“The Witcher” : European Fantasy on Netflix

“The Witcher” is an upcoming fantasy drama web television series created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich for Netflix.

It is based on the book series of the same name by the Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski.

The stories and novels have been translated into various languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Czech, Slovak, Lithuanian, Estonian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Chinese, Georgian and Persian.

The “Witcher” (Wiedźmin) short stories by the author Andrzej Sapkowski were first published in Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine Fantastyka, beginning in the mid-1980s.

The first short story, “Wiedźmin” (“The Witcher“) (1986), was written for a contest held by the magazine and won third place. The first four stories dealing with the witcher Geralt of Rivia were originally featured in a 1990 short story collection titled “Wiedźmin” (The Witcher) — now out of print — with “Droga, z której się nie wraca” (“The Road with No Return“), which is set before the Witcher stories and features Geralt’s mother to be.

The second published short story collection was “Miecz przeznaczenia” (“Sword of Destiny“). Although “Ostatnie życzenie” (“The Last Wish“) was published after “Sword of Destiny”, it replaced “The Witcher” as the first book since it included all the stories in “The Witcher”, except “The Road with No Return” (the only story without Geralt). Although new short stories were added to “The Last Wish”, they took place before those in “Sword of Destiny”.

Although “The Road with No Return” and “Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna” (“Something Ends, Something Begins“, an alternate ending of the Witcher saga about Geralt and Yennefer’s wedding written as a wedding gift for Sapkowski’s friends) were later published in 2000 in “Something Ends, Something Begins” and in 2012 in “Maladie and Other Stories” (“Maladie i inne opowiadania“) collections, the other stories in those books are unconnected to the Witcher series. In some Polish editions, “The Road with No Return” and “Something Ends, Something Begins” are added to The Last Wish or Sword of Destiny.

The Witcher stories

“Miecz Przeznaczenia” (Sword of Destiny) (1992, English edition: 2015)

“Ostatnie życzenie” (The Last Wish) (1993, English edition: 2007) – Note that while The Last Wish was published after Sword of Destiny, the stories contained in The Last Wish take place first chronologically, and many of the individual stories were published before Sword of Destiny.

Saga

The saga focuses on Geralt of Rivia and Ciri, a child of destiny. Ciri, princess of a recently conquered country and a pawn of international politics, becomes a witcher-in-training. Geralt is drawn into a whirlwind of events in his attempts to protect her.

“Krew elfów” (Blood of Elves) (1994, English edition: 2008)

“Czas pogardy” (Time of Contempt) (1995, English edition: 2013)

“Chrzest ognia” (Baptism of Fire) (1996, English edition: 2014)

“Wieża Jaskółki” (The Tower of the Swallow) (1997, English edition: 2016)

“Pani Jeziora” (The Lady of the Lake) (1999, English edition: 2017)

Standalone novel

The series of novels is known as the “Witcher Saga”. The short stories and novels have been translated into numerous languages, including English and Spanish.

The books have been described as having a cult following in Poland, and in other Eastern European countries. The video games have been very successful, and as of March 2018, they have sold over 33 million copies worldwide.

The web tv series will begin streaming on Netflix on December 20, 2019. A second season was announced on November 13, 2019.

The directors: Alik Sakharov , Alex Garcia Lopez,  Charlotte Brändström, Marc Jobst.

Starring: Henry Cavill (Geralt of Rivia), Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra, Jodhi May, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Adam Levy, MyAnna Buring, Mimi Ndiweni, Therica Wilson-Read, Emma Appleton.

In April 2018, Schmidt Hissrich revealed that the show would be filmed in Eastern Europe.

Principal photography for the first season began on October 31, 2018, in Hungary.

In March 2019, production moved to Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, with some scenes planned to be shot in the islands of La Palma and La Gomera as well.

Filming ended in Ogrodzieniec Castle in Poland.

Filming for the first season was concluded in May 2019.

In April 2019, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos told investors in an earnings call that the show would be released in late 2019.

Netflix released the first teaser for the series at San Diego Comic-Con on July 19, 2019.

The first full trailer was revealed at Lucca Comics & Games on October 31, 2019.

The series will premiere on December 20, 2019 with 8 available episodes:

“The End’s Beginning”, “Four Marks”, “Betrayer Moon”, “Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials”, “Bottled Appetites”, “Rare Species”, “Before a Fall”, “Much More”.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndl1W4ltcmg