Red Eagle Games announced today that film industry veteran Chris Morgan has been engaged by Red Eagle Games as Story Director for the company's forthcoming video games derived from the rich assortment of characters and storylines from Robert Jordan's beloved fantasy book series, The Wheel of Time.Based in Los Angeles, Morgan has worked in the film industry for nearly a decade. His films have grossed nearly one billion dollars in worldwide box-office receipts. Morgan's screenwriting credits include Cellular, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Wanted and Fast and Furious. In addition to his involvement with Red Eagle Games, Morgan is currently working on the big-screen adaptation of video game Gears of War, the next installment in the Fast and Furious franchise, and samurai action movie 47 Ronin.
In addition, Morgan will be joining veteran Electronic Arts Executive Tom Frisina; Barry Hirsch, a leader in the field of entertainment law; entertainment consumer products marketing and branding expert Peter Dang; Keith Boesky, founder and principal of video game consultancy Boesky & Company; and IBM Serious Games Program Manager Phaedra Boinodiris on the Red Eagle Games Advisory Council. Red Eagle Games has carefully assembled the Council to complement and support the Red Eagle Games management team's skills and backgrounds, and the council members represent decades of experience in new media, entertainment and technology.
"As a massive fan of The Wheel of Time series, and a lifelong gamer, I jumped at the chance to be part of the Red Eagle Games team," Morgan said. "The world that Robert Jordan created is so rich, the characters and storylines so varied and inventive, that I feel like a kid in a candy store. It's really a dream opportunity for me."
Along with the Universal Pictures feature film, to be produced by Red Eagle Entertainment executives Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon, a line of stand-alone Wheel of Time games is in the works for all major videogame platforms, including consoles, personal computers, handheld systems and wireless devices, to be distributed by Electronic Arts. In addition, Red Eagle Games intends to launch and operate a massively multiplayer online role-playing game encompassing the themes, characters and world of The Wheel of Time novels.
The details of Jordan's meticulously crafted series have captivated readers since 1990, when The Eye of the World, the first book in the series, was published. Eleven additional books, including one prequel, have since been added to the series and have consistently appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List with the last four of his novels in the series debuting at No. 1. Jordan passed away in 2007 at the age of 58, but his publisher, Tor Books, recently announced that a final trilogy of novels will bring his epic series to its long-awaited climax. The next installment in the series, entitled The Gathering Storm, is expected to be published in November of 2009 by Tor Books. This novel is being finished by fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson using notes, audio recordings and draft materials left with Jordan's wife and editor, Harriet Rigney.
Jordan's wildly popular books have been translated into 24 languages, and have sold about 44 million copies worldwide. According to Tor Books, the publisher of The Wheel of Time novels, there are about 65,000 The Wheel of Time fan Web sites as a part of a vast global on-line fan community.
About Red Eagle Games
Based in Southern California, Red Eagle Games is a new video game studio initially undertaking the transformation of Jordan's literary masterpiece "The Wheel of Time" into high-quality interactive gaming products for the personal computer, game consoles, mobile and wireless devices, and online play. Red Eagle Games was founded by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Selvage and Chief Operating Officer Larry Mondragon, who are also producing a live-action motion picture for Universal Pictures based upon The Wheel of Time.