Radar Pictures hints at big WHEEL OF TIME announcement

Radar Pictures, the production company working with Sony Television on the Wheel of Time television project, is apparently set to make an announcement on the future of the project. This comes shortly after the project's showrunner and head writer, Rafe Judkins, tweeted that he was rereading the series (using his original, genuinely-battered paperbacks) in preparation for work getting underway.

Sony have been developing the project for over a year, but progress had slowed because Sony had failed to find a reliable network partner. Amazon were, according to rumour, close to signing a deal but backed off to pursue the Lord of the Rings TV prequel series instead. Other networks and streaming services have also been mopping up the rights to other fantasy series all over the shop, with Netflix developing The Witcher and Showtime nabbing the rights to a Name of the Wind prequel series, whilst Starz has Outlander and SyFy has The Magicians.

However, Apple TV are looking for a killer app, FX might be on the hunt for another prestige show and, most intriguingly, Disney have a new adult-oriented streaming service readying for launch in 2019 and money in the bank. There's also the possibility that Netflix or Amazon might decide to double-dip with a second fantasy show after all.

For themselves, Sony have also been bullish recently about developing a show by themselves for release on their PS Network or via Crackle. Radar's profile and financial firepower, which has been in the doldrums for years, have also been bolstered by the surprise success of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle at the box office (proving that once again in Hollywood, you're only as good or bad as your last release). Radar's boss, noted movie tycoon Ted Field, is apparently keen to move on with the Wheel of Time project and "big announcements" are on the way.

It'll be very interesting to see where Wheel of Time ends up, and how seriously the project is taken.

Thanks to Narg for the heads-up.