Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson is giving some behind-the-scenes details concerning his blockbuster deal with Apple TV+ to adapt his bestselling Cosmere books.
Sanderson took to his YouTube channel Tuesday to answer some of his fans’ burning questions following The Hollywood Reporter‘s scoop last week that the streamer picked up the rights to Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive.
First, Sanderson explained why he went with Apple TV+ and revealed the streamer beat out multiple rival offers. Sanderson’s deal is rather enviable — he will write, produce, consult and have cast approvals. This is a greater degree of control than fellow fantasy authors like George R.R. Martin and J.K. Rowling have over their Warner Bros. Discovery shows.
“This is what I’ve been trying [to do] for years,” he said. “Back in May, I flew out to Hollywood and did pitches to all the major streamers and studios. I had a lot of great experiences. Things were different this time around. I was with studio heads. I was meeting really exciting people. Basically, everybody tried to bid on Mistborn and Stormlight. I ended up picking Apple. There were a lot of reasons for this. I really liked the vibe with a lot of these meetings. There weren’t any bad meetings in the group. [But] part of it was the amount of control that Apple was willing to offer. But it’s less about control and more about the partnership and the partnership felt right with Apple. I really like how they’ve been doing Apple TV+ and their very careful rollout of specific films.”
That last line might make some think of Netflix, which often gets criticized by creatives for throwing too much content out at once — both in terms of the quantity of episodes in their binge model, but also in terms of a lack of marketing support.
Sanderson went on to confirm THR‘s reporting that the plan is to do Mistborn as feature films and Stormlight as a streaming show. “That could change as we develop these things,” he added. Sanderson said he will be a co-showrunner on the series, “so we’re going to be hunting down that other person.”
Then, in comments that will chill fantasy fans waiting for Martin’s long-delayed The Winds of Winter, Sanderson warned, “This will impact my writing schedule — not to the point that I think you need to worry. Mistborn Ghostbloods is going to be on time in 2028 … and it won’t impact Stormlight … I’m gonna be doing a lot of stuff with Hollywood. I’m going to be making sure these things come out right.”
That said, he asked his fans to be patient as “there’s nobody attached right now” to the projects.
“These aren’t coming next year, but I’m confident this time that it’s going to go really well,” he said. “So follow me along as I write the screenplay, hear me grouse about how difficult it is to take a 200,000-word book and condense it to a two-hour movie. That’s going to be our next six months or so.”
Sanderson has sold more than 50 million copies of his books worldwide, collectively across his series. He previously raised nearly $100 million through crowdfunding — including a record-breaking Kickstarter publishing campaign for four novels that totaled nearly $42 million— the most successful in the platform’s history.
The first Mistborn trilogy of books centered on metal-using magicians who attempt to overthrow a despotic empire. Stormlight Archives’ first novel, The Way of Kings, is set in a world with magically powered storms, magically powered knights and monsters known as the Voidbringers.
