Ursula K. Le Guin’s epic “Earthsea Cycle” novels are set to go into production for the small screen. If the name sounds familiar for TV watchers, there was a miniseries released on Syfy back in 2004 when it was still the Sci-Fi channel that Le Guin had co-written. Readers though are sure to recognize the title as this five novel and eight short story series was initially created in 1968 with the release of ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ and was completed in 2018 when the short story ‘Firelight’ was released in ‘The Paris Review’ which is sadly the year that Le Guin passed away.
This new television show is being created in a combined effort from both A24 and Oscar-nominated producer Jennifer Fox (‘Nightcrawler,’ ‘Michael Clayton’). Fox will be producing the series with A24 financing the project. They haven’t started to shop around for a network at this time but will be doing so soon. Before Le Guin’s death, this had initially be set for a multi-film project but has since been decided that an ongoing series would work better.
I’m sure the success of ‘Game of Thrones‘ and the constant greenlighting of other fantasy series such as ‘Lord of the Rings‘, ‘The Witcher‘, and the “Wheel of Time” books had nothing to do with this decision.
When talking about the upcoming series, Fox shared:
“Ursula Le Guin is a literary legend with a huge fan base, and her work has been translated into practically every written language on the globe. She is second only to Tolkien in influence in this genre, and before she died last year, she agreed to put her most beloved work in my hands. This project is, therefore, a sacred trust and priority for me as well as an opportunity to create an iconic piece of American culture.”
Theo Downes-Le Guin, Ursula’s son, went on to say that:
“Ursula long hoped to see an adaptation of Earthsea that represented a collaboration between her ideas and words and the visual storytelling of others. I feel very fortunate that, with Jennifer Fox and A24, we have a bedrock of producing and development experience that can bring the sweeping narrative and moral truths of my mother’s work to screen.”
Are you looking forward to a modern adaptation of ‘Earthsea’ with the proper budget and respect to accurately bring the series to life? Which network do you hope picks the show up? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Deadline
