Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired the rights to The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. This long-awaited high fantasy adaptation may well become the next Game of Thrones — at least in terms of reach and influence. Perhaps best of all, Jemisin will be adapting the book for the screen herself, according to a report by Deadline.
The Broken Earth is a fantasy series set in an alternate world where humanity is confined to a single supercontinent called “the Stillness.” The first book is called The Fifth Season, named for the periodic natural cataclysms that characterize life in the Stillness. These disasters generally start as earthquakes, but a caste of magic users called Orogenes have the ability to control tectonic energy and can help mitigate the fallout. The books explore a civilization accustomed to disasters and the role that Orogenes play in it — at times persecuted and yet revered in a way.
On Friday, Sony Pictures announced that it had paid seven figures for the rights to adapt the Broken Earth trilogy. The project will be handled by TriStar Pictures — the film studio behind everything from Looper to Labyrinth. Producers include the studio’s VP of Creative Production Shary Shirazi and creative executive Rikki Jarrett.
The Broken Earth trilogy has been a massive success commercially and critically since it started in 2015. All three books — The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky — won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in the years they were published. That made Jemisin the first person ever to win the award three years in a row, and the first person to win it for all three books in a trilogy.
Please also note: “The author will adapt the books herself.”
😅
— N. K. Jemisin (@nkjemisin) June 4, 2021
Jemisin has shared in fans’ excitement over this announcement on social media, with tweets highlighting the fact that she will write the adaptation herself. In the past, Jemisin has deflected comparisons to Game of Thrones, noting that her writing is different in many major ways besides genre. However, for those examining the rise of fantasy adaptations as a cultural phenomenon, it can be hard to avoid.
There is no word yet on when The Broken Earth adaptation will go into production or be released, nor whether it will be a TV series or a film series. In the meantime, Jemisin’s books are available on Amazon here in print, digital and audiobook formats.
