The Witcher TV Series Showrunner Won’t Water Down the Adaptation

Netflix’s plans for The Witcher series are moving full steam ahead, now that a showrunner has been found in Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who promises fans she has no intention of watering down the content for TV. The series has been in the works for quite a while now, but with Hissrich’s hiring it seems fans of both the books and the video games are closer than ever to getting the live-action Geralt of Rivia of their dreams. For her part, Hissrich has been busy getting the script for the series’ pilot episode ready to go, and she’s been documenting the process on social media.


Throughout the month of December, Hissrich has been active on her Twitter account, updating fans and offering a look at her research material, which includes a stack of novels from author Andrzej Sapkowski, including The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny, Blood of Elves and more. Hissrich even offered a glimpse at a map that was presumably being used as inspiration while she worked on the script for the pilot and the series bible.


While diehard fans of The Witcher likely appreciated the steady stream of information, social media being what it is, a few Twitter users took the time to voice their concerns over the planned tone of the series and the depiction of Geralt and his world. Some of the concerns seemed reasonable, while others were another example of why Twitter, and social media in general, has become a toxic wasteland. Still, Hissrich, for her part, took time to address the concerns, promising her show has no intention of watering things down. You can check out her comment and recent updates from The Witcher below:


https://twitter.com/LHissrich/status/946774783382843392

https://twitter.com/LHissrich/status/945810653624745985

https://twitter.com/LHissrich/status/946793936374308865


With HBO planning to bring Game of Thrones to an end in 2018 or 2019 before launching one of five possible spinoffs, and Amazon dumping truckloads of cash to develop a Lord of the Rings television series, The Witcher could be Netflix’s best chance to compete against both and attract a similarly obsessive and devoted fan base. Because it would also be an adaptation of a series of novels, The Witcher would essentially be like Thrones and Lord of the Rings, and would likely attract readers without too much trouble. But given the popularity of the video game series, it stands to reason the show would attract an even bigger potential audience by appealing to the gamers as well.


Still, the stigma around video game adaptations remains an issue, as Hollywood continues to search for that critical and commercial success that has eluded the industry despite releases like Assassin’s Creed and the Resident Evil franchise, among others. Perhaps, then, The Witcher will become the breakthrough hit that delivers a solid adaptation of both the books and the video game series that shares its name.