In The Lost Lands Resurrects A Forgotten George R.R. Martin Fantasy Epic
Could this be the start of a new franchise?
It’s been half a decade since Game of Thrones came to an end, but a patient few are still holding out for the true end to the epic fantasy. George R.R. Martin is trying hard to finish his A Song of Ice and Fire saga, but he’s been stuck on Winds of Winter — the penultimate novel in the series — since HBO first set out to adapt his work in 2010.
It may be some time before Thrones fans get Martin’s next book, but that hasn’t stopped anyone from finding other stories of his to adapt. HBO is hard at work building out a Thrones-centric franchise, with prequel series House of the Dragon and the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. But the streamer isn’t the only one combing through Martin’s oeuvre for material. Paul W. S. Anderson — the filmmaker behind video game adaptations like Resident Evil and Monster Hunter — has set his sights on his next potential franchise. Based on Martin’s short story of the same name, In the Lost Lands sees Anderson reteaming with his wife and frequent collaborator Milla Jovovich, along with Dave Bautista, for a new adventure. Check out its first trailer below.
At first blush, Anderson’s latest looks a lot more like a Rebel Moon knock-off than a fantasy epic inspired by George R.R. Martin — but In the Lost Lands does owe a lot to the Game of Thrones writer. Martin penned the short story for Amazons II, a fantasy anthology curated by Jessica Amanda Salmonson and published in 1982. Back then, Martin was writing more science fiction than he was fantasy, but Lost Lands marked a major departure for the author.
Martin’s tale follows Alys, a mysterious sorceress who grants any wish for a price. She gains a patron in the form of a desperate queen, who dispatches her to the “ghostly wilderness” in search of a fabled magical power. Alys recruits a hunter named Boyce to guide her through the Lost Lands, and together the unlikely pair face of against supernatural entities. Jovovich and Bautista will play the duo in Anderson’s adaptation.
In a 2023 blog post, Martin revealed that Lost Lands was meant to be “the first in a series of stories” focused on Alys. “I wanted to write six or eight or ten Gray Alys stories, then put them all together in a collection,” he wrote. “Alas, for whatever reason, I never wrote that second Gray Alys story. (I did begin one, long ago. Got two pages, I think, then set it aside, and never returned to it).”
Martin had plans for “six or eight or ten Gray Alys stories,” but In the Lost Lands could renew that interest.
With Gray Alys headed to the big screen, Martin could be persuaded to take up her story once more. He was heavily involved in production on the film adaptation, and seems keen to work with Anderson and screenwriter Constantin Werner on future projects.
“We are also hoping to do a tie-in graphic novel, which will include both my original story (quite short, at 6,000 words or so) and the larger, darker, more expansive world of the film,” Martin continued. “And who knows? If the gods are good, and In the Lost Lands turns out to be a hit, maybe we’ll get to tell the further adventures of Gray Alys after all. I have a sheet of ideas around here somewhere…”
As long as he can juggle Alys and Boyce’s new adventures with A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin’s newfound enthusiasm should be a good sign.
