Let’s consider a remade Sword of Truth, Legend of the Seeker movie. At least for a moment.
Why now in 2021, what’s different? In 2010 fans Worldwide lost something that has left them yearning for more in 2021. ABC Television carried two seasons of Legend of the Seeker (you can watch them all for free here), based on the Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth fantasy novels in 2008 and 2009, and in the years following the show’s cancellation, groups formed with many efforts to bring back a show that they considered worth the effort to save. Sadly, none of the groups were successful, and Legend of the Seeker was put to sleep in the archives of forgotten shows.
What is different about today’s movie and TV scene that makes for a possible movie resurrection of a great sci-fi fantasy story?
Many reasons have been put forward to explain the show’s demise, with the most notable being the company distributing the series went bankrupt, and began eliminating shows that were considered too expensive to produce, starting with that one. I have heard that each episode of Legend of the Seeker cost in the vicinity of one million and a half. Some critics even complained the show was not humorous enough like the former Hercules and Xena series, although I myself never considered the latter that humorous.
With past failures at attempting to get Legend of the Seeker back, such as the Pass It On program, along with an attempt to break a Guinness record, and many sites on line taking up the cause, all seemed to get bogged down with no success for their efforts. Mail in campaigns were started too, and I remember reading how the SCI-FI Channel (as it was called at the time), that at first considered picking the show up, but later telling fans not to bother them any longer, certainly being a blunt rebuke! By the way, the Guinness attempt did bring in a following of 2,000,000 worldwide with its contests, but in the end the try was beat out by another pursuit from the country of India. At the time we gave it our best shot! But the question remains, why is it so hard for 2,000,000 plus fans worldwide to get what they want?
Let’s return to the question, “Why now?” Recently it has come to my attention that many of the older shows are getting reboots, such as Magnum, Charmed and even Walker Texas Ranger, although I don’t feel anyone will ever replace Chuck Norris in the latter’s role. If any show deserves a second chance, and or a movie, it is Sword of Truth, Legend of the Seeker. So what keeps stopping film studios from giving movie and TV audiences the kind of entertainment they want, a remade and newly revamped production for the Sword of Truth book series?
It seems today that hero’s fighting monsters are a big draw to grab audiences in to view films. Zombie shows, like the Walking Dead, along with movies and monster sharks like Meg, make the top of the list! Legend of the Seeker already had it all already had it all many years ago, and it certainly could be a draw for audiences today with all the monsters and fantasy portrayed in the book and TV series. The film industry seems constantly looking for new material to entice the public and a renewal of the series could be a lucrative avenue for them to explore.
Today there are a plethora of studios out there, some being even tied into the grasp of larger well known enterprises. Somewhere there certainly must be a studio, maybe even being new to the industry, looking to move up to a sci-fi fantasy classic. With today’s entertainment landscape it seems that movies are more and more being pushed into the R-Rated categories, Legend could easily follow along with the robust fight scenes the show was famous for.
When movies like Killer Clowns from Outer Space 2 being considered, most certainly Legend of the Seeker could be put on the list eligible for a movie reboot. As fans, and the paying public, let’s push for it to happen!
BRING BACK LEGEND OF THE SEEKER!
Legend of the Seeker is an American television series created by Sam Raimi, based the fantasy novel series The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. Distributed in U.S. by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, ABC Studios produced the series for first-run syndication with Raimi, Robert Tapert, Joshua Donen, Ned Nalle, and Kenneth Biller serving as executive producers. The show premiered on November 1, 2008 and ran for two seasons before its cancellation in 2010.
The series follows the journeys of a long-awaited “Seeker of Truth” named Richard Cypher (Craig Horner), a Confessor named Kahlan Amnell (Bridget Regan), a wizard named Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander (Bruce Spence), and a Mord-Sith named Cara (Tabrett Bethell) as they defend the people of their realm against tyranny and destruction. While the names and places are the same, the story in the television series differse from that in the books.
The author of the Sword of Truth series, Terry Goodkind, passed away September 20, 2020 at the age of 72.
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HBO or Amazon Prime could remake The Sword of Truth series very well done. I would tune in for every episode!