How ‘Silo’ Helped Make Apple TV the Home of Brandon Sanderson’s ‘Mistborn’ [Exclusive]

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Published Oct 6, 2026, 6:01 PM EDT

Brandon Sanderson's fantasy worlds are something he is extremely protective of, and he's spent years refusing to let Hollywood make a version of Mistborn he doesn't believe in. Now, though, he's finally found a partner that he feels ready to move forward with at Apple TV, which did the one thing he wanted: let him control the story. Speaking with Collider's Maggie Lovitt at FanX Salt Lake, Sanderson explained why Apple became the right home for Mistborn after years of aborted adaptations.

The author's confidence partly came from the company's existing output, specifically naming Silo and Murderbot as examples of Apple TV getting science fiction right. “I think they make fantastic stuff. They've done a really good job with Silo, which is by one of my buddies, and they did a really good job with Murderbot by Martha Wells, whom I love," Sanderson told Collider. "I love their stories. Apple TV seems to do fewer things better.”

Apple TV's commitment to releasing the movie in theaters was also vital for Sanderson, and he pointed to their handling of F1 as evidence that they were the right people. He added that Apple TV was enthusiastic about allowing him to take the lead on the movie's narrative, something he considered essential after watching other major fantasy adaptations go in directions he wasn't comfortable with. He explained:

“They were just really willing to work with me. They were really excited by me being part of it. We talk about my creative control, but it's really more the partnership where they really felt like I didn't even need that because they wanted to let me take the lead on the narrative.”

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars

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💊The Matrix

🔥Mad Max

🌧️Blade Runner

🏜️Dune

🚀Star Wars

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You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.

APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone.

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In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.

AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely.

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What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of.

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Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.

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Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.

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Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of.

AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are.

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What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.

AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot.

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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

The Matrix

You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things.

You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door.

Mad Max

The wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you.

You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
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Blade Runner

You'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
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In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything.

Dune

Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

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You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
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Star Wars

The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way.

You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

Brandon Sanderson Won't Compromise on the 'Mistborn' Story

A gifure holding blades with the moon in the background in the cover of Mistborn

Sanderson specifically cited his experience with The Wheel of Time as evidence that he trusts specialists such as casting directors to do their jobs, but the story is different. Sanderson revealed that when he began meeting prospective partners, he made it clear that narrative, structure, and story were areas where he needed meaningful authority. He continued, speaking with Lovitt:

“I had decided and trained myself to write screenplays because I had seen some projects just veer a little bit from what I had hoped would happen with them. When I sat down with people, I said, ‘Look, I want to direct this. I know narrative. Now, I also know what I don't know.' I'm not going to insist on, when they're picking places to film, when they're picking casting — I'm not going to be hard-nosed about that. But I will be about narrative. I will be about structure. I will be about story.”

That update from the streamer was exactly what he knew was required if they were going to be the ideal partners for such a bold project. “Apple was totally on board with that from day one," said Sanderson. "They're like, ‘Yep, absolutely. We'll put it in the contract. You get to be in charge of this.’ And that was a key thing that made me say yes.”

Apple TV is developing Mistborn as a feature film, while Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive is being developed separately for television. No release date has been announced for either project. You can watch Lovitt's full conversation with Sanderson below and stay tuned at Collider for more.