As production is expected to begin soon in Belfast, Northern Ireland for a new live-action Dungeons & Dragons movie from Paramount Pictures, more projects within the fantasy table-top franchise is reportedly in the works. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Hasbro/eOne is now in the early stages of development on a series with the help of writer Derek Kolstad.
Derek Kolstad, the creator and writer behind the John Wick franchise, has been tapped to pen and develop a pitch for a live-action series based on the Dungeons & Dragons universe.
A screenwriter with massive action chops, Derek is best known for creating the successful John Wick franchise at Lionsgate starring Keanu Reeves, he’s also worked on Marvel’s The Falcon & The Winter Soldier and the Bob Odenkirk action flick Nobody that will be released by Universal next month.
They also mention that other writers are working on multiple other projects, but they stopped short from naming who they are and what they’re developing. This sounds a lot like how a handful of Transformers projects were developed all at once for Hasbro/Paramount, using a writers’ room format to hash-out many different film projects. While there are plenty of stories within the umbrella of the Dungeons & Dragons mythology, it’s unknown if the series will be something original or connected to various table top modules or existing stories/characters.
Paramount’s feature film starring Star Trek actor Chris Pine will be directed by with a release date of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the duo behind the comedy Game Night. More casting announcements are expected within the coming weeks/months.
The fantasy genre is getting many high-profile television projects with a Lord of The Rings and Wheel of Time series at Amazon, both expected to have large budgets. HBO is about to begin production on their Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon this spring. Streaming giant Netflix has their The Witcher series adaptation starring Henry Cavill that is in the middle of filming Season 2 with another spin-off show in the works and they also recently secured film/television rights to Robert E. Howard’s iconic fantasy character Conan.
SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
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