Brandon Sanderson Gives Official Update on Stormlight Archive TV Series

Oct 06, 2026 - 19:08

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Brandon Sanderson Gives Official Update on Stormlight Archive TV Series

Published Oct 6, 2026, 11:20 AM EDT

Willa Rowe is a contributing writer at Polygon, covering games and entertainment. She is a New York-based journalist and critic whose work has been featured in Kotaku, Digital Trends, the A.V. Club, GamesRadar+, and more. She also co-hosts the Girl Mode podcast.

The author is personally involved in finding a showrunner

If HBO's multiple Game of Thrones prequels are any proof, audiences are still hungry for good fantasy series on television. So it's no wonder that Apple TV is trying to get in on the fun by adapting the work of one of the most prolific fantasy writers around: Brandon Sanderson. Earlier this year, it was announced that Apple TV is working on a Stormlight Archive series with Sanderson attached to write. While the show seems a long ways away, the author just gave fans an exciting update.

Talking to Collider, Sanderson revealed that the search for a showrunner is underway and that he has personally "interviewed a bunch." As for what he's looking for, Sanderson says he wants "high-caliber" talent. The author will be writing the series, though he says he will probably need a partner on the project. In addition to writing duties, Sanderson will serve as a producer and reportedly has final approval on projects thanks to his unprecedented deal with Apple for the rights to his sprawling Cosmere universe.

As for what Sanderson envisions for the adaptation, he wants the fantasy world to feel less like a renaissance fair and more like a real world. "When you read a fantasy, one of the key ideas is that while you're between those pages, you're able to believe that this is a real story," the author said, continuing that "This is a real place. This actually could happen, and some really simple things can kick you out in the television show." That, of course, means a big budget. Amazon Prime's Tolkien series The Rings of Power has broken records for being the most expensive television series ever made.

An update on the Mistborn movie

Apple TV's other Sanderson project is a film adaptation of the original Mistborn trilogy, beginning with 2006's The Final Empire. While Sanderson is looking for a writing partner on The Stormlight Archive, he says that he's handling Mistborn himself. In August, Sanderson revealed he had completed the first draft of the script but that there would be many drafts still to come.

The author will also return to the Mistborn novels soon. Ghostbloods is due to be released in 2028 and will begin the third era of the series. Outside of Apple TV, Sanderson's Skyward book is also set to be adapted for television by the same team behind Netflix's live-action One Piece.