Fans of the anime "Sword Art Online" are hurting over the show's still unaired third season. But things might be looking up as the novel's movie adaptation is set to be released next year.

The success of "Sword Art Online" seasons 1 and 2 has promulgated the belief that a third season is on the way, with the series expected to return late 2015. But with 2016 more than halfway through, fans are despairing over whether "Sword Art Online" will ever see the light of day.

The adage "when a door closes, a window opens" seems to hold true for the popular Japanese series as its been revealed that the anime's long hiatus is due to the fact that a "Sword Art Online" movie is currently being developed.

According to the film's website, "Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale" is a brand-new story by author Reki Kawahara. The film is set to hit movie theaters in 2017 and will reportedly revolve around "Ordinal Scale," a new virtual reality (VR) game that Kirito and Asuna will be involved in.

The trailer for the upcoming animated flick reveals that it has been 2 years since Kirito emerged victorious in the "Sword Art Online" VR game and saved countless lives. Now a new threat has emerged, "an evil plot festering within this new game" and Kirito has once again been called upon to be the hero.

Rumors have also surfaced of a live-action adaptation of "Sword Art Online," with some fans thinking this might be the purported third season of the series. According to an FX News Call report, Skydance Media successfully won the right to adapt the series and that "Avatar" executive producer Laeta Kalogridis is set to pen the pilot. There's still no definite news on which network the series will be aired, but it has been speculated that Netflix and Amazon Video have been bidding on the project. However, it would appear that there's a bigger chance "Sword Art Online" would be streamed on Netflix.