Everything We Know About the ‘Fourth Wing’ TV Series

“Fourth Wing” is the first installment in Yarros’ “The Empyrean” series, released by Entangled Publishing’s Red Tower Books imprint in May 2023. 

The book follows 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail, who leaves her plans for a quiet life behind when her mother, a “tough-as-talons” commanding general of the Navarrian military, demands she join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the Navarre kingdom’s elite: dragon riders. Violet enters the ranks of Basgiath War College, which trains up-and-coming riders who ultimately become friends, enemies, and lovers—and from which she must graduate or die.

The fantasy novel became a quick hit on TikTok’s BookTok, with over 1 billion views to date across all related “Fourth Wing” hashtags. Over a year since its release, it’s sold more than 2 million copies in 40 languages worldwide and has spent more than 63 weeks on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction bestseller list.

Yarros followed up “Fourth Wing” with “Iron Flame” in November 2023, which sees Violet continue her training after her first grueling year at Basgiath. “Onyx Storm,” the third book in the series (currently planned as five books), will be released in January 2025.

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Development on the “Fourth Wing” series seemed stagnant until July 22. Variety was the first to report that Amazon had tapped Moira Walley-Beckett as the adaptation’s showrunner. The Emmy Award winner previously created the beloved Netflix and CBC series “Anne With an E” and Starz’s limited series “Flesh and Bone.” 

Before that, she spent six years as a writer and co-executive producer on “Breaking Bad,” for which she won three Emmys, including outstanding writing for a drama series for Season 5’s universally acclaimed episode “Ozymandias.” She became the first solo woman to win the accolade since Ann Biderman won in 1994 for “NYPD Blue.”

After “Fourth Wing” was catapulted to immense and impossible-to-ignore popularity, Amazon MGM Studio saw the potential for the novel. It acquired the rights at auction for not just “Fourth Wing” but also for the four other completed or planned novels in “The Empyrean” series. The deal was made with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, which has been in an overall first-look film deal and exclusive TV deal with the studio since 2021, developing “Creed III,” an upcoming “Thomas Crown Affair” remake, the Muhammad Ali biographical mini series “The Greatest,” and more.

Walley-Beckett will also executive produce the series alongside Jordan, Elizabeth Raposo, and Stefano Agosto via Outlier; Yarros; and Entangled Publishing head Liz Pelletier.

The potential “Fourth Wing” adaptation will now move on to the next stages of development, including scripting.

Amazon officially began developing the project in October 2023, a week before the release of “Iron Flame.” According to Deadline’s sources, should a potential adaptation prove successful, Amazon hopes to develop each of Yarros’ novels into separate TV projects.

As for when the “Fourth Wing” TV series cast will be revealed, the project is still too early in its development cycle for us to know who will play the beloved characters. However, while it remains grounded, there are plenty of other gigs and resources to check out to prepare you for battle.

Be sure to bookmark our main casting page for more opportunities, as well as our current roundup of TV and film background gigs.

Plus, learn how to audition for current or future Amazon projects, and check out our audition advice on similar beloved book-to-screen fantasy adaptations:

• Everything We Know About the New ‘Twilight’ Series
• How to Get Cast on ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’
• How to Get Cast on Max’s New ‘Harry Potter’ Series
• How to Get Cast on HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’
• How to Get Cast on ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’

Stay tuned in the coming months for more “Fourth Wing” updates!