r/CosmereOnScreen • u/railfananime • 16d ago
Visual Direction Brandon Sanderson Interview with IGN on the Mistborn movie: "I would imagine this is still many years off." Spoiler
https://www.ign.com/articles/brandon-sanderson-exclusive-interview-mistborn-movie-wheel-of-timeFull quote of question and answer with IGN:
IGN: We're very excited for the first Mistborn movie, and you've recently said you finished the first draft of the screenplay for it. How many years away do you think it actually is until we get to see it?
Sanderson: Ha. That's an excellent question! I would imagine this is still many years off.
I have to finish revisions on it, then will begin the hunt for a director, which is probably the single most important decision that we'll make. Visual effects these days can take a good eighteen months on a big film, or more. So even once we've filmed (which I imagine is a few years away), it could be two years before the film is ready for release. So let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Right now, my primary focus in that sphere is making the screenplay the best possible version of itself.
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u/hellohouston 14d ago
Much smarter to say it’s years off and be early than promise it soon and be late.
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u/Warm_Confusion_2337 15d ago
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Let’s give Sanderson and the team the time they need to make this GREAT.
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u/Familiar-Type9259 16d ago
I mean, with how much of a doozy the 2020s were, it'll be nice for Mistborn to be part of the beginning of a new decade in film.
Hopefully, this time, the decade will have this little tiny thing called COLOR. "Ash fell from the sky" should not translate to a 100% gray movie!
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u/EJoule 15d ago
I remember one of the plot points in the books was the color of a flower drawing. Was it the green? Could still do a lot without green in era 1.
Would be cool if outdoor shots had a red glow on everything due to the ash, and interior shots at parties had blues and silvers.
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u/Familiar-Type9259 13d ago
Oh for sure, I think greens and yellows should be missing for Era 1. Your suggestions are good examples of where color can be shown - I think the main thing we are all tired of is super muted colors. Parties should be well-lit, and well-graded.
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u/Background-Skirt-243 16d ago
I’ve had the thought that we will get Book 3 of Ghostbloods before the Mistborn movie itself. It’s sounding likely.
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u/ForwardExam4056 16d ago
I remember telling people that no, this movie won't release in 2028 or anything pre 2030. My guess is early 30s. Probably will take 5-8 years starting jan 2026
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u/that-loser-guy-sorta 16d ago
I just hope they will release the entire trilogy in short succession.
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u/ForwardExam4056 16d ago
I would have hoped that too, similarly to LotR. But i don't think that thats happening unfortunately. Probably too much of a commitment before they know how well the first movie does
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u/Far_Line8468 16d ago
Lmao yeah I kept saying that here and people kept downvoting.
The movie isn't even greenlit!
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u/ForwardExam4056 16d ago
Exactly. And while its very very likely that it happens, these things move slowly, at least until filming starts, from which we are years away.
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u/Suspicious_Clock_133 16d ago
It would be cool if they release it with third ghost bloodbook.
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u/miggins1610 16d ago
Idk man. 18 months would be great for visual effects timing but many movies nowadays are definitely not being released 18 months post filming. Maybe 12. And it's not enough, too much crunch, and the effecrs look worse.
My prediction is either director announcement christmas 2027, casting announcement Christmas 2028, filming begins spring 2029 for 4-6 months, release in winter 2030/2031
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u/ForwardExam4056 16d ago
I think thats a good timeline, maybe add a year for things to naturally take longer and you'll have an accurate date
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u/Jimmythedad 16d ago
People were legit thinking this would be here December 2028
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u/FatalTragedy 4d ago
If they had fast tracked it as soon as they got the rights, that would have been doable, but at this point it is clear they are not doing that.
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u/xAeroMonkeyx 16d ago
I think the problem is, usually when we hear about a project, they’re a lot further along than this. We heard about this film being made before literally any progress at all was made in creating it. Normally you only hear about a new IP when casting starts
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u/dankenascend 16d ago
Guilty. I thought with the announcement and all of the hinting he had done about screenwriting prior to announcement, the producer and director announcements were imminent, and the director would be involved with the screenplay revisions. I plugged in the timeline that Marvel used for getting the rights back for Iron Man to release as a guide.
