Get out your twelve-sided dice, Dungeons & Dragons is making a resurgence!
Derek Kolstad, the man behind the John Wick movies, will be developing and writing a live-action series based on the granddaddy of role-playing games, according to The Hollywood Reporter. On top of that, a feature film is already in the works with Star Trek and Wonder Woman veteran Chris Pine in talks to star.
Kolstad was the man behind the John Wick film series. He wrote the original script, as well as contributing to the sequels John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. His other credits include working as a staff writer on the Disney+ Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and co-creating the series Die Hart, with comedian Kevin Hart. He will also write and produce a new TV series based on the Hitman video game franchise.
Dungeons & Dragons is a property ripe for development. There was a very popular Saturday morning cartoon from the 1980s in which six kids ride a D&D themed rollercoaster which magically transports them to the game’s world. The kids were helped by a Yoda-like guide known as Dungeon Master. The show lasted three seasons, but the kids never made it home. Or at least that was the case until 2019 when a Brazilian car company made a commercial featuring a live-action finale for the series. There was also a lackluster feature film in 2000 that spawned a handful of direct to DVD sequels.
There were also some comics, books, and toys, but that’s about it. When it began in 1974, D&D was very niche, combining tabletop gameplay with role-playing. It had a strong, if small, following counting three million players around the world. Playing the game quickly became a shorthand for nerds in pop culture. Want to demonstrate who the unpopular kids are? Show them playing D&D.
But since then, Dungeons & Dragons has steadily grown in popularity, in part due to the success of other fantasy properties like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. D&D also received a boost thanks to prominent appearances in shows like Stranger Things and Community. It also doesn’t hurt that it counts celebrities like Stephen Colbert, Matthew Lillard, Joe Manganiello, Vin Diesel, Patton Oswalt, and Wil Wheaton, among its fans.
Will you tune in for a Dungeons & Dragons series? Or is it something you rather play than watch?
