it's about crafting your own character in the world, borrowing key plot beats from canon, but ultimately crafting your own story. So it may not be what you had in ind.

[@megansreadingrevelations]

Randall Wald thank you! I’ve watched some KZbin videos about it and thought it looked cool. Maybe I’ll add it to my holiday wishlist or something. Thanks for commenting ❤️

[@polythewicked]

One of the first things I thought upon seeing the first episode of Riot’s Arcane was “holy crap - Sanderson *needs* to get them (Fortiche) to do an animated adaptation of The Stormlight Archives.” The storytelling, the animation, everything about that show screams The Way of Kings, etc.

[@jadonberg9364]

I think now’s the time for a Reckoners film series. It would fit right in alongside The Boys and Invincible

[@RickReasonnz]

Am I alone in thinking Mistborn would be an awesome immersive sim video game? Such a cool magic system!

[@carlsmith4568]

You are very right about how hard it is to adapt large stories. Stormlight would be a monumental task to put on the big screen, or even television.

[@Mynerva]

If they’ve decided the wheel of time can become a Tv series I think the Stormlight archive is capable as well! However I’m also 100% down for an animated series as well

[@jonathanyaloussa]

And how did that turn out?

[@jonnyframe8464]

Brandon speaks how he writes. Endlessly and easily

[@xylonpesquera8605]

I know that it's in your heart but oh my goodness I would love to see an Anime done by the great animation studios. Heck, just Studio Ghibli would make any Sanderson gorgeous.

[@Morfeusm]

Xylon Pesquera have you heard what they did with the Earthsea? I was so disappointed

[@dreamingblue3939]

@@Morfeusm That was the first movie directed by Miyazaki's son Goro. He was young, inexperienced, and was pushed to take on the project when he didn't feel up to it. So.. not the best example of what Studio Ghibli is capable of. A better example of a fantasy book adaptation done by Ghibli might be Howl's Moving Castle.

[@creamymelon67]

I'm so excited to start reading your books Brandon. I stop reading books for over a decade due to university and work but then nothing caught my attention after finishing the Ender saga. I was worried for years because I thought I lost my passion to reading but after finding out about your books and the Cosmere, it rekindled my adventurer soul and I cant wait to receive my Mistborn trilogy in 5 days so I can start this journey. Thank you so much!!

[@jumpsuitsavage5786]

mistborn is near and dear to my heart i hope it never gets desecrated for profits..keep it underground for the boys

[@andreasstergard4057]

The Golden Compass movie also just... skipped the whole critique of the church if I remember correctly?

[@daddyleon]

But it was still seen as to...anti-Christian, right?

[@overlorde7526]

Yah it was way too afraid of annoying people. The tv show is good though.

[@mathewlanders3282]

Considering the backlash was still there about the books "killing god" directly. *Cough*Metatronisnotgod*cough*

[@daddyleon]

@@overlorde7526 oh...there was a tv show?? did they finish the story there?

[@patrimcauthon478]

@@daddyleon the second season is about to come out on HBO.

[@WasatchWind]

I've always thought that the magic in Mistborn would adapt in an interesting way to the world of games. Allomancy could make for some great gameplay mechanics, and could involve a lot of skill, especially if you allowed for competivie multiplayer. However, in hashing out the ideas for it in my mind, I found that there's the big problem of how to change between different types of metal to burn. You could do this with a simple wheel menu, but I feel that it would break up the flow of gameplay. Plus, as allomancy relies so much on targeting specific metal objects, it might be hard to implement that. It would require some kind of motion controls on console. I'm not sure if mouse control would work as well on PC.

[@vaukest5888]

I think that the metals could be divided into hotkeys, so your left mouse is to use the push variant of a metal, right mouse for the pull variant, then you can use the number keys to specify which metals you want to burn. Also, I think that a potential feature that colud solve metal targeting is maybe a little graphic one the corner of the screen that points towards all of the metals around you with blue lines. It could possibly be a sphere, with the middle being the player, and then blue lines pointing outwards towards the metal sources. The issue would be telling the game which blue line you want to push/pull from.

[@Teckrieger]

I imagined a similar Mechanic to dishonored.

[@jaredpoulter6762]

I like Brandon's humility when he talks about how he doesn't need a $35k check for selling an option anymore.

[@jasonadd2274]

This is such a satisfying video clip. I have been searching “Mistborn movie” on KZbin from time to time just to see if there’s anything going on, and seeing Brandon talking about his vision regarding his works really makes me happy. I too, would rather wait for an epic work that really stuns the world than have a compromised medium movie. Btw, I’m very excited about the Mistborn video game as well, but I’m guessing that would have a better change once the movie succeeded.

