Last week, fans of author Brandon Sanderson, particularly those who enjoy his Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive book series, got some great news. Sanderson has partnered Apple TV to adapt his Cosmere literary universe for the streamer, with Mistborn and Stormlight Archive being specifically looked at to get the feature film and TV show treatment, respectively. While there’s a lot of these excited about with these book-to-screen adaptations, Sanderson has also now responded to the fans who are worried that these projects may lead to him pulling a George R.R. Martin.
I’m talking about how Martin, the mastermind behind A Song of Ice and Fire, still has not finished The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in his fantasy book series, 15 years after the previous book, A Dance with Dragons, was released. There have been various reasons for this, including Martin contributing to the various TV shows in the Game of Thrones franchise (although there’s been some “dysfunction” in his relationship with the House of the Dragon showrunner). So in terms of whether these Apple TV subscription-exclusive adaptations of Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive will delay Brandon Sanerson’s work on his upcoming books, here’s what he had to say on his YouTube page:
This will impact my writing schedule — not to the point that I think you need to worry. Mistborn Ghostbloods is going to be on time in 2028, and the trilogy should be one year thereafter. And it won’t impact Stormlight other than the fact that I’ve kind of already built this time in. Part of the reason why I knew I was going to need some more time here is I’m gonna be doing a lot of stuff with Hollywood. I’m going to be making sure these things come out right.
For those who missed the initial announcement, part of Brandon Sanderson’s deal with Apple TV is that not only will he write, produce an consult on the Mistborn and Stormlight Archive projects, he’ll also approvals on the cast and more. This was described as “rarefied control” that not even George R.R. Martin and J.K. Rowling got with the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter adaptations, respectively. However, having that much control over these new fantasy adaptations means that it’ll eat into his book-writing time.
Fortunately for his fans, Sanderson cleared up that his additional responsibilities, which will be his “full time work over the next few months,” won’t result in any major delays. After mentioning that “there’s nobody attached right now” to these projects, he added:
These aren’t coming next year, but I’m confident this time that it’s going to go really well. So follow along. Join me as I write the screenplay, hear me grouse about how difficult it is to take a 200,000-word book and condense it to a two-hour movie. That’s going to be our next six months or so.
It sounds like the Mistborn movie will be the first Apple TV project he tackles, which will adapt the first book, 2006’s The Final Empire. It’s unclear, then, when Brandon Sanderson will begin work on The Stormlight Archive TV series. One thing I’m especially curious about is if he’ll be amenable to other writers helping him out, i.e. co-writing the movie scripts and working with a writing staff on the TV show. If he’s going to handle it all solo, then best of luck to him balancing all that on top of his books.
We’ll keep you apprised here on CinemaBlend on how Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn and Stormlight Archive projects are progressing as more details come in. For now, use our 2026 movies schedule and 2026 TV schedule to keep track of what will be released later this year.
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