This actually sounds kind of fascinating, Deadline reports that Warner Bros. have picked up the rights to the Fourth Realm trilogy of books, written by mysterious author John Twelve Hawks (a man no one has ever met, who rarely communicates and lives “off the grid”). The series is set in the near future, where the United States is under control of “The Vast Machine,” run by a secret society called the Tabula; they aim to create an easily controlled populace through surveillance and influence.
Fighting them are the Travelers, a group of beings who can project themselves into other dimensions, and whose knowledge has the potential to bring down the Tabula. They are protected by the sword-wielding Harlequins, and a sect (called the Pathfinders) aid in teaching potential Travelers how to use their powers. The Fourth Realm series deals with issues like the culture of fear, and religion in all forms factor into the story in different ways (a world that resembles Buddhist ideology, the Pathfinders being holy men as well as atheists, etc.).
The series has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and is printed in 25 different languages. Warner Bros. will be starting from the beginning with The Traveler, the first book in the series that was released to critical acclaim in 2007. Here’s a synopsis of that novel, taken from Amazon:
The time is roughly the present, and the U.S. is part of the Vast Machine, a society overseen by the Tabula, a secret organization bent on establishing a perfectly controlled populace. Allied against the Tabula are the Travelers and their sword-carrying protectors, the Harlequins. The Travelers, now almost extinct, can project their spirit into other worlds where they receive wisdom to bring back to earth—wisdom that threatens the Tabula’s power. Maya, a reluctant Harlequin, finds herself compelled to protect two naïve Travelers, Michael and Gabriel Corrigan. Michael dabbles in shady real estate deals, while Gabriel prefers to live “off the Grid,” eschewing any documentation—credit cards, bank accounts—that the Vast Machine could use to track him. Because the Tabula has engineered a way to use the Travelers for its own purposes, Maya must not only keep the brothers alive, but out of the hands of these evil puppet-masters. She succeeds, but she also fails, and therein lies the tale. By the end of this exciting volume, the first in a trilogy, the stage is set for a world-rending clash between good and evil.
I haven’t read the books — and, thus, can’t account for their quality — but I think that, if done right, the Fourth Realm trilogy could be a work of science fiction beauty. It’s got a really interesting premise, mixing fantasy with potential reality (“Big Brother” is always a looming threat, especially in this day and age), and sounds like it has some weight to it as far as subtext goes. I’m sure Warner Bros. isn’t exactly worried about crafting a great story; they just see dollar signs and, with a certain other dystopian franchise making tons of money at the box office, they wanted in on the action. (Fox tried to launch this more than two years ago with Watchmen co-writer Alex Tse.) But they may just accidentally stumble onto something that works cinematically as well as financially. I just wish the Travelers didn’t sound so hokey; I’m on board with everything except the dimension jumping.
Have you read the Fourth Realm trilogy? Is it worthwhile to make into a movie, or is it the sort of story that requires all the exposition and detail only a novel can truly provide?