Esther McGregor (We Were Liars) and Emilio Sakraya (Rhinegold) have snatched the lead roles in Amazon Prime’s upcoming adaptation of the Fourth Wing romantasy novel.
McGregor and Sakraya will play Violet Sorrengail and Xaden Riorson, respectively, as enemies-to-lovers, bringing Rebecca Yarros’ best-selling novel to life.
“I’m so grateful to our producing and casting team for conducting a thorough, worldwide search to find Violet and Xaden,” said Yarros, who is also an executive producer on the series alongside Lisa Joy (Fallout), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) and showrunner Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill House, Locke & Key).
“It will be incredibly exciting to see these talented actors, Esther and Emilio, bring our beloved characters to life on screen.”
More executive producers exist in the form of Jonathan Nolan, Athena Wickham, Elizabeth Raposo, Liz Pelletier and Sherryl Clark.
Joy will direct the series’ pilot episode and stated: “Esther and Emilio are brilliant, magnetic actors.
“We cannot wait for the world to see what they will do with these incredible characters.”
What the series is about
Amazon describes Fourth Wing via the following synopsis: “Fourth Wing follows Violet Sorrengail, a fiercely intelligent and often underestimated 20-year-old.
“Violet is forced by her mother to enter the brutal world of Basgiath War College, where she joins hundreds of candidates striving to become dragon riders for the kingdom of Navarre.
“The ruthless and enigmatic Xaden Riorson, a fellow candidate with a complicated past, becomes her enemy and eventually her love interest as the two navigate the war college’s deadly trials together.”
READ MORE: TV news: Disney+ and Hulu make series order for ‘Glee’ reboot
Why the adaptation is important
Amazon is onto a winner adapting Fourth Wing for Prime Video as it’s a leading example of books in the romantasy genre.
Romantasy combines typical fantasy with romantic elements and has a huge global following among female gen Z and millennial readers.
It subverts the typically male-skewing fantasy genre and instils it with complex female protagonists, romantic themes and intimate spice.
On TikTok, #romantasy and #booktok account for billions of combined views, and book sales in the romantasy genre have been soaring as well.
Indeed, Bloomberg reported that romantasy book sales last year neared $1 billion in the US alone.
Yarros’ novels are a big player in those book sales, with Fourth Wing selling four million copies Stateside through its first 12 months on sale.
Since that novel was published in spring of 2023, the overall Empyrean series (including Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and Onyx Storm) has sold over 12 million copies in the country, according to The New York Times.
It’s about more than book sales, though.
Romantasy is a cultural movement, with conventions, cosplay, trivia nights, launch parties and reenactments making the sub-genre a female-led fan community that has etched its way into all walks of life.
That’s why several other romantasy adaptations are in the works, including feature films like Netflix’s Quicksilver and Legendary’s Alchemised.
It’s safe to say this is a new genre that could be making a big impact in cinemas and on streaming.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Box office news: Netflix makes history with Oscar-hopeful ‘La Bola Negra’
