The Fantasy Comeback of 2021

[Above: opening the Fantasy Films Epic Box by Epic Toys & Collectibles. Photo by my partner Edward Harvey, pictured with me]

    Is it me, or are the 'classic' fantasy franchises having a bit of a moment?

   I've told this story numerous times before; I was raised on eighties fantasy films, mostly shown to me by my Dad who loves the genre. And when I was 12 years old, I went to see The Fellowship of The Ring in cinemas, and that film not only cemented my career aspirations, but it also spawned a colossal amount of merchandise. The Lord of the Rings was everywhere you looked, it was one of the most popular films of all time, and it inspired numerous imitator franchises. 

   So, it was cool to like fantasy... until one day, it wasn't. People tired of all the films which were made quickly off the back of LOTR; many of them lacked the quality of Peter Jackson's trilogy, and on the whole, original fantasy offerings weren't doing as well as predicted at the box office. All my early adult life, it looked as though the fantasy film genre was going to go the way of the Western. There were so few fantasy films on streaming services that they didn't even get their own category (they were just lumped together with Sci-Fi films) and I was told that, if I was going to be taken seriously as a director, I'd have to learn to make dramas instead.

  Game of Thrones briefly changed things, by offering 'must-see television' that appealed to lovers of fantasy, drama, action and even soap operas. At that time, a career in directing fantasy looked like a feasible plan again. But again, people tired of the Game of Thrones imitators that popped up all over television, the latter GoT series all dwindled in quality - culminating in possibly the most disappointing finale episode of all time - and even Peter Jackson couldn't recapture his Middle Earth magic with his CGI-heavy Hobbit prequel trilogy.

   So I thought, "well, that's it - time to be a closet fantasy fan again."

[Above: Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance was an unexpected treat for fans, even if it was robbed of a second season]

   And then (and I'm honestly not quite sure how this happened), fantasy had a bit of a comeback, starting with the unexpected but incredible Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance in 2019, a prequel to Jim Henson's seminal 1982 film The Dark Crystal. Age of Resistance is genuinely one of the the most beautiful and brilliant things I've seen on television, and even though it wasn't renewed for a second season, that hasn't stopped a stream of fantasy offerings from popping up in its place ever since it went off the air.

   Here's everything that fantasy geeks like me now have to look forward to in the coming year:

The Dark Crystal: Odyssey (The Ballet!)

   Although fans were robbed of a second series of Age of Resistance, that doesn't mean they won't be able to return to Thra in the near future. Shortly after Netflix cancelled the series, London's Royal Opera House have announced that a Dark Crystal ballet will feature as part of their upcoming season of shows! Although very little is known about the project at the moment, it's been announced that the show will be a family-friendly offering that is inspired more by the original film, featuring puppets and props from Jim Henson's Creature Shop! Find out more here: https://www.roh.org.uk/news/the-royal-opera-house-reveals-highlights-of-its-first-full-season-since-2019

House of the Dragon

  Whether or not you've recovered from Game of Thrones' atrocious final season, the franchise doesn't plan on staying away from our screens for long! 

   After a series with the working title Bloodmoon failed to get past the pilot stage (which is a shame, as it was written by Jane Goldman and starred Naomi Watts), HBO has pushed ahead with another series, House of Dragons, which revolves around the ill-fated Targaryen family. The first images have already been released, and although I'm reserving judgement at this stage (I'm not blown away by the costumes in those images), there is a good cast attached to the project, including Matt Smith, Paddy Considine and Rhys Ifans. House of the Dragon is in production now, and expected to be released in 2022 - and if that goes down well with audiences, another five GoT series are also expected to go into production!

The Lord of The Rings (on Amazon Prime)

   This is one which has been coming for a while, and when Amazon Prime first announced their Lord of the Rings series, a lot of fans were worried that it was a remake of the beloved trilogy (which turns 20 this year!). It was later revealed to be a prequel series - and further panic ensued when a rumour stated that the series would follow a 'young Aragorn' - because who could replace Viggo Mortensen, even in a prequel situation??

   A collective sigh of relief was heard when Amazon finally revealed more information about the series. It will be The Lord of The Rings in name alone, as it's set in the Second Age of Middle Earth - thousands of years before the events of Fellowship. So it would seem that no beloved characters are being recast (bar a young Galadriel, who will be played by Saint Maud's excellent Morfydd Clark), and further more, it means that some of Tolkein's rarely-adapted earlier stories will finally be getting some screen time. The events of The Silmarillion, for example, are even more epic than Lord of the Rings - and that's an understatement!

