When books are adapted to television, publishers often print new editions of the books in tandem with the show’s release. We received a recent tip that a major publisher is currently planning such an edition of The Wheel of Time series. For their project timeline, they were given an estimated release date window of November 25 to December 25, 2021.

Jon from the WoT Up! Youtube channel said multiple sources have told him that a Black Friday (November 26) 2021 release was Amazon’s initial plan, although subject to change based on numerous factors such as the timely completion of filming.

We recently reported that Season 1 had wrapped principal photography but had a few shots left to complete. Today seems to be the actual last day of filming according to a recent tip from a source. Crew members continue to post on social media celebrating the wrap, but so far the cast has been silent. Perhaps they’re waiting for an official wrap announcement from the show–say, tomorrow for WoT Wednesday? At any rate, finishing filming is a huge milestone for the production, and should remove one of the major roadblocks for planning a release date.

First Teaser? Release Date Announcement?

Based on this estimated release date, we can speculate a bit further about when we might see the first official teaser or a premiere date announcement. We researched several of Amazon’s well known originals to look for marketing patterns for the first season. For consistency, “teaser” refers to the first teaser trailer containing actual footage from the show that is at least 60 seconds long. Several productions released earlier promotional material that were labeled as teasers, but were either very short or filmed specifically for promotional material (e.g. character introductions).

The Boys
Teaser: January 24, 2019 | Link
Trailer: April 17, 2019 | Link
Release date announcement: April 17, 2019 (“Summer 2019” in January 24 teaser)
Premiere: July 26, 2019

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Teaser: N/A
Trailer: October 10, 2017 | Link
Release date announcement: October 10, 2017
Premiere: November 29, 2017

Jack Ryan
Teaser: January 30, 2018 | Link
Trailer: June 11, 2018 | Link
Release date announcement: January 30, 2018
Premiere: August 31, 2018

Carnival Row
Teaser: July 27, 2019 | Link
Trailer: August 6, 2019 | Link
Release date announcement: June 4, 2019
Premiere: August 30, 2019

The Expanse (Season 4)
Teaser: July 20, 2019 | Link
Trailer: November 18, 2019 | Link
Release date announcement: July 20, 2019
Premiere: December 13, 2019
[Note: Amazon picked up the show when SyFy cancelled it after the third season. Season 4 was its first season as an Amazon Original.]

While this isn’t a great sample size, it appears that shows based on established properties had the earliest teasers and release date announcements. Complete originals like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel had much less advance marketing. Based on the overall variability in the dates, the timing of trailers and announcements is likely dependent on the state of the particular production and the marketing team’s specific strategy.

Looking Ahead

So what does all this mean for The Wheel of Time? Since the series is a very well established property, it’s a reasonable assumption that we’ll see our first teaser trailer 5-6 months out. If the release date rumors are correct, that would put the teaser in May or June of this year. A teaser in this timeframe would also align nicely with the wrapping of Season 1 and the start of filming Season 2. We may not see an official release date as quickly; after all the production delays during the pandemic, Amazon might want to wait on announcing it until they’re absolutely certain.

There’s one other interesting tidbit. Researching other shows makes it clear that The Wheel of Time has received an unprecedented amount of pre-teaser trailer promotional material. No other Amazon show has had anywhere near that level of early engagement, especially not for a first season.

Do you think the show will be released in November or December? When do you think we’ll see our first teaser trailer? And what would you like to see on the cover for the new edition? Let us know!

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I'm a longtime SFF fan but Wheel of Time will always be my first love. I want to call myself Green Ajah, but--let's be real--I'm probably a Brown. In my spare time I enjoy cooking, writing, and getting lost in the wilderness.