There are few fantasy sagas in recent years that have been as successful worldwide as Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. While the former was a global youth phenomenon that continues with projects like Hogwarts Legacy, the latter is a series that marked a before and after and whose universe continues to expand with prequels.
But these HBO Max hits are not the only fantasy sagas that can find their place in the world of audiovisual entertainment. From the books of Brandon Sanderson to the new stories of The Lord of the Rings in development, there is a world out there waiting to be explored. Nevertheless, there’s a series of books that combines the best elements of Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, yet it still doesn’t have a series or movie that does it justice: The Kingkiller Chronicle.
A never-ending saga
Written by Patrick Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicle is an unfinished trilogy – the author’s depression is causing him to postpone the third book similarly to George R.R. Martin with Game of Thrones – which currently includes The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear.
Published between 2007 and 2011, these books became a major phenomenon in the fantasy literature world, and their readers praised their similarities to the works of Martin and J.K. Rowling. However, since then, there has been much talk about creating a series or film saga based on them… and it has still not become a reality.
20th Century Fox bought the rights to the books in 2013, two years after the release of the second book in the series. However, they did nothing with them, and the rights expired in 2015. Later, Rothfuss made a deal with Lionsgate, with ambitious plans to adapt the books into movies and add transmedia elements with a series and a video game. Lin-Manuel Miranda joined to compose music for the saga… but that didn’t work out either.
In 2017, Showtime started developing the series, but there was no further news, and even Sam Raimi was hired to direct the movie in 2018… but that also didn’t progress. In the end, it all seems to have fallen by the wayside, and while Lionsgate still holds the rights, there doesn’t seem to be any concrete progress on the adaptation.
Perhaps, the nested structure of the story complicates the adaptation process. Or maybe, they just want to wait until the final book is released to avoid the mistakes that the final seasons of Game of Thrones faced.