   Production on the series (said to be one of the most expensive series ever made) was recently halted because of the pandemic, but has now resumed in earnest in New Zealand, so the show is still expected to reach Amazon Prime later this year.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

   And if the Lord of the Rings series wasn't enough for Middle Earth fans, the news dropped last week that an Anime film is also on the way! Because this is all fairly hot off the press, there isn't much information out there yet - but again, the film is set before the events of The Lord of the Rings, this time focusing on the Rohirrim - particularly their leader, Helm Hammerhand, the former king of Rohan. The film promises to tell more about the history of Helm's Deep, the fortress which housed one of the greatest battles of the original trilogy.

  Although I'm not the biggest fan of animated films, I'm excited about this project because of the talent behind it. Director Kenji Kamiyama is an anime veteran, the screenwriters are the team behind Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, and they've even got Phillipa Boyens working as a consultant. Boyens not only co-wrote The Lord of the Rings with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, but she was responsible for injecting 'the voice of the fans' into their early drafts.

Willow (The Series)

   Another one that's been in development for a long time now is the Willow series, inspired by Ron Howard's 1988 film of the same name (and one of my all time favourite fantasy films). The series will be made and released exclusively by Disney+, and although we don't have an official synopsis yet, we do know that Warwick Davis is returning to the role of Willow, and has already vocalised his excitement about the project. Willow mega-fan Laura Legends has released a good video that summarises all the information that's been released about the series so far, so I recommend you give that a watch if you want to know more.

The Green Knight

   Finally, if you'd rather see something new than another 'Hollywood' franchise film, then A24's The Green Knight is for you. This is the film I was most excited about last year, and it will finally be released in August after multiple Covid-related delays. 

   Although there's been numerous adaptations of the Arthurian legend, the magical tale of The Green Knight rarely makes it onto the screen, and you just know that indie director David Lowery (A Ghost Story, Pete's Dragon) will make something unique, beautiful and a little bit weird - but what else would you expect from the studio that brought us Midsommar and The VVitch? I genuinely cannot wait for this film.

(Extra entry!) Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema

   I actually forgot this one when I originally shared this post, but it's a perfect example of saving the best for last. Years before The Lord of The Rings came along, Ray Harryhausen was the pioneer of the fantasy genre, and his stop-motion monster work inspired generations of filmmakers that tried to follow in his footsteps. He created some of the most iconic scenes in movie history (not just fantasy history), and now - after multiple Covid-related closures - fans can actually see his work in person. Edinburgh's National Galleries are now hosting the exhibition 'Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema' until February 2022, featuring multiple examples of Harryhausen's creations, including those all-important skeletons (photographed above by Bryan Robertson). I've got my tickets!

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  Looking at all the above, it can be slightly disappointing to see that they're mostly re-treads of old franchises. There is still a lack of good original fantasy films and television shows in the world, and I am aware of that. However, as most of these upcoming productions are inspired by the fantasy films of my childhood, I am overjoyed - it feels like, exactly twenty years later, it is finally a good time to be a fan of those films. Us nerds went against the trend by loving this genre, and that love has finally been rewarded.

   That's exactly how I felt in April when Epic Toys & Collectibles announced that they were going to release an 'Epic Box' full of merchandise for lovers of fantasy films. I was trying to save money at the time, having already made a hefty fantasy purchase (the gorgeous Age of Resistance Deet figure by none other than Weta Workshop!), but it didn't take me long before I caved in - and my partner Edward Harvey couldn't resist filming my reaction when I opened that beautiful box:

   Not only did I open a variety of cool objects from Willow, Legend, Lord of the Rings, Labyrinth and The Neverending Story, but the ultimate treat came on Saturday when Epic Toys & Collectibles invited me onto a Zoom call with Atreyu himself, Noah Hathaway!! Out of all the Zoom calls I've had over the past year, this one will definitely take some beating. Noah Hathaway is such a cool and genuinely lovely guy - and as I was talking with him about how great it would be if someone made a film with a large budget, but with a very subtle use of CGI and a lot of authenticity, I realised that, yeah, 2021 definitely is a great time to be a fantasy film fan... and maybe I should keep pursuing the genre after all...

Sophie

p.s. I'm aware that this has been my first blog post in months! I had another one drafted in March that I didn't get round to finishing, so that will come soon, along with my regular 'Summer update' about my life and my latest projects. It's been a very intense but exciting time for me lately, both personally and professionally, but hopefully my new schedule will allow me to post monthly again. More on that to be revealed next time!