There has always been a search of the next popular fantasy franchise since Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones and the answer may be Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné! In the case of LotR and GoT, there are follow-up series; Rings of Power and House of the Dragon, on two streaming services; Amazon Prime and HBO Max. So there is room for other streamers to find their own franchise. First who is Elric of Melniboné? He was a character found in “The Dreaming City” (1961) in the sci fi magazine, Science Fantasy #47. There was an earlier swords & sorcery character in Robert E. Howard’s Conan. He was a barbarian who over his lifetime becomes king, fearful of sorcery, bronzed skin, dark hair. Elric is basically the reverse of Conan. Thin, pale, he was an albino, a sorcerer, and emperor.
Actually, the two characters met in the first Marvel Comics series, Conan the Barbarian #14 (1972) by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. It was Elric’s first appearance in comics. The writer of Elric’s adventures was Michael Moorcock and Elric’s short stories were combined in the novel, Stormbringer (1965) which is the last story of Elric. The chronological sequence of the novels are scattered. There six novels total in the series; Elric of Melniboné (1972) the first Elric story, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976), The Weird of the White Wolf (1977), the fourth story, The Vanishing Tower (1977), Elric at the End of Time (1981), the third story, and The Bane of the Black Sword (1977) which is the fifth Elric story. Moorcock also wrote a prequel to Elric of Melniboné, in the four issue comic book series, Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer, with art by Walt Simonson. It was compiled in a graphic novel in 2007.
Elric is the last emperor of the Ruby Throne for the crumbling, island kingdom of Melniboné. He is an albino, pale skin and white hair and also weak and needs drugs and potions to keep him strong. Elric rules from the Dreaming City, Imrryr, Melniboné's capitol. He is also well read, a sorcerer, he makes deals with demons and powerful forces of Chaos and Law. Elric is dressed all in black, including his armor, the original fantasy Goth! His cousin, Yyrkoon, wanted to rule and takes away Elric’s cousin bride, Cymoril, his sister whom he wants to marry. Yup, Jaime and Cersei from Game of Thrones. They take up Black Swords, Elric takes Stormbringer and Yyrkoon its twin, Mournblade. Stormbringer is cursed, it causes chaos to Elric’s life and soul, and takes souls when the blade kills victims, “Your soul is mine!” Elric embodies the anti-hero, it is either him, his cousin Yyrkoon, or the demons.
He is actually a representation of the Eternal Champion whom exists in Moorcock’s Multiverse called the Million Spheres. There is also Hawkmoon, Corum, Von Bek, and more. They help set the Cosmic Balance between Law and Chaos. There was a twelve issue comic book series of the Eternal Champions, Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse. His multiverse concept is one of the early fantasy and sci fi versions of a shared world. So this has potential to branch out into other series if Elric proves to be successful. The franchise is in development hell, but currently with New Republic Pictures which produced Top Gun: Maverick with Paramount Pictures. They are developing it as a television series which seems right with the other fantasy franchise series. My guess is that Paramount Plus would be the best place to stream it. They are in need of another franchise besides Star Trek. If the deal falls through, this would also be perfect for another studio. Key would be to sink a large budget into the series or movie. Audiences now expect the look of a big budget fantasy series.
There is countless references from book cover artwork, roleplaying games like Stormbringer from Chaosium and Elric of Melniboné by Runequest, and fantasy artwork. I would hire Michael Whelan and Brom, if interested, like Alan Lee and John Howe for LoTR. I was really thinking that an Elric adaptation could be possible with Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series about to debut. Gaiman is an Elric fan writing the short story, “One life: Furnished in early Moorcock” from Smoke and Mirrors (1999). Depending on the starting place, Elric could be cast as a young adult or older. I keep thinking of Paul Bettany’s albino character, Silas, in The Da Vinci Code (2006), I would think a Paul Bettany like actor, but most of all he has to have a wiry build. Elric has to have a kind of charisma, brooding, and sometimes violent. Ideally, the writer’s room should have a number of fantasy authors like the original Star Trek with sci fi writers. As a series, it could be broken up like GoT with one season adapting a novel, but it needs a serious direction either to have the morose ending of the Elric novels or setting up the Eternal Champion series or both. Also, key is to have the approval of creator, Michael Moorcock. Elric of Melniboné has great potential as a dark fantasy series for streaming or as a movie series.
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