[@bogzee4532]

I just love hearing him speak.

[@joshuajakowski3430]

Brando Sando please give us a Mistborn anime. I literally cannot express how much I want this.

[@benjaminthibieroz4155]

I join on that

[@sastersbroth8117]

Better is an Animation since "anime" means that Japanese companies must do it and it must have that particular design, I would prefer a western design for the cosmere in general.

[@Esteban-c1t]

@@sastersbroth8117 I agree but disagree. You're right about the designe, but you cant deny that the emotion that japanese voice actors give are leagues above any other language (I often see dubs in latinamerican spanish and english and they're not necesarily bad, but japanese is way better.). Even if they get animated by an american studio, I'd probably look for the japanese dub LOL

[@sastersbroth8117]

@@Esteban-c1t I write about design, not voices (that's another issue that is resolved with what you said ... see the dubbing that you like the most), by design I mean proportions, colors, style, etc. There are also many people who confuse "anime" with "animation" so I clarified it.

[@Esteban-c1t]

@@sastersbroth8117 I see what you saying. As Im a big fan of both, I wouldnt have a problem BUT now that I think about it, a western design would be better. It'd be more universally appealled, for us westerns and Orientals

[@Thesandchief]

I like that he's open to an animated adaptation of his works.

[@madz3531]

Oh my god a Mistborn game would the best thing to happen ever now how am I gonna stop thinking about it

[@cfoscoop]

I’m considering setting my next D&D campaign in Roshar, I know it’ll probably never happen, but an unofficial Roshar setting sourcebook would be a gift from the Heralds.

[@sinammartin7863]

Brandon, I loved the fight between Sazed and Marsh in the second book! Thanks for make this awesome universe that I'm enjoying right now! Greetings from Paraguay

[@kittykat5056]

😂 he praised specifically the early seasons of GoT

[@vymancross3551]

Well... He is a smart writer. He knows the shits.

[@MatiZ815]

He only said that early seasons of GoT got away with being extremely faithful to the source material which often doesn't work out that great. I agree with him and I really like the first season but in retrospect I find it quite boring. After reading the books I realized how little the season added to the source material. It was like the first two Harry Potter movies that Brandon mentioned. That's why I like season 4 the most: I think it's a perfect blend of old and new. It felt fresh while also being very faithful.

[@haydenjohnson492]

Steelheart as a show would literally be the best thing I can imagine

[@JayD001]

I think the first mistborn trilogy would work brilliant as films and then the second trilogy would be a great TV series since it feels like a great spin off story in the same world. Much like how we got the MCU and then got Netflix Marvel shows based in the same timeline just separate stories. Stormlight Archive needs to be finished before anyone touches that it's too great to adapt right now. A great adaptation would Elantris imo. Either way everything you write is gold and what else we get is a bonus to me.

[@F1onan]

I'd love to see CD-Projekt Red tackle Mistborn as a video game - think the Witcher 3 but with Allomancy instead of Signs. Being able to switch between Vin and Kelsier, swinging though Luthadel and exploring Kredick Shaw would be amazing. It wouldn't be a perfect adaptation however since a lot of the conflict happens internally (Vin's identity crisis, Spook in book 3, Zane), and you can't really show that well in a video game. Maybe a prequel series with Kelsier learning his Mistborn powers would be the way to go?

[@norcalgiantsfan1]

Best author in the world right now in my humble opinion. Keep up the great work. Rythme of War was awesome!

[@Federico-mj3si]

Seeing the succes of The Boys I feel like that The Reckoners would make a great TV show!

[@eno2870]

I always felt that those books were specifically written with films in mind. There's not a lot of internal dialogue, and the scenes felt like they would progress well in a movie form with minimal cutting/combining. The powers are all externally visible effects, unlike Mistborn's powers (which just don't translate well to film.. how do you show a character is burning copper or something like that?).

[@DanKaraJordan]

The problem with Reckoners is that it is too family friendly for the sorts of big budget, long form TV that we are seeing now and it doesn't have enough steamy teen romance for it to be a CW style show. The TV landscape would need to change for it to find its place, and the genre will probably feel overfull when it does (making Reckoners feel derivative).

[@KingQuetzal]

@@DanKaraJordan I think the ending of Steelheart was so good that it would probably be a major hit movie.

[@itamarstaroselski4094]

@@DanKaraJordan marvel movies are more family friendly, I think they could do it.

[@mlsc2346]

@@eno2870 well, you could use some sound effects to emulate the vibrations in the air that result from each of the metals being burned. Plus, you could also actually show those waves in a very subtle way, like what you see in the water when you throw a pebble into it