A look at films adapted from fantasy novels

No one knows who the first teller of Mahpishani is, but Iranian grandmothers sometimes tell the story of a beautiful girl who goes to the desert with a sack of cotton to spin it, when suddenly a strong wind blows and throws the cotton into a well. The girl goes into the well to fetch the cotton and there she encounters a legendary demon. The demon gives the girl the sign of a spring that has three waters, black, red and white. The girl goes to the spring and, at the demon's request, washes her face with the white water. In an instant, a silver moon appears on her forehead, and after that they call her Mahpishani. This tale, with different embellishments, has been passed down orally over hundreds of years until it has reached us today. Similar tales are abundant in Eastern classical literature such as One Thousand and One Nights and even in Western folk stories such as Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Even Gilgamesh, the world's oldest written legend, also contains supernatural elements that prove magical fantasies have always been an inseparable part of literature.

The bitterness of reality would have destroyed humankind were it not for the sweetness of dreams

In dreams, a person creates their own ideal world, builds their own preferred characters, and shapes the laws of their lives without regard to natural rules. Fantasy stories sometimes unfold in the Middle Ages, with elements such as castles, knights, kings, swords and spells. Sometimes they take place in years yet to come and on planets far from the Milky Way and depict humankind's hopes and impossible wishes. Sometimes they so pierce the ceiling of imagination that they leave behind limiting concepts such as time and place. In any case, everything becomes possible around the axis of magic. These stories, however, are not for anesthetizing humankind. People step from the limited real world into the unlimited world of fantasy, find there truths deeper than what they have seen and heard until then, and return again to reality to live more at ease than before.

Comparing television series with cinema

Until two decades ago, cinema was still the main entertainment medium for people, but now, with the emergence of advanced home systems, the increase in the number of television networks and streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, the series has become one of the most popular and successful branches of entertainment. Some of the great directors such as Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and David Fincher, or actors such as Jon Voight, Adrien Brody and Dustin Hoffman, have moved from cinema to television.

Television programs, compared with cinematic films, match modern lifestyles more closely. Especially for the new generation that has grown up with the internet and technology and has become used to individual and instant pleasures. Today people prefer, instead of spending time and money to watch a film at a limited time and place, and among a crowded mass of people, to stay in their homes and fix their eyes on their personal television with more comfort and calm. The long periods of lockdown following the COVID-19 outbreak have also not been without effect in increasing the speed of the shift from cinema to television. It seems that the closer the series industry comes to its golden age, the more Hollywood and cinema in general are becoming obsolete. Unless the owners of this industry think of new measures.

The best form for the fantasy genre: television series

Just as the cinema industry is devoted to the action genre, the series too is devoted to drama. Although most television series are made in the drama genre, the fantasy genre has had stunning successes in this arena, the most important reason for which is the fit between the series form and fantasy content. Television series and cinematic films follow the same principles in storytelling. Both usually have a hero who is the main character, and opposite them stands an antagonist. Antagonists are present in the story to create a stronger plot by placing obstacles before the hero and to keep the audience entertained. But the main difference between television series and cinematic films is the length of their broadcast. Series, by using multiple seasons, have more opportunity to deal with complex, deep stories and to show details. Also, because they have an episodic nature, they can move among different story arcs. This potential has led filmmakers, for adapting fantasy-genre novels that contain long, eventful stories and details that cannot be overlooked, to choose series and television series.

The progress and development of the cinema industry by relying on fantasy literature

Cinema from the 1960s began producing films based on fantasy stories. Over time and by relying on fantasy literature, numerous films were made. The most important feature of these films is fluidity and indeterminacy, which can challenge the boundaries of human and nonhuman, organic and technology, modernity and postmodernity, nature and culture. This same feature has made the fantasy genre a valuable tool for displaying what is happening in the twenty-first century. In an age that increasingly resembles science-fiction stories, people, more than at any time, need the fantasy genre in order to become familiar with unknown worlds, present new theories and add fresh experiences to their everyday lives. The roots of fantasy literature took shape with myths and folk legends in the Middle Ages and reached their peak in the twentieth century with writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

A comparison among series adapted from fantasy novels

To better understand the advantage of the television series we can make a comparison among the trilogy of "The Lord of the Rings" and "Game of Thrones" and "The Witcher" and "American Gods" and "Harry Potter". The first part of The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring) was made on the basis of the first book of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, with 187790 words and in 178 minutes. Meanwhile the first season of Game of Thrones was made on the basis of George R.R. Martin's book series, with 298000 words and in 550 minutes. The Game of Thrones series was able to attract twice as much audience attention as The Lord of the Rings series, even though the running time of The Fellowship of the Ring is something around 3 hours.

