Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series is a staple in the fantasy genre, which is why it is receiving a movie adaptation, however, the books would actually make a much better television series. The Mistborn series is a set of fantasy novels written by Brandon Sanderson. Though there are currently seven books set in the Mistborn world, only the first, The Final Empire, has been confirmed for a movie adaptation. The story centers on a young woman named Vin who discovers that she is mistborn, an individual that can use metals to enhance her natural abilities. Her life changes suddenly when she is pulled into a conspiracy to overthrow the Lord Ruler.
In 2010, the Mistborn movie adaptation was first optioned by Paloppa Pictures LLC. In 2014, the rights ran out and were not picked up again until 2016 by DMG Entertainment. Mistborn was not only purchased by the company, but all of Brandon Sanderson’s “Cosmere” universe. In 2017, F. Scott Frasier was announced to be writing the screenplay for Mistborn: The Final Empire, but three years later, in 2020, Brandon Sanderson stated that he would be writing the screenplay himself. Little else is known about the project, however, it is certainly a notably massive story to take on.
A Mistborn Adaptation Requires Too Much Exposition For A Movie
Although a Mistborn movie is highly anticipated, the truth of the matter is that the story has too much exposition for a feature film. While Mistborn: The Final Empire is only the first book in a trilogy, it still holds an incredible amount of information, much of which is vital to understand the story as a whole. Mistborn is bursting with history, a detailed magic system, and complex politics, and in this way, a Mistborn television series would have a much easier time exploring all of this exposition. It will be a challenge for the Mistborn movie to speed through the exposition to get to the action.
When it comes to fantasy stories, especially those with complicated systems and set-ups like Mistborn, a television series is almost always the better route to go down. Though movies can be up to three hours long these days, sometimes this is still not enough time to fully explain the narrative. In particular, there must be enough time to introduce all the characters, the mechanics of the world, and what the overarching goal is. When it comes to Mistborn, this is a fairly tall order already, making a TV series the better option.
A TV Adaptation Would Give Mistborn More Room To Breathe
Not only would a television series be able to introduce all of Mistborn’s exposition, it would also give the story room to breathe. In an ideal world, the Mistborn movie will be able to concisely explain the world and delve into the action, but no matter what, it will likely have an incredibly fast pace. On the other hand, a TV show would give the story room to explore without a rush. It could slowly and carefully sink the viewer into the world just as Brandon Sanderson did, then get into the main plot. Overall, television seems like the better choice by far for this fantasy series.
