Variety reports that Universal Pictures bought the film rights to the late Robert Jordan‘s bestselling “The Wheel of Time” series in a seven-figure deal. Universal plans to do the books in order, starting with the first book, The Eye of the World.
Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon will produce the films for Red Eagle Entertainment.
Variety notes that the series has been optioned before, “notably in 2000, when NBC held the rights to make a miniseries based on The Eye of the World.”
Tor Books has been publishing Jordan’s epic, and best-selling, fantasy series since the 1990 debut. Jordan was at work on the twelfth and final volume, A Memory of Light, when he died last September. Brandon Sanderson finished the book (with help from Jordan’s notes and from his editor and widow, Harriet McDougal), which Tor will be publishing next year.