Apple TV’s ambitious upcoming fantasy franchise has gotten a major update from the author. According to reports published in January 2026, Apple TV secured the rights to Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe books to develop Mistborn movies and The Stormlight Archive TV shows. The rare deal gave him extensive control over the projects, including rights to write, produce, and grant final approval. And now, Sanderson has given progress reports on these projects. These came after HBO successfully established Game of Thrones as a franchise.
Brandon Sanderson shares update on Apple TV’s Mistborn and Stormlight Archive projects
The veteran author recently shared a script update on the Misborn movie and Stormlight Archive series.
While providing a weekly update on his various ongoing projects on his official YouTube channel, Brandon Sanderson revealed that the Mistborn screenplay is now 72% complete. “That’s only one percentage point up [from the previous update] because I’ve been doing a lot of revisions on Act 1. I just want to get that into shape. There’s some things I’m wanting to do, you know, some tweaks and some edits. That’s what I’ve been spending my time on this week,” he shared.
Later in the video, Sanderson also provided an update on the Stormlight Archive TV series, stating, “I have to do an entire season of Stormlight. Once I finish the Mistborn screenplay, my next project will be getting a pilot for Stormlight and then trying to get the whole season worked through.”
However, Brandon Sanderson clarified that he won’t write the screenplay for the entire show by himself. He added, “If you’re like, ‘Brandon, how long will that take?’ Well, I am going to have some writing partners. But I’m going to write a big, decent chunk of it myself, because I would like to.”
Notably, the Cosmere universe is a sprawling franchise that includes novels, comics, and short works. The Stormlight Archive currently has five books, whereas the Mistborn series has nine novels and one novella. They are split into two eras based on the timelines of their settings.
Neither of these projects currently has a release date.
