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The book being adapted? The Elfstones of Shannara. Everyone associated with the project is super excited. Work has already begun and Terry is involved every step of the way to ensure the most faithful adaptation of his bestselling novel.
As a fan, I am still in semi-shock. This has been a long time coming and now that we know the show will be aired—a dream I’ve had for a very long time—I’m having a hard time not believing this is an alternate reality where awesome happens to Terry Brooks fans!
But what do you think?
Poll below!
Tongue in check but fun regardless!
72 responses to “Poll: Can You Believe SHANNARA Is Coming To TV?”
For all these years reading Terry ‘ s books it’s about time.
I have read all his books from my start in high school when he first published the sword. i have gone non stop since , I love them all. I would love to see a movie or a mini series of any of Terry’s books novels. Nothing compares to his to his amazing mind and I’m sure he would over look the production to keep it as close to the story as possible. We can only hope it goes well. Peace to all
I know it’s going to happen, but I keep waiting for that one piece of bad news. We’ve had so many almosts with this and that studio that my brain hasn’t quite wrapped around it.
That said, I’m still totally stoked.
Do you know if it will be “real people” or animated? I LOVE Shannara and can’t wait to watch this. I just hope they do it justice!!!
I don’t believe, because. First, he had to be a movie in the cinema, then the tv series, and now I do not know if anything will ever.
I am really curious about the show, but if it is done like The Sword of Truth (Legend of the Seeker), then I’m not really interested. I don’t want a story per episode, just the whole story. Game of Thrones is a good example of how a show CAN work…
Agreed. Plus, the casting for Seeker was terrible – not appropriate or believable at all.
Agree 100%. MTV seems like a weird fit for a fantasy series in my opinion, but hopefully the series will do Shannara justice.
I am excited about the idea of being able to see some of my favorite books coming to life on TV. But MTV?!?!?! Really?!?!? MTV hasn’t had good, quality shows since the gameshow Remote Control, Aeon Flux and Celebrity Deathmatch.
I mean, why not hold out until you could get the show on a decent, non-“my teenage daughter is pregnant” network?! Hell, even the CW has better programming than MTV.
Why not do what some shows are doing and go straight to NetFlix… House of Cards and Orange is the New Black has been extremely successful doing just that.
Besides the fact that I seriously doubt that the demographic for MTV even knows who Terry Brooks is or anything about the stories.
I really hope that it will be successful, I just don’t know how that’s going to happen on MTV.
I totally, TOTALLY agree with this comment.
The only good news about Shannara adapted into a TV series is… well, is the “Shannara adapted into a TV series” part. Everything else is very bad news:
1) MTV? I can only imagine how deep and mature the show could be, with the target MTV has… I already imagine Wil, Amberle and Eteria “played” by some pretty models, with modern hairstyle, instead of good actors. And this isn’t the worst I foresee
2) Jonathan Liebesman? With all due respect, but he hasn’t directed anything remarkable so far…
3) M-T-V?!?!?!
*Eretria [sorry!]
MTV has never had good, quality shows. I loved it when it started out in the early 1980s. Just great music, VJs and no commercials. I stopped watching it when it started being a teeny bopper, hip hop channel with no music, all craptastic scripted reality shows and 5 minutes of commercials for every 5 minutes of content.
If this show is going on MTV, I doubt things will work out. I absolutely love Terry Brook’s writing and own a hardcopy of everything he’s ever written but I think MTV is a bad choice for this. I do hope it works out good.
Terry knows more than you do and likes what MTV is doing so far. Take solace in that.
Yeah. Your right about Terry knowing more about this than I do. Two things I know for sure are that Terry Brooks is a great author (He’s in my top 5 list) and MTV is one of the worst channels on TV.
I truly hope this works out good for Terry and all his fans. Good luck. Hope I live long enough to see this come to fruition. 🙂
Why are you such a dick, man? God, your attitude sucks.
“Terry knows more than you do.”
Yeah? Man, you just blew me out of my chair with that nugget of gold.
Well that’s great, does he know how shitty MTV’s shows are?
Terry Brooks would be so much better off if he found a new “representative”. I can personally vouch for your driving people away from his work. If he trusts his world to a snide little punk like you then he must not care an awful lot for his legacy.
I was thinking the exact same thing bro lol! I do hope for the best though. I hope Terry doesn’t give in to some young network dweeb who thinks a Toby Mcguire or (that guy who plays Frodo) would make a good hero. MTV has a lot to live up to.
*edit*
Worried. While Game of Thrones is having a massive success there are so many poor fantasy tv shows. GoT has at least proved it can be done, so good luck!
I would like to go with the excited but not crazy ‘sweet!!’. Note, only 2 exclamation points. This is going to be fun to watch with the kids!
