Many gaming adaptations are hitting the production stage, and a Paramount+ rendition of the wildly popular RPG Dungeons & Dragons has been greenlit.
It’s no secret that gaming adaptations have not been the most well received. From abysmally received movie adaptations like 2005’s Doom, to Paramount’s very own poorly received Halo series, the conversion from gaming to live-action has seen a bumpy road. But in light of reviews for HBO’s The Last of Us series, Paramount’s newly-announced adaptation hopes to capture some of the magic and lore behind the massive RPG series in the same vein. This new project is completely separate from the upcoming Chris Pine helmed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves set to drop on March 31, although they both fall under the same studio’s umbrella.
The yet-untitled Dungeons & Dragons series will be a co-production of Paramount Pictures and eOne—responsible for distributing The Walking Dead internationally—and is in the earliest stages of production. Filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber, known for Netflix’s most popular original film Red Notice, is set to direct at least the first episode of the series. Thurber has also been notably tied to this new project for over a year, according to The Hollywood Reporter last January. Deadline reports that this could be the Paramount’s “largest-scope TV project ever” and the start of a larger “Dungeons and Dragons universe,” consisting of multiple scripted and unscripted shows.
However the announcement’s timing has proven somewhat poor. The player community is up in arms amidst swirling reports of drastic changes to Dungeons & Dragons‘ Open Gaming License, which could alienate the leagues of fan creators and independently-produced unscripted shows that have helped drive the game’s current renaissance. (Wizards of the Coast, the studio behind the game, has not yet issued any official statement on the matter.)
While there is no timetable for the new series, Deadline reports the Paramount Executive Vice President of Scripted Television, Gabriel Marano will be overseeing the series. While the new film is on schedule to release on March 31, the series has no announced casting choices just yet, so fans will need to stay tuned on further announcements.
Besides the expanding roster of live-action productions from Paramount, Dungeons & Dragons has resurged in a different medium as well. LEGO recently ran a fan vote featuring Dungeons & Dragons, announcing BoltBuilds as the winner of the competition according to this LEGO Ideas Blog post.
