The Wheel of Time television series has a confirmed director for the first two episodes and it’s Stranger Things’ Uta Briesewitz. Some people have been asking why they didn’t choose someone from fantasy television behemoth, Game of Thrones, but it’s probably because Briesewitz is used to telling stories about strong women; having previously directed episodes for series such as Jessica Jones, Orange is the New Black, and Fear the Walking Dead.
This is important because The Wheel of Time takes place in a fantasy world in which women are the only ones that can use magic and in which they also hold the majority of societal power. So, the opposite of the current situation. The 14-book series was written by Robert Jordan up until he died in 2007, while working on what was meant to be the 12th, and final, volume. He left behind extensive notes on how the series should be finished and Brandon Sanderson brought it to completion. Mention Wheel of Time around fantasy readers and their first response is usually something about how long the damn thing is. There are an awful lot of fans, though, since the books have sold over 90 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling fantasy series since The Lord of the Rings.
Who knows how such a massive epic will translate to TV, but I guess we’ll find out when it debuts on Amazon Prime Video at some point in the future.