Patrick Rothfuss’ series The Kingkiller Chronicle will get an appropriately epic multimedia adaptation, with both a television series and a feature film exploring different corners of Rothfuss’ universe. While Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda is hard at work on Showtime’s prequel series, a recent report from Variety provides an update on the movie side of things: Spider-Man and Evil Dead director Sam Raimi is in talks to direct the feature film adaptation of The Name of the Wind, the first book in the series.
Lionsgate will produce the film, the script for which is currently being written by Lindsey Beer, who served as a writer on Transformers: The Last Knight. Her other upcoming projects include the movie adaptation of Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking (starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley), to be released in 2019, and a forthcoming adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons, projected for 2021.
IMDb lists the movie as The Kingkiller Chronicle, which is the same title that the TV series currently bears. The latter is expected to be a prequel series, judging by the synopsis:
Set in the world of the wildly popular fantasy series by Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicle will follow a pair of wandering performers on their adventures through the unique and startling world of Temerant, immersing audiences in a universe of unexpected heroes, mystical places, and terrifying dark forces. […] The television adaption is a subversive origin story of legendary proportions set a generation before the events of the trilogy’s first novel, The Name of the Wind.
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The Name of the Wind
Whereas Beer’s script is based on Rothfuss’ first novel, in which the notorious magician Kvothe begins narrating the epic saga of how he came to be a household name:
I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.
So begins the tale of Kvothe—from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But The Name Of The Wind is so much more—for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe’s legend.
Known for his early-2000s trilogy adaptation of Spider-Man and the Evil Dead movies, Raimi’s most recent directing credits include an episode of the Starz TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead and 2013’s Oz the Great and Powerful.
No word yet on release date for either the TV series or the movie.
Cool. Maybe the movies can finish the series for Rothfuss.
That’s a very interesting choice if it works out. I adore approximately half of his movies and hate the rest. Pros: Darkman, Evil Deads, Drag Me to Hell. Cons: The Gift, anything that says Spider-Man on it. (Possibly an unpopular opinion, and probably more Tobey Maguire’s fault.) [Edit: and Oz.]
He’s never done anything remotely like Kvothe that I know of. Should be interesting.
Although I enjoyed the first two books immensely I have to question the logic of starting a movie franchise when the series isn’t even near complete. There is still no date for when he will be done book three, and I think there are supposed to be several more after that? I get that there has been this big push to get on the wagon that is the success that is Game of Thrones, but when you pick a series that isn’t finished you run the risk of alienating fans if the movie/tv show passes the printed form. Which is what has happened with GOT. I love the Game of Thrones TV show, but I would much rather read the end of the series before watching it on the big/small screen. That’s not going to happen, which is very sad in my opinion.
There are so many other great fantasy series that are done, that could be made into TV shows or movies, some that would be FAR easier to convert than the Kingkiller Chronicles. Why not take on the Demon Cycle, the Farseer books, or The First Law series, just to name a few, instead of something that isn’t finished?
As for Sam Rami? He did a great job with Xena and Hercules. And although his stuff tends to be on the campy side he might be okay to lead this. If he’s a fan and plans to stay true to the source material it should turn out well. But I guess we will have to see. He has the experience.
Color me concerned. Why are the books being made into movies when their style is exactly the sort of slow-burn tension that one might want in a 10 hour epic season, not crammed into a 2-3 hour movie. And while splitting up each book into two movies might fix some of that (and be a financial benefit), I cannot see why it would make sense logistically unless the plan is a LotR one-a-year roll-out.
And so help me, if Rothfuss GRRM’s this up by having the TV series come out before Door of Stone is released, I will light every one of my copies of his books on fire.
I pity the fool that agreed to make this movie.
However, given the number of licensed properties that never make it to a script, let alone shooting, I’m not terribly concerned until it actually shows up.
After that point, well, Sam Raimi isn’t the worst person I could imagine to direct the movie.
If you’re into geeky things, check out the Youtube show Tabletop with Wil Wheaton and look for the episode where Wil plays Eldritch Horror with Pat Rothfuss (among others). It’s absolutely hilarious, and Wheaton even makes a joke about Pat playing games instead of finishing the series.
The Showtime prequel series with LMM has a ton of promise. Most importantly, it runs a much smaller risk of infringing on the unfinished series. The movie idea sounds awful.
@3
The problem is that none of those have anywhere near the sales of Kingkiller, and the investors want a guaranteed built-in audience to backstop their investment. Heck, even Sanderson’s sales numbers are less than Kingkiller.
@1- i know, right? While Rothfuss assures us that doors of stone is definitely a book that definitely exists and will definitely be published at some point, we just all kind of nod our heads. While knowing that it will never happen, just like the Aztlanian.
I’m not a fan of Raimi, but more concerned about the writer.
Sam Raimi was supposedly a huge fan of Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series and the tv show he produced from that fandom was barely recognizable to the books at all. I’m very concerned now.
Oh goody, a three-hour epic about repaying your magical student loans (spoiler alert?). I am heartened that they hired a woman to write the screenplay (though I’m not familiar with her work), since the supporting characters could use some depth. I love the world-building in this series–and am actually excited for a prequel that will fully explore it–but I’m not sure this novel’s plot/arc/development is right for a standalone “epic fantasy film.”
