‘The Wheel of Time’ Trailer: Rosamund Pike Leads Amazon’s Lavish Fantasy Series

Sweeping vistas. Hand-to-hand combat. Birthing dragons (kind of). For most TV fans, “The Wheel of Time” should call to mind “Game of Thrones” fairly quickly, but the epic fantasy book series pre-dates George R.R. Martin’s novels by about six years, and its TV adaptation has been in the works at Amazon for quite some time. The wait is nearly over. Amazon Prime Video unveiled the trailer for the upcoming Rosamund Pike-led fantasy series on Thursday, and you can watch it below.

Amazon’s synopsis for the series reads:

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“Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, the story follows Moiraine (Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.”

The series’ new teaser trailer promises that there will be plenty of colorful, eye-popping locations during that journey, ranging from cityscapes to craggy mountains and icy forests. The first three episodes of Season 1 will premiere Friday, November 19, with new episodes available each Friday following, leading up to the season finale on December 24.

Amazon’s “The Wheel of Time” is based on Robert Jordan’s popular series of fantasy novels (which began in 1990), which is comprised of 14 installments. Rosamund Pike, who did voiceover work in recent children’s shows such as “Archibald’s Next Big Thing” and “Thomas & Friends” and also starred in Sundance TV’s acclaimed “State of the Union,” will lead Amazon’s adaptation alongside Madeleine Madden, Barney Harris, Marcus Rutherford, Zoe Robins, and Joshua Stadowski. Rafe Judkins (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) serves as showrunner and executive producer, while Larry Mondragon, Rick Selvage, Ted Field, Mike Weber, Darren Lemke, Marigo Kehoew, and Uta Briesewitz serve as executive producers.

The success of the original “Wheel of Time” novel series led to several adaptations over the years. A brief comic book series concluded in 2010 and a video game and roleplaying game were released during the height of the novels’ popularity. That said, Amazon’s upcoming adaptation will mark the first successful attempt to bring “The Wheel of Time” to screen: In the 2000s, NBC and Universal Pictures had plans to create a show and film about the novels, respectively, but neither project came to fruition.

Check out the trailer for “The Wheel of Time” below:

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