CD Projekt Red’s Witcher franchise is a truly massive series of games, and each has has critical and commercial success to reflect that. The Witcher 3 was an enormous success, and the game’s popularity has spawned all manner of other opportunities for the series to infiltrate our pop culture.
Netflix has taken notice of the Witcher success, and is working with writer Lauren Hissrich to bring Geralt of Rivia’s world to streaming television. Details have been scarce, but Hissrich took to Twitter to bring us a few updates on how the show is developing.
Happy Friday! So much information coming out of the @netflix event in Rome. I'm told by my friends and colleagues that the level of excitement and anticipation for #Witcher was crazy! Let's sort through it…
— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) April 20, 2018
In a series of tweets, Hissrich laid out the following details about the upcoming Witcher series:
- The first season is scheduled to be eight episodes. Fissrich acknowledges that the number might seem low, but also that the tight turnaround will allow for action-packed episodes with no mid-season lag.
- The show will come “as soon as possible,” but Fissrich wants to emphasize quality over speed. She estimates a 2020 release.
- The pilot has been written, but there are no other scripts on the page yet.
- The Witcher will, of course, be shooting in Eastern Europe.
- There has been absolutely no casting yet.
Any news about the Witcher Netflix series is music to our ears, but it still sounds like this one is extremely far away. The series will be based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski, meaning they will not follow the plot of any specific Witcher game. Those familiar with the games will have a good idea of what to expect from characters and tone of the story.
If 2020 seems like too long to wait, you can always check out a free documentary on the making of the first Witcher game, or grab yourself a coloring book to sate your appetite for more Geralt. Let us know: who do you want to see cast as Geralt, Dandelion, Yennefer, and the rest of the crew?
