The Mistborn Movie's Most Obvious Replacement Is A Better Starting Point For A Cosmere Adaptation

Brandon Sanderson has long been trying to bring his stories to life with a film adaptation of Mistborn, and he actually came quite close to accomplishing it. Before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down Hollywood for months in 2023, Sanderson had a Mistborn film in early development, sharing in his 2024 State of Sanderson blog post that unnamed famous actors had signed on for the project, and everything looked ready to go. However, the Mistborn movie is now scrapped for the time being, presenting the possibility of fresh approaches to the Cosmere.

Brandon Sanderson Should Make An Elantris Movie Now That Mistborn Isn't Happening

Elantris Could Be Excellent As A Feature Film

It's fair to say that Elantris isn't Brandon Sanderson's best book in a literary sense. He's even stated before that his early work was underdeveloped in terms of prose, and the 2005 novel was his first to be published. That being said, even a lower-end Sanderson book can be a terrifically fun reading experience, and the book, despite being rough around the edges at times, involves some fascinating fantasy concepts, engaging and memorable characters, and lays the foundation for ideas that are present in every Cosmere story.

The inherent advantage of adapting Mistborn is that it's Sanderson's most widely read work, meaning it will have the highest potential audience pool if it can attract its book readers. After years of trying to get Mistborn to work, though, it could be an excellent opportunity to try an alternate path, and Elantris has some of the most striking and compelling imagery in his books. It could be a fantastic way to lure movie-goers into a breathtaking new world, and it's short enough not to have to shed as much material as some of Sanderson's other books.

Elantris Is A Better Starting Point For The Cosmere Cinematic Universe

Elantris Was Brandon Sanderson's First Published Book

Brandon Sanderson's 2005 book isn't his most popular, and it's often not used as the starting point for readers exploring the Cosmere. That's generally because it's not as strong of a testing point for new readers trying out his books due to the weaker prose. A film adaptation, alternatively, would be an opportunity to correct some of the original novel's weaknesses and elevate its strengths, especially after decades of reflecting on the story and how readers have perceived it. As mentioned, it's still a beautiful story at its core.

While Tress of the Emerald Sea and Mistborn are solid starting points for the Cosmere, there's something to be said about exploring an author in publication order. Readers who begin with Elantris and progress through the Cosmere all the way to 2024's Wind and Truth will be able to witness Sanderson grow and mature as an author. If the film universe began with Elantris, viewers would get to experience that same growth as a storyteller, with the additional narrative embellishments of hindsight.

It's The Perfect Time For Elantris To Get A Movie Adaptation

Elantris Has Two Sequels Coming Soon

Now is the perfect time to begin the Cosmere movie universe with Elantris, as the book will finally be seeing sequels at the end of the decade. Unlike Mistborn, which is also getting future installments in the late 2020s, Brandon Sanderson only ever followed up his first book with short stories and novellas, leaving the novel as a standalone story set in his world. However, characters and elements of Elantris have continued to appear in other works, meaning it still has a lasting importance to the overarching shared narrative.

If an Elantris movie were to begin production in the next couple of years, it might be ready to release by the time the sequel novel comes out, with Elantris 2 currently planned for a Summer 2029 release date. That would mean the Elantris sequels releasing simultaneously with Mistborn era 3, meaning a few years straight of packed Cosmere excitement, making it an excellent opportunity to synergize a film release with several new mainline novels.