In 2019, it was announced that the works of YA fantasy author, Tamora Pierce, finally got the adaptation treatment! Three years, and one pandemic, later and we finally have an update on production. Unfortunately it is not good news. Tamora Pierce herself posted on her Facebook account earlier this week that the plans were unfortunately cancelled. The post was in response to a fan who shared an old article about the announcement.
For those of you who have seen a Washington Post article with a paragraph where Lions’ Gate is shooting a movie version of some of my works: BEWARE! This news is a few years old and that deal fell through. My apologies to the fan who posted it here on one of my Facebook sites – I couldn’t get into the article myself to check it out here.
For Pierce fans, this was the first time they’ve heard an update on the project, and they reacted with disappointment. The first announcement was made by Deadline. Lionsgate and Playground Entertainment initially teamed up to create a television adaptation of Pierce’s expansive Tortall universe. The project would have been Playground’s very first foray into television production, they are currently most famous for producing the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play. Colin Callender, Scott Huff and David A. Stern would produce the series. The plan was to make the series a tent-pole franchise for fantasy-loving viewers.
The gates to Tortall are wide open
Tamora Pierce’s works currently span two different universes, Tortall and Emelan. While the books in Emelan are highly acclaimed, Tortall was where her readers were first introduced to her beloved characters. There are currently six different book series set in the fantasy world.
- The Lioness’ Song
- The Immortals
- Protector of the little one
- cheaters
- Beka Cooper
- The Numair Chronicles
There are also multiple short stories in Tortall as well as a guide titled A Spy’s Guide to Tortall: From George Cooper’s Desk which gives readers additional information about the world and characters.
Since her career began, Tamora Pierce has gained a strong following of fans. She is best known for writing strong young heroines, starting with Song of the lioness, which followed young Alanna as she makes her way to become Tortall’s First Lady Knight. the first book, Alanna: the first adventurewas published in 1983 by Atheneum Books.
Her books have not only received generations of devoted fans, but also several nominations and awards. In 2013, both The Song of the Lioness and Protector of the Small series won the Margaret Edwards Award, in honor of her “significant and lasting contribution to teenage writing for the Song of the Lioness quartet and The Protector of the Small quartet.” In 2020 Alanna: The First Adventure was included in Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time.
This news comes as a hard blow to fans who cheered years ago. While there was no explanation as to why the project was halted, the easiest assumption is probably the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced multiple studios to shelve or postpone projects. But like any knight or mage in training, this probably won’t be the last we’ll hear from these characters. Fantasy shows have been making a comeback lately, with those from HBO Max House of the DragonAmazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerand Disney+ is coming Willow. These shows have their devoted viewers tuning in every time an episode goes down. Tortall is both a world with a guaranteed audience of both old and new, but also a completely untapped world. Whoever picks it up would somehow make history! The question is, which studio has the guts?