James Cameron adapting Joe Abercrombie's The Devils heralds a shift in fantasy movies

This week, we learned that James Cameron, the blockbuster filmmaker behind such hits as Titanic, The Terminator, Aliens, and the Avatar movies, has purchased the rights to make a movie based on Joe Abercrombie's latest grimdark fantasy novel, The Devils. Abercrombie and Cameron will co-write the script for the film together, under Cameron's Lighstorm banner.

"I've loved Joe's writing for years, cherishing each new read, throughout the epic cycle of the First Law books, especially Best Served Cold (LOVE IT!) and the Age of Madness trilogy," Cameron said in a statement. "But the freshness of the world and the characters in The Devils finally got me off my butt to buy one of his books and partner with him to bring it to the screen. I'm looking forward to the writing process with him, though I'm certain this adaptation will practically write itself because Joe writes very visually, almost in scenes, and with a very cinematic structure. I can't wait to dig into this as I wind down on Avatar: Fire and Ash. It will be a joyful new challenge for me to bring these indelible characters to life."

Obviously, this is massive news for fantasy fans. Cameron has helmed several of the highest-grossing movies of all time; directors literally do not get bigger than him. As for Abercrombie, he's carved out a bloody good niche for himself in the fantasy landscape as one of the most prominent authors in the genre. The pairing of the two seems like a match made in heaven. Or hell, since we are talking about The Devils here.

The Devils movie could signal a shift in the fantasy adaptation landscape

The pairing between Cameron and Abercrombie comes at an interesting time for fantasy onscreen. For the past several years, television studios have been vying to fill the hole left by Game of Thrones, launching numerous high-budget fantasy shows to try and lure audiences to their streaming services. Many have come and gone, and the streaming landscape has changed dramatically in their wake. Budgets have ballooned and the wait between seasons has grown to two years on average, with the threat of longer hiatuses ever-present.

But that gold rush was never going to last. Right now there's a contraction happening, as studios start to tighten their belts and realize that maybe a bit more strategy is required than simply banking on dragons, magic, and spectacle. Look no further than The Wheel of Time, Amazon's flashy fantasy show which was just canceled after its third season despite rave reviews and Emmy buzz. If the exact same season of The Wheel of Time had aired a few years ago, there's little doubt Amazon would have renewed it instead.

We've waxed philosophical here on the site since The Wheel of Time was canceled, wondering if it signals the end of the high fantasy TV boom. But this new announcement about The Devils has me hopeful. Perhaps the fantasy rush on the big and small screen isn't about to end, but to transform into something more sustainable for the long haul. If it does, I think fans, studios, authors, and everyone in between could end up the better for it.

The Devils is a very accessible fantasy novel

Joe Abercrombie is one of those authors whose work I've been waiting years to see make the leap to the screen. His books are snappy, irreverent, entertaining, and filled with memorable characters. When studios were searching for the next Game of Thrones, the obvious answer to me was always adapting Joe Abercrombie's First Law series. This grimdark fantasy world is probably the single closest thing I've read to Martin's work in terms of its tone and style, except it's much more compact, which would obviously make it easier to adapt.

But at this point, that ship may have sailed. Yes, a First Law movie is currently being developed by Deadpool director Tim Miller, which is set to star Rebecca Ferguson as the fearsome mercenary Monza Murcatto. But that movie is based on Best Served Cold, a standalone book in the First Law universe. The saga now spans nine full-length novels and a bunch of smaller stories; yes, you can lift pieces out like Best Served Cold, but from an adaptation perspective it's still very dense. Even if Best Served Cold is a massive success, I'm doubtful we'll see it spin out into a full-blown First Law movie series.

The Devils is a wholly different sort of beast. It's the first in a new series from Abercrombie set in an alternate history Europe, replete with cannibalistic elves, power-hungry royals, a dysfunctional church led by a teenage pope, and more magicians, werewolves, and other monsters than you can shake a sword at. In this world, a young street thief finds out she has a greater destiny and has to embark on a perilous mission accompanied by the pope's own personal group of monsters: the titular devils. This ragtag team is essentially the fantasy equivalent of the Suicide Squad, and they're constantly entertaining as they gorily fumble their way from one situation to another.

In other words, The Devils is not only a damn good story, it's extremely accessible. You don't need to know fantasy lore well enough to tell saidin from saidar or be able to differentiate between a gnome, dwarf, and halfling in a line-up. This is a fresh series, and it tells you all you need to know in pretty straightforward fashion. That's a huge contrast from the extremely dense source material that streamers have been trying to adapt for the past few years, like The Wheel of Time, The Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, or even House of the Dragon. Adapting those sorts of massive fantasy sagas only works if you have people behind them who understand the mythos on an extremely deep level, and a studio aligned with their vision.

I'm not saying that audiences want dumbed-down stories; I don't think they do. But I do think that many studios in the post-Game of Thrones gold rush got caught up in fantasy trappings without stopping to think too hard about the other elements of Game of Thrones that made it appeal to people who don't normally get into fantasy. It's not just about dragons and White Walkers; at its core it's a brutal medieval political drama. And it's also a family drama, not unlike James Cameron's own dense movie series, Avatar. There's a relatable human element to these stories, and I think that connection is something viewers crave. Cameron has a solid understanding of that, and isn't likely to lean so far into the fantastical that he forgets to make a good movie in the process.

Another genre adaptation I think is nailing this human element is Murderbot, Apple's new television show based on The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Despite being a show about an android who fails miserably at being a killing machine because it would rather watch soap operas, Murderbot feels extremely grounded, fun, and easy to recommend for people regardless of how into sci-fi and fantasy they are. And since it's based on a novella, the show has plenty of room to expand and insert more material to make the most of the new medium.

I think that shows like Murderbot and movies like The Devils could signal an incoming time where studios aren't just hurling money randomly at any fantasy property they happen to glimpse on a bookshelf, but instead selectively picking projects that are manageable from an adaptation perspective, have a wide appeal, and have already proven themselves to be fan-favorites among people who love those genres. Wells and Abercrombie may not be household names, but if you spend any time at all in fantasy and sci-fi spaces, you're almost certainly familiar with them. Cameron is; remember, he said he's been reading and enjoying Abercrombie's work for years. When the people making these projects are also fans of the source material as well as seasoned filmmakers, there's a much, much higher chance of success. Denis Villeneuve's Dune, anyone?

Studios need to be smarter about how they approach fantasy and science fiction, as well as lighter on their feet so that they don't sink billions of dollars or multiple years between seasons into each new thing. If we get more adaptations in this vein, I think we could start to see that happen.

Expect more news about The Devils movie in 2026

All that said, this is still very early days for The Devils. Should it pan out, it will undoubtedly be a huge deal, since that's pretty much a given with every movie James Cameron touches. But Hollywood can be fickle, and trends unpredictable. Hopefully we hear more about this movie in the not-too-distant future. If I were a betting man, I'd say to keep an eye peeled for more news sometime in 2026, when Avatar: Fire and Ash is in the rearview and Cameron has the bandwidth to tackle The Devils in earnest.

But lucky you, you don't need to wait that long to find out more about the story! The Devils is out now and available wherever books are sold. Check it out, and then hit up our exclusive interview with Joe Abercrombie to learn more about the story behind the book:

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