It was announced at the Dragon Con panel for ‘The Witchlands’ by author Susan Dennard and President of Television for The Jim Henson Company Halle Stanford that the production company would be making a live-action series based on the novels! The company recently optioned the books and has a lot of opportunity for growth.
We know that fantasy is enormous right now with ‘Game of Thrones‘ being the biggest thing on television and Amazon giving us a $1 billion take on ‘Lord of the Rings,’ so finding a fresh franchise that could resonate with today’s market is a brilliant idea.
The series takes place in a world divided into three empires and everyone is born with a unique “witchery” or magical skill. We’re thrown into things as a Twenty-Year Truce is coming to an end which has temporarily put a halt to a war that has raged for centuries. With the peace about to be shattered, two young women have to accept their fate and one another to survive, and while doing so change everything.
Stanford and CEO and President of The Jim Henson Company Lisa Henson will be executive producers on the series while Dennard will be in place as a co-executive producer. The studio will create all of the creatures for the series.
At this time there are two novels and a spinoff having already been released with the third novel in the series due out in February of 2019. Hopefully, we’ll see more than one season per book, or we’ll have the issue quickly catching up and passing the novels as occurred with ‘Game of Thrones.’
According to Stanford:
“The Witchlands features a world of magic and astonishing characters that our Creature Shop can sink its teeth into and bring to life in an exciting and fresh way. These books fulfill our desire to dive deep into a high fantasy world a la Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, where the women are the heroes and the world itself is seen through a feminine lens.”
Dennard also chimed in sharing:
“I’m so thrilled that The Witchlands is in the hands of such a dynamic and creative company as The Jim Henson Company. This is a literal dream come true, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with to bring the world, characters, magic, and creatures to life!”
This looks to be a pervasive world that would lend itself to a cinematic take. Hopefully, we’ll have details on who will be the showrunner and get an idea of casting over the course of the upcoming year.
Are you excited to see ‘The Witchlands’ novels being brought to life? Do you feel that with the Jim Henson Company involved that we’ll be in for something special? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Deadline Hollywood
