More Geek TV

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that Sandman is finally getting a TV series. It seems we have more news on the fantasy TV front.

First off, Warhammer 40.000, Games Workshop's grimdark Fantasy & Space Opera setting is now getting a TV show. Very little is known or even decided at this stage, but it's the Eisenhorn books by Dan Abnett that are being adapted. Eisenhorn is an inquisitor, one of the independent agents that hunt heretics, demons, aliens and other threats to the Imperium of Man.

I have read the books, and they could work quite well on the small screen. Warhammer 40k is chiefly a war-game, so it follows that the setting focuses mostly on war, which gets crazy expensive to film. This is where Eisenhorn shines, being more about investigations, small scale fights and such. In the later books, there are some events that would cost the equivalence of a small nations GNP to film, but they have time to figure that out.

The 40k fanbase is very passionate, not to mention detail oriented, so here's hoping the show makers know what they are doing, because the fans do. Breaches against the lore are not going to go down well.

In other similar news, Amazon has signed an exclusive TV deal for Middle-Earth. They signed it in 2017 with a two year window, so the clock is ticking and filming will likely have to start this year.

Nothing is known about casting as yet, but what is known is that they are using the Second Age, i.e. the time in which Sauron rose to power and the last alliance of men and elves took place. The Second Age is 3441 years long so what they choose to focus on remains to be seen. Either way, calling it a Lord of the Rings show is misleading as that story takes place in the Third Age. I guess it's a Game of Thrones issue, A Game of Thrones being the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, not the whole title in itself.

It seems like it's going to be filmed in New Zealand, like Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, but Jackson is not attached to the project in any way. Ian McKellen has stated that he wouldn’t mind returning as Gandalf, but he has to my knowledge not been asked. Time will tell.

It seems to be a golden age of geek television, and with Game of Thrones being such a run away hit, it's no wonder. Whether they manage to produce anything really good is another question. Cautious optimism is the way to go in my opinion. Get too hyped and you may get too disappointed.

I'll probably keep talking about this as more news trickles in so stay tuned. This however is enough for this time, until next we meet, have a great week!