Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn is one of the most popular fantasy series of the 21st century, and with a movie adaptation on the way, there are some essential things it’d have to get right. Brandon Sanderson is a celebrated and record-breaking author known for his popular series like Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive. He’s known for his direct communication with fans via his YouTube channel, podcast, and various conventions where he’s upfront about both his progress toward his novels and the process of his stories being adapted into Hollywood movies and shows.
Mistborn is a beloved fantasy series that follows a group of thieves leading a rebellion against an oppressive emperor. The series is action-packed with a magic system called Allomancy, which allows users to draw abilities from the consumption of metals. Adapting fantasy has grown increasingly popular with shows like The Wheel of Time and The Witcher riding the coattails of Game of Thrones. Other book series, like Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses and Joe Abercrombie’s First Law, also have plans to be adapted but are further along in the process than Mistborn, which seems to have been halted due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
10 Brandon Sanderson Has To Be Involved
Brandon Sanderson should be involved in any adaptation of his novels. The recipe for success would be to pair Sanderson with an experienced director and screenwriter to make the transition from page to screen as smooth as possible. With the number of great fantasy novels that made disappointing movies, fantasy fans are right to be skeptical of adaptation, and having the author be directly involved is the only way to ensure the film is faithful and to keep fans excited and optimistic.
9 Allomancy Should Look Epic And Make Sense
Allomancy is a complicated magic system, especially when Feruchemy and Hemalurgy are factored in. Making sure the powers are understandable for non-book readers will be challenging, particularly for emotional metals like Brass and Zinc, which may be harder to visualize. After all, moviegoers won’t be equipped with the Ars Arcanum appendix like book readers. Visually exciting combat for Allomancers and Mistborn is a major element for selling the film to new audiences.
8 Mistborn’s Action Should Take Inspiration From Wuxia
Wuxia films are a good starting point for the look and feel of Mistborn action sequences. Wuxia is a Chinese fiction genre that captures martial artists as fantastical heroes with superhuman strength, speed, and even the ability to defy gravity. Movies like Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon offer exciting examples of what this combat looks like. For Mistborn, it’s essential to capture the mobility and finesse of Allomantic abilities, and Wuxia combat can be performed without the overuse of special effects.
7 The Movie Needs To Accurately Depict The Book World
In many Brandon Sanderson novels, the world’s unique environment plays a critical role in the story. In Mistborn, the world is blanketed in volcanic ash that leaves the world bleak and gray. The concept of green plants and flowers is foreign to the citizens of Luthadel. Strong mists also cover much of the world, giving way to creatures like mistwraiths. The mist and ash both play integral parts in The Hero of Ages and would need to be factored into the film’s aesthetic from the beginning. Capturing an eerie Luthadel is also crucial to understanding the world’s rigid and oppressive power structure.
6 Casting Young Actors For Vin & Elend
Casting a Mistborn film would be one of the film adaptation’s biggest hurdles, as the heart of the story comes from the chemistry of its main cast. The actors brought on would have to be believable in a medieval fantasy setting and also be able to mesh well together. Vin and Elend are introduced in their late teens, and casting age-appropriate actors would be the best way to emphasize the coming-of-age elements of their stories. Both characters have internal barriers to overcome, and their emotional journeys through mental health make the Mistborn books so relatable.
5 Mistborn Can’t Gloss Over The Supporting Cast
The problem with adapting long novels into films is it often requires supporting characters to be pushed out, which would be detrimental to Mistborn. The bonds of Kelsier’s crew tie the story together early on, and brushing them off as comedic relief characters could damage the overarching narrative. The crew members signify important themes of hope, trust, and moral courage as they grow from thieves to heroic rebel leaders, proving that change for the better is possible even in a corrupt and unfair world.
4 Mistborn Should Blend Practical And Special Effects
Mistborn would require a fair amount of special effects, but mixing in practical effects could help keep the story more grounded. Magical action and special powers will entertain audiences, but the aspect that will make viewers fall in love is the characters. If the world feels too cartoonish and unbelievable due to excessive CGI it may be harder to relate. A Mistborn film should aspire to have practical effects and ambitious production design, trying to bring as much of Luthadel to life on set as possible.
3 Mistborn Could Follow Heist Movie Story Beats
One of Brandon Sanderson’s original inspirations for Mistborn was the Ocean’s 11 film. He’s mentioned in his writing videos that a promising launch-off point for a new piece of fiction is the framework of an already existing story. If Mistborn is to be a movie, framing it with a similar setup to a heist movie could work, from assembling the team to the training to formulating the plan to finally executing it. Mistborn eventually expands into more than just a heist story, but these beats could serve as an inspiration for pacing the film.
2 The Movie Can’t Skip The Logbook
Alendi’s logbook is a historical text revealed in pieces throughout Mistborn: The Final Empire, exploring the life of Alendi’s trip to the Well of Ascension to become the Hero of Ages. This would be one of the most challenging aspects of the story to adapt, especially in a film, but losing it would sacrifice an important mystery appeal from the Mistborn books. The logbook slowly unravels the origin of The Lord Ruler and is crucial to the continued mythological exploration in the subsequent novels. While it couldn’t all be translated, revealing important discoveries verbally through Kelsier, Sazed, and Vin would be necessary.
1 Mistborn Could Alternatively Work As A TV Series
Brandon Sanderson has always seen Mistborn as a movie, but the best medium for fantasy adaptation is television. A TV series would allow the full scope of Mistborn to be brought to life, from side characters to mythology to smaller moments of development that make the story so engaging. If it seems impossible to faithfully tell the story of Mistborn in a feature film script, a TV series could avoid the issue of having to cram information. Not every show has been met with acclaim, but there are plenty of fantasy TV series with stunning worldbuilding, which is a significant part of Sanderson’s stories.
