When Brandon Sanderson sat down to decide who would adapt his sci-fi epic Skyward, he had one requirement: prove you can do it right.
Enter Tomorrow Studios, the production company behind Netflix's live-action One Piece. After seeing what they did with Eiichiro Oda's beloved manga, Sanderson was convinced. "It was right after One Piece came out that I sat down seriously with them," he told IGN. "I'm like, 'All right, you really can make things that are good.'"
That sentence should be the baseline for any adaptation, but in Hollywood, it's revolutionary.
For context, Sanderson is one of the most popular fantasy authors alive. He finished Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, writes the Stormlight Archive novels that fans treat like religious texts, and has built a multimedia empire that includes Kickstarter campaigns that raise $41 million. He knows his audience, and his audience does not forgive bad adaptations.
So when studios come knocking—and they all do—Sanderson isn't just looking at who offers the most money. He's looking at track records. And frankly, Hollywood's track record with fantasy and sci-fi adaptations is... let's call it "mixed."
One Piece changed the equation. The Netflix series succeeded where so many others failed, largely because Tomorrow Studios and Oda worked closely to preserve what fans loved about the source material while making necessary changes for live-action. It wasn't perfect, but it was good—and more importantly, it was respectful.
That's the word Sanderson is looking for: respect. Respect for the source material, respect for the fans, and respect for the fact that these stories work because of what they are, not in spite of it. Too many adaptations start from the premise that the book needs to be "fixed" for a general audience. Tomorrow Studios started from the premise that the book is already good, and their job is to translate it, not reinvent it.
Skyward is a YA sci-fi series about a young pilot named Spensa who dreams of becoming a starfighter, despite her father being branded a coward. It's got space battles, alien invasions, and Sanderson's signature magic system worldbuilding. It's also deeply personal and character-driven, which means there's plenty of room to screw it up by focusing on spectacle over story.
The fact that Sanderson is trusting Tomorrow Studios suggests he believes they understand that balance. And given that One Piece managed to nail the tonal shift from goofy pirate adventure to emotional gut-punch, there's reason for optimism.
This is also part of a larger trend: authors demanding creative control over adaptations. George R.R. Martin is publicly feuding with HBO over House of the Dragon. Neil Gaiman was heavily involved in Good Omens and The Sandman. N.K. Jemisin is developing her own projects. The era of handing your book to a studio and hoping for the best is over.
Sanderson isn't just choosing a studio. He's choosing a partner who's already proven they can make things that are good. That shouldn't be a high bar, but in Hollywood, it is.
