There has never been a more exciting time to be a Brandon Sanderson fan. Not only is the acclaimed author actively working on several new books, but he’s also hard at work adapting several of his most iconic stories via high-profile film and television projects.
While fans have long wondered when Sanderson's beloved fantasy worlds would make the leap to film and television, Sanderson told fans in attendance at MCM Comic Con London’s spotlight panel that his patience has been deliberate after early attempts to adapt his works fell through. Rather than rushing projects into development, he spent years holding onto his adaptation rights before committing to any major deals.
“Early in my career, I would just sell the rights to basically anyone who asked. I was like, ‘I’m a new author; you want to give me money? Alright, I will take your money.’ I got both lucky and unlucky in that none of those ever got made. People often ask, ‘Brandon, when are you going to get an adaptation?’ and I kind of weathered through everything that was happening with streaming and all of these things, and I kept the rights. After those early ones, starting about ten years ago, I just didn’t sell anything. I sat on it all, and I wanted to see how things shook out,” Sanderson replied.
After biding his time and sitting on the rights for many years, Sanderson was approached by Tomorrow Studio about adapting Skyward, the first book in his YA fantasy series of the same name. It seems that, at first, he was a little uncertain, but then he realized that Tomorrow Studio was about to release a new show that adapted a very iconic piece of work: One Piece.
“Tomorrow Studio had a show coming out in just a few months at that point; it was the One Piece adaptation. I know a little bit about how particular some of the magna guys are when it comes to their adaptations. So I thought I would go and watch One Piece and I would see what the creator thought of that,” Sanderson recalled.
Thankfully, the adaptation was a resounding success and was incredibly well received by the series’ creator. Seeing that success was then what led to Sanderson beginning negotiations, knowing Skyward would be in good hands.
“I was quite impressed with the One Piece adaptation; I think they did an excellent job, and I know the creator liked how that adaptation went, so we went and started negotiations,” Sanderson revealed.
It’s interesting to know in retrospect that had One Piece not worked out, Sanderson likely would have passed on the opportunity to partner with Tomorrow Studio, and it could very well have prevented him from inking his eventual deal with Apple as well for Mistborn and Stormlight.
Thankfully, Tomorrow Studio and Netflix knocked it out of the park with the One Piece show and gave Sanderson the vote of confidence he needed to proceed with inking the deal for Skyward!
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