However, Red Eagle self-produced a 22-minute short film based on the prologue to The Eye of the World, starring Billy Zane, and paid to have it broadcast on the FXX Network in the United States, during an infomercial timeslot. The TV and film rights were due to revert to the Robert Jordan Estate (the Bandersnatch Group) in early February 2015. They discussed the project with Red Eagle and with Harriet McDougal, Robert Jordan's widow, editor and literary heir and executor.

In 2014 Sony Television developed an interest in the property as an ongoing, big-budget TV series. However, Universal decided not to proceed with the adaptation and the rights returned to Red Eagle. Universal developed a film script based on The Eye of the World. In 2008 Red Eagle re-sold the film rights to Universal Pictures for a 'seven-figure sum'.

This deal was worth approximately $640,000 and was due to last for eleven years, unless a long-running TV series or movie franchise was in production by that time. In 2004, Robert Jordan sold the TV, film, video game and comic book rights to Red Eagle Entertainment, a rights-handling company set up to develop multimedia projects based on the novels. Jordan was not interested in this adaptation and talks stalled before any formal deal could be discussed. However, they only wanted to adapt those books and not the complete series. Shortly after this, a Japanese animation studio contacted Jordan and proposed an anime series based on the first three books. The rights subsequently returned to Robert Jordan. However, interest in the project dried up after the writers involved departed from NBC. NBC planned to adapt the books as a network TV series spanning several seasons. Robert Jordan originally sold a TV rights option to NBC in 2000.

The wheel of time series