It’s missing an option in the poll… “I would be super excited if it wasn’t going on MTV, that destroys everything it touches.”
I’ve been a Terry Brooks junky since I was 9 years old, almost 30 years now. I have read every single book he’s ever written, many of them numerous times. I can’t help but be more than a little disappointed in the decision to go with a network like MTV. I feel it demeans the quality of the books. Regardless of Terry’s involvement, it simply isn’t the right image.
I agree 100%! And I’m a longer time TB fan who’s been read all his books since he was 10, over the last 38 years! :-). Why MTV??????
I’m excited but wish there wasn’t the next 15 years of waiting to see the final books made into movies/series. But good luck, I hope MTV gives you lots of followers and better deals!
That’s great news! Now to wait for it to air in the UK… 😉
I really the graphics can handle what is in the book. There are so many sceens that are gonna be great to watch happen if the money is behind the show!
i really hope (whoops)
to be honest about it i dont care, seeing as it is aimed at young teenagers and not the adults who grew up with it MTV are going to screw it up
Game of thrones and LOTR have been so successful because
a; they stayed true to the story
b; good money was spent on the filming and actors
will MTV do the same or will they screw it up like Legend of the seeker was by ABC Studios?
while i wish they started at running with demon, i hope that its a success and eventually leads into also producing a Prequel show aswell.
I hope Terry has some creative rites over it, and it becomes as successful as Game of Thrones and not thrashed and abandoned like the Seeker.
Good Luck great one!
I’m So happy this is finally Happening! I have been a Shannara fan ever since I read the first book, when I was a kid. I’m now 51! Congratulations!Terry you deserve this. I just hope that MTV can do this amazing epic fantasy justice.
I believe! I believe! Oh this is gonna be sooo much fun! The first time I heard Shannara was being adapted, I was bouncing off the walls like some little kid who’s been filled up with waaay too much sugar. 😀
You know, I’ve always dreamed of the books I’ve never written to turn into movies… Maybe I have some work to do?
I just hope they will keep it family friendly. The books are among the few I can let my children read without having to cringe over the language used and the sex scenes.
This is awesome, I can’t wait to see this wonderful world Mr. Brooks has created come to life on TV. Have there been any announcement of when the show may start?
ALWAYS BELIEVE!
It’s great. But as someone who grew up by the REAL Sinnissippi Park
I have always hoped for a Word and Void movie filmed in Sterling of Running with the Demon or Angel Fire East.
I am a little disturbed by Steve Dante’s comments especially as some of the adverts that have come out look very much a childs programme. I hope that is not the case because the books are so good and should be aimed at the readers of the Books , who are perhaps in the older age groups and i think that even youngsters now are more discerning about science fantasy films. Good luck Terry i wish you well, i would very much like to see it released in the uk.
Steve is not attached to this project. He has no idea who the show is aimed at regardless of what he says. Please trust in Terry. If he’s not worried, no one should be worried.
When will we know about the cast?
Been a fan of Terry since not long after Sword was published and have read pretty much everything he has ever written. I’m cautiously optimistic, but I have to see MTV scares me. I want it to be something I can enjoy watching with my 12 year old son, and MTV doesn’t exactly have a reputation for family-friendly. Hopefully, I worry about nothing.
I hope Terry makes sure the actors can act and the producers do the story justice.
PLEASE don’t let it be like Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, Bad script, bad acting, ruined the whole storyline. That show was a Farce. A shame for a great set of Books.
Elfstones is one of my Favorite Shanarra Books. I own every Book Terry Brooks has written, and I’ve read the entire seies no less than 30 times !!!!!!
Very optimistic this will be a good TV adaption of Elfstones. 😉
I’m iffy about who’s adapting it, but at the same time, this is long overdue. Fingers crossed that they do it justice. I’ve been waiting half my life for this.
The only thing I had doubts about originally was the quality that MTV would provide for a show like this, as opposed to a premium cable network like HBO, or a regular network like the CW or USA, or SyFy even. I haven’t really watched MTV, and hadn’t felt like this was as popular of a network.
But I believe that the people attached to this product have done wonderful things in the past, and I have very high hopes. One of the things that gives me a lot of confidence is that Terry is attached himself, and it’s not just in other people’s hands alone. And I also was encouraged that the series was picked up as a whole, and not just as a pilot. I feel like a commitment like that from the network shows that they want to do it justice. I’ll watch it one way or the other, but with such an incredible and strong story to pull from there shouldn’t be any shortage of excitement.
