The Kingkiller Chronicle adaptation has been in development hell for 10 years, but a movie or show risks the same problem as Game of Thrones season 8.
If and when a movie or TV show adaptation of The Kingkiller Chronicle books does happen, it faces the same problem that hurt Game of Thrones season 8. There’s been talk of an adaptation of Patrick Rothfuss’ fantasy book series since 2013, with both a movie and TV show mooted at various points. It’s even had high profile names such as Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sam Raimi involved at different stages, but unfortunately nothing has come to fruition so far.
Part of that lies in narrative structure of The Kingkiller Chronicle, which is a story-within-a-story. But another reason may lie in the fact that The Doors of Stone is taking so long: the planned third and final book in the trilogy still hasn’t been released, despite the second, The Wise Man’s Fear, releasing in 2011. With that, then if an adaptation does finally happen (which it should, since it’s a story with a lot of potential), it faces the same problem that hampered Game of Thrones’ ending.
The Kingkiller Chronicle Books Are Unfinished (The Same Problem That Hurt Game Of Thrones)
It’s not just that The Kingkiller Chronicle books are unfinished, but that there’s a lot of story left to cover that will hurt any potential adaptation. The Doors of Stone has to finally explain how Kvothe became Kote, who the eponymous King of the story was, and so much more besides. Part of the fun of the story is the journey, but for a framework like this where it’s been so gradually building to a specific point, the destination is vital too. An adaption that doesn’t know where the story goes is inevitably going to be at best hamstrung, and at worst fail to deliver a satisfying conclusion at all.
This is, of course, what happened with Game of Thrones season 8. Like The Kingkiller Chronicle, the most recent book in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance With Dragons, released in 2011, with no sign of the next book. It’s very clear to see how Game of Thrones changed after overtaking the books: the storytelling became faster, more plot-driven than character-driven, and ultimately it wasn’t quite as good as its peak. This resulted in Game of Thrones season 8 and a rushed ending, which was extremely controversial.
Game of Thrones’ showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, knew the broad strokes of the ending – such as Bran Stark becoming King – but didn’t have the same blueprint to work from as in seasons 1-4. It changed from adaptation into invention, a rather different prospect to the one signed up for and that they had, in fairness, excelled at. That shows that even if a Kingkiller Chronicle movie or show were to start now and Rothfuss simply gave them an outline, it likely wouldn’t be enough to craft a proper ending.
The Kingkiller Chronicle Adaptation Could Benefit From So Many Delays
If there’s a positive to The Kingkiller Chronicle adaptation taking so long, then it’s that one may not happen now until the books are unfinished. As mentioned, there’s possibly some cause-and-effect here, as it’s harder to adapt the books without that ending in place. Ultimately, that may well be for the best. Since a movie or show hasn’t happened already, then feasible there won’t be one until The Doors of Stone is done, and that can allow for a full adaptation of the trilogy with the entire story in view.
There’s no timeline for The Doors of Stone being finished, but similarly it appears as though there’s no timeline for The Kingkiller Chronicle adaptation happening now. Should it still do so, it can have all the source material to work from, which doesn’t guarantee it will be a success, but, as Game of Thrones shows, would certainly make it a lot easier.
