Amazon Prime Video has gone to great lengths to find its Game of Thrones or Stranger Things. Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power became one of the most expensive TV shows ever, and countless other book series were picked up by the streamer for adaptation, like Mike Flanagan’s much-anticipated take on the Dark Tower books.
But while it may still be looking for the next big thing, that doesn’t mean every failed idea is doomed forever. The Wheel of Time, one of the most ambitious fantasy series in recent years, may have been canceled after Season 3, but the story will continue in an animated series and more spinoff projects.
According to Variety, a number of new projects based on Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time book series are in the works, including an animated series, movies, and video games. This announcement is the result of a partnership between iwot Studios and League of Legends’ Thomas Vu.
These projects, which aren’t attached to any distributors, are apparently completely separate from the animated film, live action film, and high-profile AAA video game that are currently being developed through a partnership with VFX company Framestorer to create “an AI-enabled platform that will offer brands asset management tools to ease collaboration on projects across multiple platforms.” So while Amazon may not be involved in the Wheel of Time IP, it seems like independently, the universe will expand further than ever, across multiple movies, video games, and other spinoffs.
The animated series is especially interesting, as animated spinoffs of canceled shows may become a new pattern in the streaming landscape now that Netflix is following the final season of Stranger Things with Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85. It’s possible Amazon Prime Video could follow suit and pick up some of these spinoffs, regardless of the canon ties between them and the canceled series.
So while The Wheel of Time series may have ended, it only increased interest in its fantasy world beyond the already-existing book fandom. It’s certainly a smart idea to strike while the iron is hot and try to release more projects, but with multiple movies, video games, and an animated series in the works, could this idea be stretched too thin?
Perhaps this fantasy world is big enough for everything in development right now, but it’ll still be interesting to see if all these projects make it to the finish line — especially with some projects controversially incorporating AI.
