It takes a lot of money to put together a high-fantasy series like Wheel of Time, what with all the magnificent vistas, giant capes, dramatic horseback riding, flashy weaponry, and all that magic. In fact, it turns out it's one of the most expensive shows Amazon has ever made.
This was confirmed by Vernon Sanders, co-head of TV at Amazon Studios, in an interview with IGN. He brought this up when I asked about previous statements made by showrunner Rafe Judkins that the budget was "tiny" compared to Amazon's other high-fantasy adaptation, Lord of the Rings.
"Wheel Of Time is one of our most expensive shows that we've ever made," he replied. "So we are really proud of the investment and we think that it shows on screen, and we're spending more in season two than season one."
Sanders couldn't give any specific numbers, but elsewhere in our interview he expressed a lot of optimism around these high-fantasy and sci-fi novel adaptations as fodder for epic storytelling opportunities Amazon is interested in. He's adamant, for instance, that Wheel of Time won't get cannibalized in future seasons by Lord of the Rings' higher profile and budget, and that the two shows will help build one another's audiences over time.
He is also feeling positive about Amazon's collaboration with Neil Gaiman on the Good Omens series, as well as its relationships with the Tolkien estate and the various stakeholders on Wheel of Time, such as the Jordan family. Amazon may also be looking at other literature in similar genres for future endeavors.
"It is the age of genre and fantasy fandom," Sanders said. "I think what's coming, at least here, what's coming at Prime Video and Amazon will blow people away, and so we couldn't be more proud to be the home of that content."
We really enjoyed the first three episodes of Wheel of Time, saying the series was "gorgeous, well acted, and strongly written" and had a good balance of source material understanding without holding on too tightly to the original. The most recent episode was a bit less exciting for us, and the series' first season will be wrapping up at the end of this week. Wheel of Time has already been renewed for a second season.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
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This was confirmed by Vernon Sanders, co-head of TV at Amazon Studios, in an interview with IGN. He brought this up when I asked about previous statements made by showrunner Rafe Judkins that the budget was "tiny" compared to Amazon's other high-fantasy adaptation, Lord of the Rings.
"Wheel Of Time is one of our most expensive shows that we've ever made," he replied. "So we are really proud of the investment and we think that it shows on screen, and we're spending more in season two than season one."
Sanders couldn't give any specific numbers, but elsewhere in our interview he expressed a lot of optimism around these high-fantasy and sci-fi novel adaptations as fodder for epic storytelling opportunities Amazon is interested in. He's adamant, for instance, that Wheel of Time won't get cannibalized in future seasons by Lord of the Rings' higher profile and budget, and that the two shows will help build one another's audiences over time.
He is also feeling positive about Amazon's collaboration with Neil Gaiman on the Good Omens series, as well as its relationships with the Tolkien estate and the various stakeholders on Wheel of Time, such as the Jordan family. Amazon may also be looking at other literature in similar genres for future endeavors.
"It is the age of genre and fantasy fandom," Sanders said. "I think what's coming, at least here, what's coming at Prime Video and Amazon will blow people away, and so we couldn't be more proud to be the home of that content."
We really enjoyed the first three episodes of Wheel of Time, saying the series was "gorgeous, well acted, and strongly written" and had a good balance of source material understanding without holding on too tightly to the original. The most recent episode was a bit less exciting for us, and the series' first season will be wrapping up at the end of this week. Wheel of Time has already been renewed for a second season.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Continue reading...