First Law author Joe Abercrombie gives update on Best Served Cold movie

It seems that nowadays everything is getting rebooted: Harry Potter,  the DC universe, the Chronicles of Narnia, Twilight, Eragon…Rebooting beloved properties is a sure way to guarantee viewership, but isn’t there room for anything original?

That’s where projects like Best Served Cold come in, a movie based on the fantasy novel by Joe Abercrombie. Abercrombie’s First Law novels have long been cited as the perfect works for people suffering from Game of Thrones withdrawal. Grimdark, gritty and brutal, the similarities to A Song of Ice and Fire are plentiful. A live-action version is long overdue, and with Best Served Cold, it’s finally getting the break it deserves.

The movie follows Monza Murcatto, a battle-hardened mercenary who embarks on a quest of revenge after being left for dead. Best Served Cold isn’t actually the first book in The First Law series. It’s a standalone novel that takes place after the events of the main trilogy, covered in The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged and The Last Argument of Kings. If this movie is a success, there are lots of other stories within the First Law universe to explore on the big screen!

Joe Abercrombie gives fans update on Best Served Cold, and how the WGA strike affects it

So far, good progress has been made on the movie. Rebecca Ferguson (Dune, Mission Impossible, Silo) has been cast in the role of Monza, and Deadpool director Tim Miller is on board to helm the film. Abercrombie himself wrote the script. Addressing his fans on his blog, he gave an update on the current status of the movie.

“The big news over the last couple of months is that there’s a film adaptation of Best Served Cold in the works,” Abercrombie wrote. “Not much more I can say at this stage. It’s in the casting and scouting phase and the script has been revised and rewritten about a million times.”

That said, Abercrombie confirmed that work on the scripts is currently on pause due to the WGA strike. The strike has halted progress on scripts throughout the industry this year as writers demand better pay, improved job security and limits on the use of artificial intelligence in writers rooms. Best Served Cold is no different:

"Doubtless it will need to be revised and rewritten many more times in response to actor’s notes and scouting and design work and so on, but the writing part of it at any rate is frozen (along with all other film and tv writing work) while the WGA strike is going on."

No release date has been set yet for the film. Given that it’s still in the early stages of development, don’t expect it to premiere anytime soon. For now, let’s hope that the strike can be resolved sooner rather than later and that writers can get the outcome they’re looking for. Solidarity!

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