Official Movie Deal Words from Harriet

Brian Sanderson Blog entry Posted on 08.15.08



I've had a number of people posting on my LJ asking about Read Eagle, the nature of this movie deal, and all of that fun stuff. I shot an email off to Harriet, and she was kind enough to give us some explanations.

This is not the result of a new deal with Red Eagle. It's the option deal with Red Eagle that Mr. Jordan made before he passed away. (He discussed it and the company several times in interviews.) I had originally thought that this option had run out and that Harried had signed a separate deal with Universal, not remembering the name Red Eagle from the article. (I knew that she had an option with someone that was soon going to run out, but didn't remember the name, so didn't connect the two when I saw Red Eagle in the movie announcement earlier.)

However, Red Eagle managed a last minute sale to Universal, right before the option ran out. This hands the project off to Universal. This is NOT an option, but a purchase, and it is with Universal and not Red Eagle--though Red Eagle has been named as a producer of the films and the deal.

Harriet is very happy to have Universal on the project, and is pleased with this turn of events. As with all Hollywood deals, a large part of getting a good film seems to be luck. (See my last post.) However, this involves a couple huge steps forward from where the property was just a few months ago. Things look good for the film being made, but there is still need for a lot of patience. (See below.)

My favorite quote from Harriet was the last part of her email:

Harriet wrote:

....The first film (EYE OF THE WORLD) is not yet "in development." Universal legal has advised us that Red Eagle has yet to fulfill two requirements Universal has placed on them as producers -- financial obligations they have not yet come up with.... AND MORE MEANWHILE the clock ticks. If the movie isn't made within a certain length of time the deal between us and Universal self-destructs. How Universal will feel if Red Eagle continues to delay, only Conan's Crom knows--perhaps they will have the right to fire Red Eagle.

The wheel of time turns and ages come and pass....

I'll get some annotations out tomorrow. Sorry for the delay on those recently. I've been working hard on WoT, as the percentage bar hopefully shows.