Legend of the Seeker (Sword of Truth TV series)

[Therin]

I didn't see this anywhere else. I'm ridiculously excited, because the casting actually looks decent (although Richard seems a TAD young, he still looks the part).

Trailer here:

http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/

I came.

[Krandor]

His eyes aren't grey.

[Kayos]

He does seem really really young for the role.

Can't really tell if it will be good or not but /crosses fingers.

[Khamsin]

The question is, will it be good or cheesy? Will the quality at least be better than the Hercules/Xena series?

[Katlan]

I have a sinking feeling that it's gonna be horrible, but such low expectations are gonna have me loving the series regardless! I'm a complete Goodkind fan and have read all the "Sword of Truth" books. Can't wait for the TV Series!

Maybe it's just cause of how I imagined Richard, but I envision him in his late 20's-early 30's for the first book & scruffy looking... so they casted him young & scrawny! I just really hope they can at least portray the significance of the sword correctly. What made the early books so good was the mental battle between Richard & the sword... they better not fuck it up. btw... what time slot is it allocated to? The books are pretty graphic so I wonder how PG'ish it's gonna be.

Oh yeah...

Spoiler: show

he doesn't kill anybody w/ the sword until about 1/2 way through the first book... and half of the preview showed him fighting... so... yeah... i know they gonna mess up the time-line of the books unless they made the "Boundary" look a lot more cozy then the book.

And wtf is up w/Zedd... he is supposed to be extremely old, not some hunched over person in their 60's.....

[Khamsin]

I figured if they did anything with it, they could make a decent movie out of the first book or something. Never thought they'd be able to make a series out of it.

A miniseries, maybe, since that'd have a set series of events and a conclusion.

But a regular series? That means they have to write fresh material for the Sword of Truth universe and loosely base it on the plot of the books (looks like they're starting with the first). And when that happens, fans tend to get a little disgruntled that the story isn't unfolding like the books and that there's a lot of filler stuff in there and in the end, is completely separate from "canon".

I wonder if that's what animes based on mangas end up being.

[Therin]

If you're looking for some good info on the development of the series, you should check out www.terrygoodkind.net (particularly Goodkind's interviews and the forums there). He has stated on several occasions that he will have hands-on control over a lot of what goes into it - not the final say, as he's not paying the bill, but a lot of input. He said that because each episode of the TV series must have a definite opening and ending that the series in general would explore a lot of the background story that is only implied within the book. An example that he gave was the adventure surrounding George Cypher finding the Book of Counted Shadows - while we know that it happens because of where the book opens off, and how people reference it, we aren't actually there when it does. Supposedly, the series will focus on things like that so it can maintain that TV series feel while following the overall arc of Wizard's First Rule. Goodkind isn't personally writing the script, but he did say that they're allowing him the privilege of access to it and that he can give his input and show agreement/disagreement at every turn.

I have high hopes for it, actually. Ever since 1995 when the fans began begging Goodkind to sell the rights for a movie/series he has absolutely, downright refused to do so. The fact that he gave into Sam Raimi's vision in this venture shows that at least they found a very strong compromise in accordance with Goodkind's somewhat strict standards. I guess we have to put faith in Goodkind's decision to go through with it, but I know from a lot of sources that he was 100% against the idea of a movie/series until Sam Raimi came to him with his idea, so I think that we can put our faith in it at least a little bit.

Although I suppose it's best to expect some odd twists and turns on the original. Just like LoTR, this can't be enjoyed if you're a complete purist, but I hope that it'll be as close to Goodkind's original vision as the LoTR movies were to Tolkien (that is to say, even if there are obvious discrepancies it will be done well enough to please most fans).

*EDIT* Also I'm pretty sure I read that the budget for Legend of the Seeker is absolutely huge, like bigger than any other TV series of similar length ever produced. That's gotta mean something.

[Katlan]

If they stick closely to the books they have a lot of material to last the series quite a few seasons. They could prolly push 1 season per book... or if really wanted to move things along could do 1 & 1/2 books per season. But judging from the teaster trailer... they are either really damn far into production or they skipped a lot of content.

[Therin]

Well, production is going at break-neck speed. I mean, it was officially announced in July of 2006 and everything wasn't secured until spring of 2007, yet the premier is on November 1st, 2008. That's really really fast considering all that's going into it (filmed entirely in New Zealand with tons of actors who have to go through all sorts of training, plus immense set design, special effects rendering, horse/sword training, and the list goes on and on and on).

Going back to the LotR comparison, you're looking at what will amount to about the same number of actors, except you're making material for over twice as much actual footage (at LEAST 20 hours whereas LotR was 10 hours). And it all has to be finished at once, whereas even though LotR had finished filming they could still add things for like the 5 years that it took to release all three films.

I wouldn't be surprised if they had already finished filming entirely, honestly.

[Khamsin]

He said that because each episode of the TV series must have a definite opening and ending

That's not true, look at Heroes!

[Katlan]

Glad Goodkind has reigning control over the series though... I was hoping for a live action venture of the books many years ago. And I figured they would go into more "flash back" type details w/ the series, thats a given but not necessarily a bad thing. It allows those book enthusiasts (sp) to get something "more" out of the lore by watching the series. And really, when i think about, each book has many moments that could serve as a "season finale," so there is a lot of flexibility.

Spoiler: show

the part of the first book (I think) where Richard gets captured and tortured by the Mord'Sith... i wonder how that's gonna play out... I mean I (being much younger at that time) could barely read through those chapters w/o being horror stricken :O And they can't really skip over that part like they could some scene's w/Kahlan in the 2nd book (unless they were making it an R rated series.... to bad it's not on HBO)

[Khamsin]

Or what about in Temple of the Winds, I wonder how they'll show that one scene where Kahlan

Spoiler: show

I don't even need to spoiler it, if you've read it, you know what I'm talking about

[Katlan]

lol... That was the scene I was referrring to... got the book's mized up since it's been so long. There is that scene in book 2 though... it can be skipped easily enough. But there is so much they are gonna have to cut out cause its on ABC

If the TV series does well.... I just hope they cut out all of book 7...

[Therin]

Lol book 7. @_@

[shukuffxi]

I read about this a while ago, kinda psyched to see how it will actually turn out, but still guessing the HBO A Song of Ice and Fire series is just gonna blow everything else similar out of the water.

[Ishido]

Looks... I dunno, definitely not how I pictured any of the characters. Low expectations on this one, but I will watch it.

More excited for the possibility of the HBO A Song of Ice and Fire (probability? rumors are that HBO likes it, but its still just a script).

[Krandor]

A Song of Ice and Fire is more or less a go, especially since HBO officially canned the Preacher series (GRRR @ that one).

[Katlan]

*EDIT* Also I'm pretty sure I read that the budget for Legend of the Seeker is absolutely huge, like bigger than any other TV series of similar length ever produced. That's gotta mean something.

Bigger budget then "Terminator: SSC" O_O?

Actually I have to add... if the series does amazingly well and they get through all the books (hey, in some of the later ones - if you skip all the religious preachings your cutting out a good 200+ pages lol)

Spoiler: show

I give them permission to rewrite the ending... I wanted a more detailed "Richard & Kahlan" ending... and it overall kinda failed

Not trying to add to the derail, but I'm now curious... whats this Song of Fire & Ice show about?

[Krandor]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire

[Therin]

It's a George R.R. Martin series of fantasy novels that is being planned (or maybe more than planned?) as an HBO release.

*EDIT* ^ what he said.