Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: CStroman on January 23, 2009, 06:34:51 AM
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This may have been posted previously but I ran a search and found an April Fool's joke and some "what if" threads about casting choices for a movie, etc. but nothing that talks about this specifically. I may just be "search" challenged.
I've been to Brandon's website and I've seen the Mistborn "decals" as well as the pewter "figurines".
Aside from that, what is the future of Mistborn outside the bookends of the novels?
The reason I ask is as a lazy, aspiring screenwriter (the two are related. The latter being the result the of the former.) when I read books I translate them in my mind into films. I critique them also based on the "cinematic" possibilities of what is written. What would need to be compressed. What would need to be cut. What is funny on paper but cheesy on celluloid. What is missing for a complete picture to be seen. How to externalize all the internals (basically all the thoughts, feelings and internal "not seen" but read attributes explored in the novels). I purposely go out and buy the books of recently greenlit or produced film adaptations and generally try to read the book, get hold of and read the adaptation script, and then see how that blueprint translates into a final film. I visualize how I would do it while I read and then I see how it was actually adapted and visualized in the final film and what changes, cuts, edits were made and I try to find out why.
Recent examples would be novels like "Stardust" and "Atonement".
So that brings me to the recent novel I finished and the one I'm reading now: "Mistborn" and "Well of Ascension".
As I read those (I'm slowly reading Well of Ascension) it appeared to me at least that they were written less as a narrative and more as separate scenes, almost like a script. Upon reading Brandon's website it appears he refers to them likewise as "scenes".
So of course, as I've been reading, I've been mentally "adapting" and "translating" what I've read into film form. As purely a personal exercise I've been committing that adaptation to script. Again I emphasize that I'm doing it for my own practice and to exercise and test my screenwriting skills, not for commercial or public display (unless the copyright holder requested a copy themselves).
Tied into this also has been my curiosity about another author's efforts to translate his most popular work to the screen as well. Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" has a storied history of trying to be made. As far as I understand it, the Hollywood machine was interested in re-engineering it to their mold to such a degree that as a project it's been officially scrapped. To which response OSC has taken his rights and moved forward in the Video Game market and Comic Book market.
So what's in store for Mistborn? Is there any chance a film could be made? Has there been serious discussion? What has been the holdup or snags? Does it lack a polished script that Hollywood requires in order to understand it's viability as a film? If so I know a talented middle-aged, but unknown screenwriter looking for his big break (<--shameless plug here) who would be willing to "give it a stab".
What else? A comic book adaptation perhaps? Games? Action Figures?
When will we next see Vin or Kelsier or an Obligator or Steel Inquisitor?
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CStroman - a Brandon Sanderson insider (Ookla) has given the Mistborn movie-rights status on this page:
http://www.timewastersguide.com/forum/index.php?topic=6148.msg137123#msg137123
Sounds like Brandon is open to selling the movie rights, but someone would have to approach him and be both capable of making the books into the films they deserve, and a fan of the books so that he/she would champion the cause.
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Thanks for the reply. I like his approach to the movie rights. What about other medium? I already know about the figurines and decals. Anything else in the works?
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There's a pen-and-paper RPG coming from Craftygames. You can find a bit more info about it in various threads here and on the Craftygames site. Plus there's the jewelry which is linked to from various places.
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Don't forget the figurines from Ninja Garden.
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When you were talking about the "bookends of the novels", I thought about how cool it would be to have a Vin and Elend bookend set, or a Vin and Ore'seur bookend set. And as I'm sure other people have, I've thought hundreds of times about making a mistcloak.
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There's a pen-and-paper RPG coming from Craftygames. You can find a bit more info about it in various threads here and on the Craftygames site. Plus there's the jewelry which is linked to from various places.
I'm particularly excited for this one.
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Hey CStroman!
We are indeed working with Brandon on a Mistborn RPG (just spoke with him on Wednesday night, as a matter of fact) and we're really hoping to use the book as a place to fill out more of the world details beyond those of the book. We've got some exciting ideas coming together, some awesome artists and an interesting, fun game system in the works. Not much more I can/will say about it now, suffice to say...it's coming :)
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Hey CStroman!
We are indeed working with Brandon on a Mistborn RPG (just spoke with him on Wednesday night, as a matter of fact) and we're really hoping to use the book as a place to fill out more of the world details beyond those of the book. We've got some exciting ideas coming together, some awesome artists and an interesting, fun game system in the works. Not much more I can/will say about it now, suffice to say...it's coming :)
Any approximation on a date?