Highlights
- Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions is teaming with Amazon for a new fantasy series.
- The project will adapt Holly Black’s bestselling The Folk of the Air books.
- The story follows a mortal girl caught in the dangerous politics of a faerie kingdom.
Ridley Scott is heading back into fantasy, this time with Amazon and a bestselling faerie saga. The filmmaker’s Scott Free Productions is teaming up with Amazon to adapt Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air into a new series, bringing the world of Elfhame and its ruthless royal court to the screen. Black confirmed the collaboration in an interview with People.
What is Ridley Scott adapting?
The Folk of the Air is a fantasy series centred on Jude Duarte, a mortal girl whose life changes after her parents are brutally murdered and she is taken to the faerie world of Elfhame.
Raised among faeries who look down on humans, Jude becomes determined to earn a place in their world. Her ambitions draw her into the dangerous politics of the High Court, where betrayals, shifting alliances and struggles for power shape her fight for survival.
The main saga begins with The Cruel Prince, followed by The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing. The wider universe also includes companion stories and the Stolen Heir duology, giving the adaptation a substantial body of material to draw from.
Why Ridley Scott is an interesting choice for the fantasy series
Scott is best known for films including Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, but he has explored fantasy before.
His 1985 film Legend, starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara and Tim Curry, remains a cult fantasy title and was one of his earliest ventures into the genre. He has also directed large-scale historical films including Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Last Duel and Gladiator II.
Scott Free has also become increasingly involved in major genre productions for television. The company is behind Raised by Wolves, Alien: Earth and the upcoming Blade Runner 2099.
There is no confirmation yet that Scott himself will direct episodes of The Folk of the Air. The series is currently being developed with Scott Free and Amazon, while further creative details, including its writer or showrunner, have yet to be announced.
Amazon’s next big fantasy bet
The adaptation arrives as Amazon continues to invest heavily in fantasy. Prime Video is already home to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, while the streamer previously adapted Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time.
For The Folk of the Air, however, the appeal lies in a different mix of fantasy, royal intrigue and a complicated central relationship. Jude’s struggle to gain power in a world that considers her an outsider gives the series a story that extends beyond its faerie setting.
With Scott Free now attached, the adaptation marks a notable return to fantasy for one of Hollywood’s most established genre filmmakers and puts Black’s Elfhame firmly in Amazon’s sights as its next potential fantasy franchise.