The whole “TV series and related films” concept paid off nicely for “The Dark Tower” so I can’t see any reason why this shouldn’t . . . oh, hold on a sec. What? What? It – oh, it didn’t? Oh.
Well, crap.
Name of the Wind really does not seem to me like a story that would make for a good movie. I expect mainstream audiences, critics, and book fans to all trash whatever’s created regardless of director. But maybe I’m being too pessimistic.
TV series, on the other hand, has some potential.
I’m just wondering how Raimi will try to incorporate his old clunker car into it. I mean, he even found a way to insert it into a Western.
I heard Lin Manuel Miranda (famous for Hamilton, the musical) is going to be behind these movies as well.
So I expect some kind of musical? That would be something new: a musical fantasy epic. The last time there was one of that was the Wizard of Oz, right?
I’ll not watch the movie, though I loved the two books out so far. Rothfuss has apparently fallen into the same trap Martin fell into with Game of Thrones – success breeds other interests and other activities that seemingly prevents completion of the series. It took him 4 years to put book 2 out – and it’s now SEVEN years for book three.
i gave up on this series. It’s good but slow and the author seems to have given up on finishing it. Hell, the only reason I started reading it was the author (at the time of the Name of the Wind release) stated that he already had all the books completed and there wouldn’t be Martinesque delays between books. Now…I’m back to the age old “fool me once…”.
Movie? Nope. Enough said.
@17 Ron, I completely agree with you. I think all Patrick and his agent sees are dollar signs. Greed has completely consumed them and I think they’ve forgotten how all that money got in their pockets. There is no excuse for taking 7 years to publish a book that was supposedly completed when Patrick was in high school. I have absolutely no faith in book 3 ever being published. I’ve given my book 1 and 2 to the local used book store. I won’t be wasting anymore time on Patrick Rothfuss or any of his books that may never be published nor the movies that will probably tank because of his total disrespect for his fans. I mean if you can’t publish a book that was written 20+ years ago and greed has driven you to make movies before the first book trilogy is complete, I predict the movie will more than likely tank. I’m really sorry but if it happens (when it happens), he brought it on himself. It really makes me sad. I thought Pat would be the next great name in SciFi/Fantasy genres but it seems he’s just interested in making as much money as possible as fast as possible before his whole thing crashes and burns. I hope it’s not the case and he comes around but my faith in that is so low I’ve given all his previous books away and am moving on to better authors that care for their audience.
Why wouldn’t the TV/movie people pay an author or publisher to withhold the final volume in order to hype the theatrical release? In the meantime the author is advising on the script, increasing completed book sales, magnifying his publishers’ advance, elevating his speaking fees, financing his kids education and his mortgage, and supping with the stars.
David – Dallas
So that is why we never got the final book? That is the new game in town? Write a book or two, hook people with a true ending, don’t deliver but sell your stuff to the first guy coming in for a movie? I feel a bit held in hostage by this kind of behaviour.
Will certainly not touch anything written by this guy in the future. We have enough with a Martin in this world and there are enough good writers to not miss that one.
I agree 100% with all the above comments. Authors need to stop frustrating fans by not finishing what they’ve started. To me the Farseer series is one of the best suited to being made into a series. No one can match Robin Hobb in characterization which is what makes them perfect for television.
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No one will be perfect but Raimi will bring the added awesomeness of Bruce Campbell. What role is best for Bruce? Chronicler? Stanchion? One of the Masters (He can probably play any but Lorren, Kilvin or Elodin)? I’m curious…
@16, Miranda’s working on the prequel TV show, not the movie. I guess it gives him the opportunity to write his own songs, instead of putting Rothfuss’s to lyrics.
I disagree that Pat is intentionally dragging this process out. He posted a video some months ago, talking about how he was slowing down with the extra events to preserve his mental health. He mentioned feeling obligated to do all these things that distracted from the book. His health has to be a priority over our collective impatience.
As for why book writing is so hard, even if he had a draft? These are rather complicated, long books, and I have no doubts that many things have been changed since he first started working on them. Even JK Rowling promised for years that she knew the last word would be scar, and then it definitely wasn’t.
I’ll be cautiously optimistic for both the TV show and the movie, in that I’ll try to forget them until they definitely for sure come out.
@20
I like your optimism. It’s easy to place demands and get frustrated by artists who don’t meet our timetables, but Rothfuss blew the roof with the first two masterpieces in this series. Now expectations are through the roof. It’s like following up your best day at work with your best day at work. That would be hard for any of us. Unless you’re Tom Brady.
Wasn’t Sam Raimi the genius behind the Sword of Truth series, and Xena and Hercules? Those were some stalwart pieces of pop culture I’ll never forget.
