The hugely popular fantasy series The Witcher has already been adapted into a massive videogame series, and now it’s coming to TV.
Coming Soon reports that Netflix is developing a TV show based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s series of novels, with The Expanse producers Sean Daniel and Jason Brown. Sapkowski will be acting as creative consultant on the show, and said:
“I’m thrilled that Netflix will be doing an adaptation of my stories, staying true to the source material and the themes that I have spent over thirty years writing. I’m excited about our efforts together, as well as the team assembled to shepherd these characters to life.”
Those thirty years have resulted in eight books and several short stories, not to mention the videogame series (which doesn’t give the author any royalties after he accepted a one-off payment). There’s clearly a huge amount of material to draw from, as Daniel and Brown enthused.
“The Witcher stories follow an unconventional family that comes together to fight for truth in a dangerous world. The characters are original, funny and constantly surprising and we can’t wait to bring them to life at Netflix, the perfect home for innovative storytelling.”
Polish production company Platige Entertainment is also on board, with producers Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko stating that “There is a moral and intellectual depth in these books which goes beyond genre. It is a story about today and today’s challenges, hidden under a fantasy cover. It is a story about us, about the monster and the hero inside all of our hearts.”
There will inevitably be a lot of comparisons drawn to Game Of Thrones, and it’s easy to see why Netflix would want to snap up a long-running fantasy series to rival HBO’s. It will be interesting to see where the show will begin its story with so many years of Sapkowski’s work out there. We’ll have to wait and see. Now, who will they cast as Geralt…
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