I will love to see the movie, a little nervous that anyone could possibly do it justice. But I look forward to it. I would really love to see the entire series set to a playstation 3 game. 😀 Imagine being able to achieve goals and see CG of your favorite books even from the Word & Void! I love them all. 😀 I’m nervous for the actors unable to pull off and properly portray the characters I see in my mind when I read Terry’s books. We’ll see. 😀
Can’t wait .hope it will be aired in UK too and soon x
I’m soooo excited for this. I am new to this series but my father is a long time fan. We’re both excited for the tv show! Keep up the good work Terry and good luck with the show.
🙂
I have been waiting my entire life for this moment.
I liked the Seeker adaptation. It came out before Game of Thrones had to be more pg but good …. Now that being said good to see MTV stepping up there game with Terry and shows like Teen Wolf. Its Terry’s book how can it not be AWESOME. If we can get some good acters from some of the CW shows with some diverse fresh faces wow the action the tension the speed and hardships with surprise Yeah Yeah Yeah I’ll believe in magic and I hope you do also
Thank god someone finally had the sense to put this on TV. I think a series will do it much more justice than a film. With all the garbage that I am forced to watch, it will be pleasant to see a well written story line for a change. Congrats Terry!
Yes, excited about the potential for Shannara on the screen… however, skeptical that MTV will realize that full potential. We need some more voting options! Someone above said “cautious optimism”… I’ll go with “suspicious anticipation”
I am a big fan and have read almost everything by Terry other than the Star Wars. I love the Shannara series. I don’t own a TV but am specifically buying one so I can watch. Even if it is not exactly the same as the books the story is coming to life and that is amazing. Always hopes these books would become a movie or TV show, very cool!
Very good news! A buddy got me into these books in college and I was hooked. Hope they do justice to the books.
I love all of Terry’s books because of the human touch on top of the fantasy. Hopefully the movie will stay true to the book and not become a cheesy flick. Totally surprised that a movie has not been done before, but jumping for joy that it is now happening. Once the movie is out with any luck hope a DVD will follow.
The movie will need good actors who can actually relate to the storyline in the book and in a sense become the character. Fingers crossed all the pieces of this puzzle will come together to make one very fantastic movie.
Fantastic news been waiting years for this to come to this point. Do we know who are taking lead roles yet or is cast still unknown. Does terry plan to bring the word and void series to the screen, it’s slightly darker but would be quite a good watch too. Will terry be posting updates regarding shannara on here like an air time.
I am in the “I really want to believe camp” but just can’t get overly geeked out about it. It took an extremely long time to get to this point with many false starts along the way. I will fully believe and be geeked out of my mind when the pilot episode airs.
I am still have concerns, too. Not so much about the adaptation being true to the novel because of Terry’s involvement. I am concerned about the visualization of things. There are some absolutely incredible settings in Elfstones and I don’t want Arborlon and the Ellcrys looking like a school kids diorama.
Wow! I’m so excited. It’ll be great to see the Shannara series on MTV. I hope that the movie will follow the books closely and that no scene in the books will be absent in the book.
“Terry Brooks rocks!!!”
As long as MTV is honest, and doesn’t try to spin the book with casting or language that are made to appeal to trendy young adults, the series will be fine. Besides, I suspect that lazy journalists will be the ones most disappointed when they try to compare it to Game of Thrones without realizing that Shannara is a different creature. Just keep it true to the spirit of the books, which does not mean following them verbatim, and the rest will take care of itself.
I am very excited. I first read ELfstones when I was 13. It was the first fantasy novel I ever read. 25 years and thousands of chapters later, I still hold Elfstones very dear to my heart. It not only opened up the world of Shannara (I have read everything Mr Brooks has written) but it introduced me to the world of fantasy of which I am still a huge fan.
I honestly believe this series has the potential to be huge. We all know how good the story is and the team behind it is promising. I like the fact its on MTV here’s why:
New, younger audience. Most fans of TB are like me, a little older. So its a given that TB fans will tune in as well as the GOT crowd who are waiting months for a fantasy fix. Since its airing on MTV, a younger audience will also give it a go which could mean a huge demographic tapped into.
The fact that Elfstones has some romantic elements may pull more females in to watching.
I see this like AMC taking a chance on Walking Dead. Shannara has better storylines and less rape/incest than GoT which can appeal to a large audience if done right. I think it will be done right and believe MTV will be recognized
also not a fan of MTV…. that being said I have been hoping Shannara would make it to either big or small screen since I first read The Sword. Prior to that book I was primarily into Lamour/Ludlum novels. I had never considered the fantasy genre. Now I cannot imagine life without the magic.
My only worry is that the series will take forever to be uploaded onto the internet and I wont be able to watch it for a long time after it airs.. I am really hoping it will be easy to find and I am so extremely excited that this a actually happening and I dont care what network it is on just so they stay true to the wonderful action packed book and I know they will cause the author will be there through the whole making!
Congratulations!
