Posted by Matt Holmes. Last modified on June 6th, 2007 at 11:24am

Warner Brothers turn to The Shannara

200px-elfstones.jpgWith the last Harry Potter film to open in a couple of years time, Warner Brothers are moving quickly to hunt down a new fantasy series to generate them some green. Variety report they have turned to The Shannara, the best-selling fantasy series written by Terry Brooks.

Brooks is apparently the second biggest selling fantasy author living today after Potter scribe J.K. Rowling, so their intention here is obvious.

WB has franchise hopes for his 14-book series, which is set 1,000 years in the future, in a world populated by elves, trolls, gnomes and dwarves in a post-apocalyptic Earth. The Shannara family is a half-Elf, half-man clan with magical abilities and warrior skills who must save the world.

14 BOOKS! Do you think they will cut it down to two books a film? That would leave it at 7, the same number as the Harry Potter series. And a 1,000 years into the future? I’m guessing this world will look a whole lot different to ours. How can people come up with worlds so far into the future?

I wonder if Morlocks will occupy the land.

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Categories: Movie News

2 Comments »

  1. AOL Time-Warner is one of the six largest media companies on the planet. But unlike Sony (Spider-Man) or Disney (Pirates of the Carribean) AOL-TW has yet to find their billion-dollar earner. Now that they see it’s possible to consistently bring in a billion dollars every, single year, they want to find properties that will do just that. For an industry that’s become so inefficient, uncreative and risk-averse, this is bad news.

    Harry Potter has brought in a ton of cash, but corporations (epsecially American ones) always want more, and certainly more than their competitors. So, it’s no surprise that Warner is going to mine the best-seller lists for the next property that has a built in audience. They’ve shown they know how to do an adaptation right. If only they could make an original property correctly.

    Comment by JaySmack | June 6, 2007

  2. Having read all of them, I know that 1,000 years in the future makes it seem rather anti-fantasy, but the books barely touch on that fact. Only later in the series to the heroes find themselves in abandoned canyons of metal and steel and encounter a thinking machine. The first several books are very much centered in the typical fantasy genre. Unlikely central figure is quickly thrust into a situation in which he understands little by a powerful mentor type. Along the way he/she is joined by others forming a team but the team is broken apart. The hero has to confront a near shapeless enemy by using a small but powerful token object. Along the way they make camps, eat and sing.

    I’d have rather they picked Feist’s Riftware Saga, but that’s just me.

    Comment by xadrian | June 8, 2007

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