Amazon’s Wheel of Time: Uta Briesewitz to direct first two episodes

Deadline is reporting that Uta Briesewitz (Westworld, This Is Us, Jessica Jones) will direct the first two episodes of Amazon’s The Wheel of Time. The series is an adaptation of Robert Jordan’s long-running fantasy epic. Briesewitz has also directed episodes of The Deuce, Orange Is the New Black, Jane the Virgin, Fear the Walking Dead, and the upcoming third season of Stranger Things. She also received an Emmy nomination for HBO’s Hung.

The Wheel of Time, which has sold over 90M books worldwide, is set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists, but only women can use it. The story follows Moiraine, a member of the shadowy and influential all-female organization called the ‘Aes Sedai’ as she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women. Moiraine believes one of them might be the reincarnation of an incredibly powerful individual, whom prophecies say will either save humanity or destroy it. The series draws on numerous elements of European and Asian culture and philosophy, most notably the cyclical nature of time found in Buddhism and Hinduism.

RELATED: Amazon Orders Fantasy Drama The Wheel of Time to Series

Rafe Judkins (Agents of SHIELD, Hemlock Grove) is developing the series for TV and will serve as showrunner, with Sony Pictures TV co-producing. Judkins is also executive producing alongside Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon of Red Eagle Entertainment, Ted Field and Mike Weber of Radar Pictures and Darren Lemke. Harriet McDougal, Jordan’s widow, will serve as a consulting producer.

There have been attempts to make films and series based on The Wheel of Time since 2000. There has been a video game, a role-playing game and a soundtrack album based on the sprawling, 14-book series.

Wheel of Time began with The Eye of the World back in 1990 and ended with A Memory of Light in 2013. The final book was finished by Brandon Sanderson, as Jordan passed away in 2007. The eighth through fourteenth books in The Wheel of Time series each reached number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. The story follows a group of characters lead by Rand al’Thor on the search for the Dragon Reborn. There are 14 novels in the series, which was nominated for a Hugo Award after its completion. Combined, the books have sold more than 90 million copies, second only to fantasy novel champion The Lord of the Rings — which is also being developed into a series for Amazon.