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It seems Lionsgate is making some big moves right now when it comes to their adaption of the book series ‘The Kingkiller Chronicle,’ as they have announced that John Rogers (creator of ‘Leverage’ and ‘The Librarians’) will serve as showrunner for their television adaption of the franchise. This come fresh on the heels of the news that Lin-Manuel Miranda (of ‘Hamilton’ fame) will serve as the creative producer and music developer for the franchise, giving ‘The Kingkiller Chronicle’ some serious muscle behind it.

And why do I keep saying “the franchise?” Well, Lionsgate is doing something interesting here, and is actually developing a television series and a series of movies based on the books at the same time. While the book trilogy is still being written by Patrick Rothfuss (he has completed 2 of the books and is furiously working on the 3rd, as well as another novella set in the world), Lionsgate has decided to craft a trilogy of movies based on the main books, and then launch a television series based on the world the series takes place in, with everything taking place in the same continuity. Hence the ‘franchise’ term. Apparently, they also have the option to turn the story into a stage adaptation as well, which would really be pushing the limits of how much they could milk those books.

Clearly, Lionsgate is excited about the prospects, as their Television Group Chariman Kevin Beggs was quoted as saying:

“With the addition of the incredibly talented John Rogers as showrunner, we have now assembled the perfect creative team to develop a premium quality scripted series to launch our Kingkiller Chronicles franchise.”

From what I have read on the internet (I had not actually heard of ‘The Kingkiller Chronicle’ before this), the book series is quite compelling and is second only to ‘Game of Thrones’ in popularity currently in book sales, which could mean Lionsgate has a real winner on their hands. Only time will tell, but I will be keeping an eye on things and may even take a look at those books before the movies or TV show comes out. Feel free to share in the comments below if you have heard about/ read them yourself, and have any thoughts about ‘The Kingkiller Chronicle.’

Source:  Deadline

horizontal lineNick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter.