Epic fantasy author Brandon Sanderson has continually proven himself to be one of the most prolific authors in the industry today; her ability to juggle half a dozen projects or more at once never fails to impress, and her willingness to be transparent with her readers about this process is even more impressive. At the end of each year, Sanderson releases his "State of Sanderson" speech (via Brandon Sanderson), detailing what work was completed last year – and Sanderson has written a large number of books over the years.
This year's State of the Sanderson came with the unfortunate news of Born from the mists cancellation of the film, but it also gave a proper first look at some of the author's other projects that are starting to move from the page to screens big and small. Surprisingly, not everyone is part of Sanderson's expansive Cosmere multiverse; several of his more independent works are also progressing.
|
Title |
Confirmation status |
|
Snapshot |
In development (in studio) |
|
Towards the sky |
In development (optional for TV) |
|
Emerald Sea Tree |
Pre-development (awaiting TV option) |
|
Mistborn: The Final Empire |
Canceled |
4
Snapshot
A standalone sci-fi detective procedural
Snapshot is an independent soap opera, published in 2017; is a detective story set in a cyberpunk-style future where researchers can create snapshots, recreations of past events with precision down to the molecular level. When Anthony Davis and his partner Chaz go into Snapshot to investigate two seemingly minor crimes, they stumble upon a horrific mass murder that their superiors order them to ignore and end up on the trail of a mysterious serial killer known only as the Photographer. .
Photographing a pilot could be the next step for Snapshot.
The rights to Snapshot they were acquired by MGM in 2021 and, according to Sanderson, production is relatively advanced; although the studio has not yet given the production the full green light, the development process is well underway. Photographing a pilot could be the next step for SnapshotBut with no news available on which creatives or actors are attached to the project, it could still be some time before anything can be publicly announced.
3
Towards the sky
Book one in the science fiction cytoverse
Sanderson's 2018 Young Adult Sci-Fi Hit Towards the sky is the first of four books set in the author's Cytoverse, a far-future space opera that the author described in a 2017 reading as "How to train your dragonbut instead it's a girl who finds a spaceship and goes to Top Gun school." (through YouTube). The main character is Spensa Nightshade, a young woman who spent her whole life wanting to be a fighter pilot like her father, and defend her home colony, Defiant, against the alien Krell.
Towards the sky was officially acquired by a studio for a TV series adaptation and is now looking for a showrunner to take the reins and work on developing a pilot. There's no information available yet about the scope of the show in terms of the broader Cytoverse, so Towards the sky can be adapted alone or can lead into subsequent books, Stellar vision, Cytonicand Challenging.
2
Emerald Sea Tree
A Cosmere fairytale romance
Released in January 2023 as part of one of Sanderson's many secret projects, Emerald Sea Tree is a novel set in the Cosmerewritten by Sanderson as a gift for his wife after she pointed out her dissatisfaction with the character Buttercup's passive attitude in The princess bride. The titular Tress, who has lived her entire life on an isolated island in the middle of a toxic sea, must venture out and rescue her dear friend Charlie from his arranged marriage to the Sorceress of the Midnight Sea.
Sanderson says there have been conversations with studios and he is eagerly awaiting an option offer from a studio to adapt Tree in an animated series.
Emerald Sea Tree isn't very far along in the adaptation process, but Sanderson says there have been conversations with studios and he's eagerly awaiting an option offer from a studio to adapt Tree in an animated series. As opting for a show is not a guarantee of production, This project is unlikely to make the jump to the screen anytime soonBut this unique look at a small piece of the Cosmere may be the first glimpse viewers will get of this strange multiverse, considering the fate of the Cosmere. Born from the mists film.
1
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Book one in the Mistborn series, the dark industrial fantasy epic from Cosmere
Set in the ash-covered world of Scadrial, Born from the mists tells the story of Vin, a young street urchin who falls in love with the charismatic Kelsier and his motley crew of thieves and malcontents. Vin discovers from Kelsier that she is a Mistborn, someone with the ability to fully utilize the strange powers of Allomancy, and when he begins to teach her how to use her powers, he also convinces her to help him with his greatest crime. of all time – overthrowing the tyrannical Lord Ruler of Scadrial.
Unfortunately, the Born from the mists film has been officially canceledat least in its current form. First chosen by a studio in 2010, the Born from the mists the film has gone through complicated back-and-forth over the years, apparently getting relatively far in the process before studio resistance to the script caused Sanderson and his writing partners to abandon that iteration of the project. Although extremely disappointing, Born from the mistsThe cancellation could turn into an opportunity as it will allow Sanderson to re-evaluate whether Born from the mists it might work better as a TV series.
(Sources: BrandonSanderson.com, YouTube)