The eagerly anticipated television adaptation of The Witcher is coming to Netflix next month, and the dark fantasy series is looking to put more emphasis on the "dark" than the "fantasy."
The upcoming show's visual effects supervisor Julian Parry noted that this particular adaptation of the fan-favorite multimedia franchise will tonally focus more on horror than tropes and elements commonly associated with the fantasy genre. This is in line with advance looks from the series, which tease monsters generated by practical effects.
"I definitely think it leans more towards horror," Parry told SFX magazine. "We’re definitely taking the fantasy out. I can honestly say we’re not fantastical. I mean, it’s fantastical but in a grounded horror sense. For example, with Striga [a woman cursed into a monstrous transformation], that’s one gnarly-looking thing. That’s very unpleasant!"
Parry noted that the tonal shift is partially due to budget, with the more ambitious scope of the novels and video games not as limited by production costs as the series while not compromising the action the franchise is known for.
The Witcher stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, Freya Allan as Ciri and Joey Batey as Jaskier. The series will be available to stream on Netflix starting Dec. 20.
(via Games Radar)