This shows how a long television series, by telling deeper and more complex stories, can attract the attention of a larger audience. In what follows, we examine these films adapted from fantasy novels:

The Lord of the Rings|The Lord of the Rings

In 1958 a great transformation in the fantasy genre was created by J.R.R. Tolkien with the sale of 100 million copies of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This person inspired many works, including music, film, television and video games and board games. But in 2001, with the release of the first part of The Lord of the Rings series directed by Peter Jackson, Tolkien's books became more popular than ever. The Lord of the Rings book has now been translated into 38 languages and is the third best-selling novel in history. The story is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth and is about the Dark Lord, Sauron, who wants to obtain the One Ring. This ring is part of Sauron's soul, with which he can return to his power.

The successes of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

The Lord of the Rings film series has so far sold more than 150 million copies and in total has earned about 10 to 15 billion dollars and 250 cinematic awards, including 17 Oscars. The sales of The Lord of the Rings novel alone are estimated at 2.25 billion dollars. It is interesting to know that for the simultaneous filming of all three parts of this film adapted from a novel, 20000 people worked under Jackson, and they in turn oversaw 10000 other people. This statistic has placed Jackson's name among the world's largest employers.

Box office revenue of The Lord of the Rings trilogy

The chart below shows the box office revenue of The Lord of the Rings series in 2018 in North America and the world. The second part of this trilogy alone, with a release in 3622 cinemas in North America, reached 339.79 million dollars in sales.

A comparison of cost and global box office revenue of The Lord of the Rings series

A comparison of the cost and box office sales of The Lord of the Rings shows that all three parts of this film, despite a very low cost, had high box office revenue. The highest-grossing part of this trilogy is the third part of The Lord of the Rings (The Return of the King), which from 2001 to 2017 had 1.02 billion dollars in sales at the global box office. The first part of this trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring), which also drew critics' praise, earned more than 870 million dollars. This film, despite its large scale, precise mise-en-scenes and filming in strange and scenic locations, cost only 93 million dollars, which compared with today's standards of the cinema business is relatively negligible. The production cost of some films reaches as much as 300 dollars, while they are not considered significant works. For example, the production cost of The Hobbit (The Battle of the Five Armies) was 250 million dollars, but at the North American box office it had only 255.12 million dollars in sales.

The reason for the popularity of The Lord of the Rings series

Although the main theme of The Lord of the Rings series is fantasy and epic, while watching it none of our feelings remains untouched; joy, sorrow, fear, worry, excitement, anger, love, regret, longing, and other emotions for which humankind has not yet made a word. The story is full of appealing and believable characters, each of whom, while helping the coherence of the story, has a separate tale, and we can witness the process of their choices at moral crossroads. The film's descriptions are so precise and firm that together with the characters we experience being in a wide range of places. Places that perhaps by watching dozens of other films we could not summon all of; from beautiful, heavenly and mystical spaces to frightening paths and tormenting deserts. Also throughout the story we encounter unique creatures such as elves, hobbits, orcs, eagles and giant spiders that have no origin other than the writer's imaginings.

Now twenty years have passed since the release of The Lord of the Rings, but this trilogy still continues its life and stands at the top of the most watched series in the fantasy genre. Because few films can keep an audience staring at the television screen for more than three hours without them even for minutes feeling tired. The Lord of the Rings is a story full of suspense with numerous subplots that keeps the film at its peak until the last minute; so that every sequence of the film can be the most important sequence for the audience.

Game of Thrones|Game of Thrones

The Game of Thrones series recounts a ruthless contest to obtain power that takes place on the continent of Westeros with political intrigues, emotional dramas and hard battles. Over the seasons we become familiar with various characters who all fight to sit on the Iron Throne. About 60 percent of the main characters of this series do not reach the end of the story and die as a result of war and violence. This eight-season film series was made on the basis of the first book of the novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire" written by George R.R. Martin, which was released in the years 2011 to 2019. The Game of Thrones novel series also had great popularity before this series was made; it has so far been translated into 45 different languages and has sold more than 90 million copies worldwide. The chart below shows George R.R. Martin's income from May 2011 to June 2016, which is about 12 million dollars a year. The Game of Thrones series, as much as it is praiseworthy for the strength of its story and narrative and professional acting, is open to criticism for its repeated use of violence and nudity.