@16, @25:
As far as why Rothfuss went from having them done to not being able to finish book three, a cursory read of his blog posts from the time allow you to read enough between the lines:
His agent had him move up a lot of stuff he had in the second and third books to the first book before submitting it. So, the first draft he had of book three is completely irrelevant, as it needed to be rewritten entirely, maybe even the climax. Also, like John Green, I’m not sure Rothfuss is interested in being a “professional” writer, in the sense of having “author” be his full-time profession, like an accountant, or a marketing director. He’s a college professor who had a great story idea, and happens to be amazing with words. I cut Rothfuss a lot more slack than I do Martin, who IS a professional writer and had been for 25 years before A Song of Ice and Fire.
Read ‘Name of the Wind’ when it was first published. Waited impatiently for ‘The Wise Man’s Fear’ then read it. Gave up on book three and the author after eight years since book two. Not interested because book three was “supposedly” already written eight years ago. Not interested in the movie because of the author’s lack of appreciation for his fans. Moved on and gone.
I hope Pat can finish book 3 before the studios do for him. I can also hope the studios do a good job with the tv show and movie… I’ll keep a glass half full perspective instead of the glass half empty outlook.
I wish Brandon Sanderson would lend his gobsmackingly awesome work ethic to Rothfuss for six months. Then we’d get a stellar book 3… Fingers crossed. I’m not sure Rami is the right director.
Guillermo del Toro
To me it comes down to this: Book 3 cannot be the novelization of the movie.
While of course I understand that waiting 7+ years for the next (and final) novel can be a burden, I completely agree with @28. Rothfuss has a wonderful way of telling a story and is amazing with words. I don’t mind if it takes him another 5 years to finish the book – what’s important is that the story is finished the right way and that the book comes out exactly with the story Rothfuss wants to tell. Expectations are sky high, so I am fine with him taking his time.
In the meantime, there are some many works out there waiting to be read, I am never lacking for a book to read. I really cannot understand people getting angry with Rothfuss – better be grateful for the books to exist at all!
ill start by saying I absolutely love the first two books. Every time I reread them I find something new and intriguing. I am eagerly awaiting the day when book three finally comes out. If ever…
i am, however, VERY concerned with Sam rami as the director. Sure, he’s not the worst choice. I’d be even more concerned if it was someone like Tim Burton who I feel has butchered so many of my favorite childhood stories. I would prefer to see Roland meme rich (The patriot), Ron Howard (lord of the rings) or even, god forbid, Mel Gibson (braveheart). As for screenwriters, transformers: the last knight is an ok piece but was lacking depth. The team from any lord of the rings (except the hobbit) or other highly acclaimed high fantasy movies would be far preferable to just her.
I agree that that the movie should not be made until the series is finished. I’d rather see David and Leigh Eddings series The Belgrade and The Malloreon or even David Eddings/Brandon Sandersons The wheel of Time series be made into epic movies first. Those two sets of authors have some of the highest grossing books sales combined in history. If done well they could easily produce a dozen 3+ hour epic movies amongst themselves. Then we could think about the king killer chronicles. All those combined, at one movie a year, would give us an epic blockbuster each year for the next nearly two decades. I’d mortgage everything I own to see all that happen.
But not if its done like xena and hercules… please no. Those shows were terrible.
34, I think you mean Robert Jordan, or even James Oliver Rigney Jr, but must have gotten caught up in thinking of Eddings and his works.
But while I do like them well enough, I’m afraid they’d be too much of a travelogue to make a good movie, maybe they’d work as a mini-series, or a TV show though. Especially given the time constraints which would make for filming complications.
You take that back about Hercules and Xena though! Take it back!
@34,
In addition to @35, Ron Howard is not the director of Lord of the Rings. That is Peter Jackson. Ron Howard has directed several amazing films, however, including A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13. His only foray into genre movies however was Willow. Ok, I guess Cocoon counts as well, which was excellent, but not secondary world fantasy.
36, yeah, Willow is a good enough movie that it’s possible Ron Howard might do ok, at least, he’s not really messed up that bad yet.
It’s such a long and ponderous novel. And a bit of a slog even for long-time, hardcore fantasy fan like myself well used to lengthy tomes and multi-book series. It would be very difficult to fit the material into a single 2-hour film. Even a 3-hour one. Would make more sense to do the novel as a TV series and the prolog as a movie.
if there’s gonna be a movie, they’ve gotta cast Johnny Depp for Elodin
**SPOILER ALERT** DO NOT READ this comment if you havent’ read the books!
No matter how many side-track, back story, offshoot jaunties Rothfussy writes, the simple thing we’re waiting for is Kvothey getting revenge on Cindery for killing Kvothey’s family. He does write some fun to read jaunties!
Will be interesting to see how they cut and jam a 1000+ page book into a movie.
How do we get excited for a tv show without kvothe set before the scrael and the war? I don’t care about the boring stuff that happened before he changed the world (presumably).
“Farseer” books? You all are touting that as an example of something better to make a movie into? The writing in those books is awful. Complete trash. I don’t discount the plot lines, which are decently creative. But her characters? OMG. Insipid. Spielberg couldn’t make those characters palatable.
@43 – I’m not sure why you felt the need to come on some random, old article and spew something like that, where only 2 people commented on that. I, personally, count the Farseer books to be among some of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read. It’s right near the top for me. So you can understand why I’m particularly irritated in your very abrasive comment.