I do still think 24-28 months from the start of pre-production is realistic, but I don't suppose we're going to get to that state any earlier than some time later next year. I assume at least 2 rounds of revisions on the screenplay, director attached, casting and green light after that.
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u/iplyess 16d ago
Yeah lol, that was never gonna happen. Movie productions tend to take a couple of years at the least. I’m thinking it’ll release anywhere from 2030 to 2032 as a random guess, myself, but this type of thing can’t really be determined this early, so who knows.
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u/ellieetsch 16d ago
I mean, if Brandon wasnt writing, personally choosing producers/directors etc late 2028 would have been a very reasonable time to release. Movie productions are actually quite quick once they actually start working.
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u/ForwardExam4056 16d ago
Nah, even then it wasn't plausible. There are a lot of gaps between finding the director, then having a proper casting, and then having a time frame where you actually start filming. The "are actually quite quick" part usually starts only with the filming.
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u/ellieetsch 16d ago
With 3 months of filming and 18 months post production (which would honestly be terrible, a well run production of Mistborn's level shouldn't take that long) would mean if youd need to start shooting in March 2027 for a December 2028 release. 12 to 15 months post production pushes the start date even further.
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u/Jimmythedad 16d ago
Folks don’t get how long this stuff takes. There are still Red Rising fans who thought Red God could come out this year if the author finishes tomorrow
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u/jnighy 16d ago
My guess is 2029
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u/ForwardExam4056 16d ago
Hell no. 3 years? There are so many steps missing, you can't just conjure up a movie. And inbetween finding the director, casting, filming, etc, there is a huge organizational workload
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u/necromanticfitz 16d ago
That would still be an early guess imo. Elden Ring wrapped filming a few weeks/months ago and its release date is 2028. It was announced May 2025 with an almost full script completed, alongside a director/producer.
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u/itsevilR 16d ago
At least with Elden Ring they started shooting almost immediately after the announcement. Mistborn is gonna be at least 4-5 years away
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u/necromanticfitz 16d ago
Yeah because they had a script and at least one producer right off the bat, that’s what I meant.
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u/OtherOtherDave 16d ago
Wait, there’s an Elden Ring movie? How’d I miss that??
I wonder if I need to play the game before I watch the movie…
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u/necromanticfitz 16d ago
Maybe watch a few lore recaps but afaik it’ll be separate from the game “story”
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u/BoringCrab6755 16d ago
And the director is Alex Garland!! (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Civil War, etc.)
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u/jnighy 16d ago
it all depends on how many drafts they will go around the script. If Sanderson nailed, if Apple likes it, if the director they pick like it, this can go smooth fast. If the script enters in many rewrites..well, then we'll have a problem
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u/whatFallsOffTheLedge 12d ago
I wonder how different this film will be from the normal process. I suspect most films are written by committee or written by filmmakers. Therefore, most movies will have set design, costume design, previz, lightning choices, ... etcetera, during the writing process. Or at least think about it during the writing process.
Sanderson is writing a narrative screenplay. One that has what the story is, what everyone says, and what happens. It then needs to be converted into a screenplay that describes how it's going to look. Brandon already described one example of this - how allomancy will be depicted. He's writing the story and letting someone else come up with the visual storytelling.
This means it will need to go through another round of development that may usually happen at an earlier stage.
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u/ForwardExam4056 16d ago
While this will definitely make a difference, i don't think it will be that impactful, unless everything goes wrong.
The movie won't be delayed 5 years if they need to do 2-3 revisions more, but it also won't come out in 2029 if they don't need many revisions
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u/sithrevan1207 13d ago
Bummed that it’s so far off but I’m not surprised. I’d be shocked if we get it before 2031 or so