Casting is so absolutely key, the wrong choice can kill something like Elfstones, Terry Pratchett is one of my favourite authors but the casting for the TV adaptation of The Colour Of Magic made it virtually unwatchable because both central characters were so far from the written characters they weren’t even in the same book, let alone on the same page.
Being a long time fan of Terry Brooks novels i shudder to think that some exec with enough clout might decide on casting someone like Bieber as a draw for an MTV audience. I really hope they go CGI or animated where a bad voice choice will be less damaging than someone who just the sight of will make you switch off.
MTV huh? It’s been funny and sad watching people here try and convince themselves that it’s a great choice, that the series is in good hands, that MTV was the right way to go. Good god have you ever watched any of their shows? Awful.
Seriously, my first thought when I heard the news was “This is really going to suck”.
Also, Speakman, you’re a serious hack.
Also, Speakman. Your attitude, like you’re better than everyone because “oh nos you know terry brooks!” is laughable. Ride the coat tails while you can, your career is certainly going nowhere if your book is anything to go by.
I can see both sides of the argument, targeting younger readers is always a good thing but you need to consider a few things:
Most of this generation who watch MTV want nothing to do with Sci-Fi, they just want the next Jersey Shore, Real World, etc. At best, you’ll attract the stoner crowd on MTV who still watch Beavis and Butthead and Teen Wolf? Not sure if either of those even air anymore since I don’t think I’ve intentionally watched MTV in about 5+ years so I might be wrong.
I will definitely DVR it tho since there is no way I’m watching 1/2 hour of commercials for a 1/2 hour a show.
Looks like someone needs to read the newest post from Terry about the TV show.
It’s refreshing to know that someone has their finger on the pulse of an entire generation and what they watch on MTV, yet hasn’t watched MTV in 5+ years.
I haven’t watched MTV since YO! MTV Raps. That puts me in double digit years (decades even) of not watching MTV. Will that prevent me from watching Elfstones on MTV? Emphatically no.
Have show will travel. If Elfstones was on the Oxygen network I’d watch it. I don’t care what channel it’s on, if it’s good it will hold my attention, channel be damned.
Very happy about the news that they’re making TBs books into a TV series ! TB is my favorite author for decades. I haven’t watched MTV since mid 90s but I’ll watch this show. I hope MTV does it justice.
when will it be on m.t.v i can not wait,
There is no date yet. When there is, we will share it on this website.
Well when is actually going be able to be seen? And how long before it might be available on Netflicks since so don’t have cable? Been watching this since July and have not see anything as to it being on MTV just saw this and keep wondering. Also will it be possibly available on CD again since some don’t have cable to watch it?
bowmanelf
Patience. It takes time to produce a TV show. All of your questions will be answered. Stay tuned.
I think this will be a great show, mtv and all. The things I’m worried about is the fact that it’s going to be a ten show Season. I hope this does justice to the story and not just speed it along. But I guess you get more time than a movie so maybe I’m worried for nothing. Second I hope they don’t just skip over sword all together. I’m hoping to either see flash backs or something of the like. Even someone telling the story would be better than nothing. Any way I know I will watch every episode regardless. I can’t wait to see my favorite books brought to the screens, and I hope they continue for a long run.
I believe it’s going to happen, because this is by far one of the best fantasy series out there, and that’s not just my opinion, it’s the opinion of at least thousands, maybe millions of people worldwide. Not sure of the exact number, but I know it’s critically acclaimed. It was only a matter of time before an alternate media adaptation.
A US fantasy television series based on books by top-selling American author Terry Brooks is to be shot in West Auckland.
Henderson’s Auckland Film Studios will be the base for Shannara – a production backed by MTV Networks and Sonar Entertainment
The first Shannara book was published in 1977 and Brooks has since gone on to produce more than 30 sequels and spin offs.
NEW SERIES: New Zealander and Hobbit star Manu Bennett has been cast in US fantasy television series Shannara.
Reuters
NEW SERIES: New Zealander and Hobbit star Manu Bennett has been cast in US fantasy television series Shannara.
“The Shannara books already have a worldwide following eager to see a screen adaptation,” studios chairman James Hill said.
The TV series will star Spanish actress Ivana Baquero, 23 year-old Austin Butler and New Zealand Hobbit star Manu Bennett.
Auckland Council owns the studio and said filming would start next month.
Hill said the studio was set up by the former Waitakere City Council under then-mayor Bob Harvey to create economic activity in Auckland.
He said West Auckland was an attractive location because of its scenery, the Waitakere Ranges, beaches and its proximity to the CBD.
Tradespeople and those supplying raw materials would benefit indirectly from the production as would those needed to produce the series, he said.
The studio was at full capacity and production could continue for years if the series was successful
This is great news! Very excited!