BWW News: Lionsgate Purchases Rights to All 22 TORTALL Books from #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author Tamora Pierce For Television

One of the staples in fantasy that authors still cite as an inspiration is Tamora Pierce. Her books have been shelved in both adult and YA fiction, and a generation has grown up with iconic characters such as Alanna the Lioness. While most of today's teens aren't as familiar with Pierce, the authors who write their favorite books always hail the impact she had on their own careers. Authors from Sarah J. Maas to Kristin Cashore to Rae Carson and more. Now, a whole new generation is about to discover Pierce, and all of her forever-fans are about to fall in love all over again.

Lionsgate has acquired yet another best-selling fantasy series to bring to film and expose to a new audience, having already released successful films in YA franchises such as The Hunger Games, Twilight, and Divergent. They have also recently announced several more YA acquisitions they're seeking to bring to film. The studio is partnering with Playground Entertainment (Little Women, King Lear) to produce the project. Playground Entertainment also produces Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, currently playing on Broadway.

The hope is that the show will take off and become a "tentpole series" that spans seasons, characters, and books, creating a long-running, successful franchise.

On social media, Pierce has stated,

At the moment, it hasn't been revealed how the television franchise will play out. Will it feature seasons dedicated to each series set in the Tortall world, a la the upcoming BBC / HBO His Dark Materials, launching this week? Will it mix series into one cohesive show, as Netflix is planning to do with the upcoming Shadow and Bone? Will it attempt one series, and then make spin-off series featuring the other titles, perhaps with crossover "event episodes" like what the CW does with its DC franchise?

Only time will tell, but BroadwayWorld will keep you abreast of the latest developments as production moves forward.

Each series set in the world of Tortall is largely stand-alone and fans can enter at any point. Some characters cross over into other series, and it is fun watching them grow up and seeing them become prominent is society. The core "trio" of quartets that most readers grew up with and cite to this day star Alanna (Song of the Lioness), Daine (The Immortals), and Kel (Protector of the Small). There's even a duology starring Alanna's daughter Alianne, Daughter of the Lioness. Most recently, Pierce has begun publishing The Number Chronicles, based on a beloved character from her best-selling Immortals quartet and exploring his time as a teenager. She has long promised fans this prequel series and it took fifteen years to bring to publication; the first book, TEMPESTS AND SLAUGHTER, finally published last year in 2018 to much fanfare.

Pierce also has a couple of non-related quartets and novels set in the Emelanese Universe. The first series, The Circle of Magic quartet, published after Pierce's first beloved trio of Tortall quartets, and for a while she alternated between universes before once again publishing mostly Tortall-related titles.

Her next novel, the sequel to TEMPESTS AND SLAUGHTER, is currently expected to publish next year in 2020.

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