The Witcher is getting the live-action treatment with Netflix developing a TV series based on the popular line of fantasy novels. As reported by Platige, the series will have author Andrzej Sapkowski serve as a creative consultant for the show.
“Andrzej Sapkowski has created a rich and memorable world, at once magical and familiar,” said Erik Barmack, Netflix’s vice president of international series, in the Platige post. “We couldn’t be more excited about bringing Netflix members around the world.” Although the novels originate from Poland, the Witcher series will be filmed in English.
Sean Daniels and Jason Brown, partners at the Sean Daniels Company, will both serve as executive producers on the series. Daniels has previously produced The Mummy movie franchise, the TV series The Expanse and more. Jason Brown also serves as an executive producer on The Expanse.
“The Witcher stories follow an unconventional family that comes together to fight for truth in a dangerous world,” said Sean Daniel and Jason Brown. “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.”
What’s really interesting is how the author is approaching this series compared to his thoughts on the popular video games. “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,” Sapkowski said in the post on Platige. “I’m excited about our efforts together, as well as the team assembled to shepherd these characters to life.”
You can practically feel the shots Sapkowski is taking at developer CD Projekt RED in that quote. Sapkowski dislike of of the Witcher video games is well known, as he thinks they have taken away from the sales of his books.
"I wrote the first Witcher story 30 years ago," Sapkowski said in an interview with Waypoint last month. "When I come to my author meetings, there's no one in the audience close to my age. I am 69. There's no one. Kids everywhere. How are some of them supposed to know—especially in Germany, Spain or the US—that my books are not game related? That I'm not writing books based on games? They may not know that, and CDPR bravely conceals the game's origins. It's written in fine print, you need a microscope to see it, that the game is 'based on' [my books]."
Although Sapkowski claims to not have anything against video games and the people who play them, he also feels you cannot tell a good story in a game. "A video game serves a different purpose, It works differently,” he said in the interview. “How much substance can there be in the lines of text when the hero walks through the woods and talks to a squirrel? Where's the literature in that? Where's the room for depth or sophisticated language with which games could elevate culture? There's none."
With his involvement in the TV series, it looks like Sapkowski will have more faith in the show than the games. Netflix has not revealed any information about the series’ release date or any casting decisions.
So what do you think? Are you interested in a Witcher TV series? Would you have rather seen a Witcher movie? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