The reason for the popularity of the Game of Thrones adapted series

This series in 2017 was nominated for 2 Golden Globe awards and in 2019 alone was nominated for 32 Emmy awards, finally placing second. According to some reports HBO has spent 1460600000 dollars to make this series, which is considered one of the most expensive series in the entire history of television. Also this series has had on average about 44 million viewers in each season, on which basis it is the most watched and best series in history in the world. The profit of this series over eight seasons is estimated at 285 million dollars per episode, and by 2021 it has earned 7.7 billion dollars from film subscription rights alone.

The Game of Thrones film, with an appealing story and the flawless acting of its artists, has attracted many fans from around the world. The presence of numerous characters throughout the story gives every viewer the chance to form a deep connection with at least a few characters. As various surveys show, audiences of the series adapted from the Game of Thrones novel were captivated by the characters more than anything else, because they created a complete balance among violence, excitement and sexual relations and in this way suited different tastes.

According to a survey in 2019 in the United States of America that was broken down by the three generations Baby Boomer, X and Z, 39 percent of those who have seen the Game of Thrones series like it, while only 5 percent of them do not like this series.

Another survey also shows that 44 percent of viewers of the series adapted from the fantasy novel Game of Thrones liked this entire series from beginning to end, while 39 percent prefer the early seasons and only 8 percent of viewers liked the final seasons more.

Also according to another survey conducted in the same year, 10.7 million people stated that the day after the broadcast of the final episode of the popular Game of Thrones series they would not show up at work, 3.4 million people would work remotely, while they do not usually do this, and 2.9 million people also announced they would go to work late.

The Witcher|The Witcher

The Witcher fantasy story unfolds in an imaginary world inspired by the Middle Ages and recounts the life of Geralt and Princess Ciri, whose destinies are bound together. The Witcher was made as an adaptation of the Witcher novel series written by Andrzej Sapkowski. The first season of this series consists of eight episodes, which were shown on Netflix in 2019. The second season was also released in 2021.

Viewership of The Witcher series

Based on a Netflix report, 76 million households watched this series in the first four weeks of its release. The second season of this fantasy film series, which mixes with the action, horror, romance, drama and sometimes also comedy genres, with 462 million hours of viewing joined the list of the world's most watched best television programs and ranked among Netflix's top 10 films.

American Gods|American Gods

This film series is about a character named Shadow Moon who has been sentenced to three years in prison and, while only a few days of his sentence remain, is released from prison early because of his wife's killing. He then meets a person named Wednesday who on the surface is looking to hire Shadow as his own bodyguard, but in truth is one of the gods named Odin. Wednesday is traveling around America and gathering the old gods, who now have an American lifestyle. Odin wants to prepare the old gods to confront the new gods, such as the god of technology and media, who grow stronger every day. The first episode of this series was broadcast in 2017 on the Starz network. The American Gods series is adapted from a book of the same name by Neil Gaiman that was published in 2001.

The first 5 seasons of this American Gods adapted series received many positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, based on 82 reviews, it received a score of 92 percent with an average of 8.12 out of 10. On Metacritic, too, based on 36 reviews, it obtained a score of 77 out of 100, which indicates the favorable standing of this fantasy series.

Harry Potter|Harry Potter

The Harry Potter film collection was made on the basis of the Harry Potter fantasy book series written by J.K. Rowling. The first novel of the Harry Potter story series was published in 1997 under the title "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", which gained great popularity and commercial success. This fantasy story recounts adventures about a young wizard named Harry Potter and his friends and enemies, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main part of the novel revolves around Harry's effort and struggle to overcome the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. Voldemort's aim is to suppress non-magical people (Muggles), to bring the wizarding world under his command, and to destroy those who stand against him.

12 years have passed since the release of the last part of the first series of the series adapted from the Harry Potter fantasy novel. Now HBO Max has announced that a new Harry Potter series is in production in the form of a television series. This collection of adapted films will be faithful to the original books, and each season will be devoted to showing the details of one book from the Harry Potter novel series.

Summing up

In this piece we examined the leading television series adapted from fantasy novels. Fantasy novels are imaginary stories that are defined under the power of magic. These stories, which are only the product of the human mind, have no scientific or natural basis and will never come true. Fantasy literature has always been one of cinema's important supports for making films in the fantasy genre. Today, given the growth of television series and their overtaking of cinema, the fantasy genre is witnessing a striking jump among series. Adapted television series, because they have multiple seasons and also an episodic nature, are considered one of the best forms for adapting fantasy novels. Also, given the world's situation today, in which the growth of technology has reached its highest level in all of history, the need for the fantasy genre to present novel theories and find fresh experiences is felt more than ever. This same issue has today turned the fantasy genre into a fertile bed for the seeds of creativity and commerce.