The Ronin has been able to confirm that production designer Raymond Chan has indeed been added to the production team of Paramount’s new Dungeons & Dragons reboot, a fantasy film based on the beloved table-top game from directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.
Chan recently worked on the Disney+ series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier along with previous MCU credits as the supervising art director on Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of The Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, and Avengers: Infinity War.
Filming will be taking place in Belfast, Northern Ireland and exterior shots in France.
It stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Justice Smith.
Dungeons & Dragons could become a huge franchise for Paramount if successful given the game’s revitalized popularity in the last couple of years (Stranger Things is partly to thank) with the demographic they’re aiming for, mainly, kids under the age of 18. Television has been skewing more in the realm of mature content concerning recent fantasy projects which leaves kids missing out on the genre, something that Paramount could capitalize on.
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.
Actor Chris Pine is currently doing the press rounds to help promote his upcoming film Wonder Woman 1984 and while speaking with Comic Book revealed he hasn’t read any scripts concerning the Star Trek franchise such as Noah Hawley‘s Star Trek 4 or even the Quentin Tarantino project written by Mark L. Smith, the latter was said to be influenced by the 1930s gangster episode from the original series.
“You know, I haven’t [read a script],” Pine tells Comic Book. “I really, in terms of the Star Trek of it all, I wish I knew anything. I’m quite literally one of the last people ever to find out. So, I haven’t read that script, I don’t know where it is in development, I haven’t read the Noah Hawley script, I have no idea what’s happening in Star Trek land. But I love the character, I love the universe, I love my friends in it, you know, to have a Quentin take on it would be tremendously interesting and entertaining.”
Pine even suggests he might not even return for future films in the exchange.
“You know, look, whatever happens, if I come back or not, it’s a great universe, it deserves to have a future, and I hope that is the case.”
Paramount has seemingly pressed pause on the film side of the franchise to focus on multiple television shows for their streaming service Paramount+ formerly CBS All Access. It would be a little upsetting if the studio ultimately recast the Captain Kirk role but hardly surprising given that they couldn’t figure out salaries back when S.J. Clarkson was attached to direct Star Trek 4 years ago.
Filming on Paramount/eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons (working tile Chainmail) is expected to begin sometime in the spring with locations set to include Belfast, Northern Ireland and various spots in France. It was recently confirmed that Game Night cinematographer Barry Peterson would be reuniting with directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. The director of photography has been location scouting in 2020 getting ready for production to take place in 2021.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Chris Pine is now in talks to take an unnamed lead role in the fantasy flick. We still don’t have a good picture of what type of film they’re going for as people could easily be sucked into a game or it simply might explore the mythology of Dungeons & Dragons as straight fantasy film. There is an expectation since the adventure game is played with a group of people that Pine will be part of an ensemble of actors playing the lead roles.
The iconic table-top game was a huge hit in the 1980s and recently got a resurgence thanks to Netflix’s Stranger Things popularizing it with a new generation. It’s mostly a hodgepodge of fantasy elements and creatures either created via the Monster Manuel or influenced by existing material pulled from various literary sources.
Pine is likely best known globally for his lead roles in the Star Trek and Wonder Woman films making him an obvious franchise player in the eyes of a studio. This wouldn’t be the first time Chris has swung a sword as he played Scottish historical hero Robert The Bruce in the Netflix film The Outlaw King from director David Mackenzie.
I watched it recently and was quite impressed with Pine’s accent.
THE OUTLAW KING – The untold, true story of Robert The Bruce who transformed from defeated nobleman, to reluctant King, to outlaw hero over the course of an extraordinary year. Forced into battle in order to save his family, his people and his country from the oppressive English occupation of medieval Scotland, Robert seizes the Scottish crown and rallies a ragtag group of men to face off against the wrath of the world’s strongest army lead by the ferocious King Edward 1 and his volatile son, the Prince of Wales.
Directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley made waves with their comedy Game Night, but also penned Marvel’s successful Spider-Man: Homecoming and led the duo being hired to direct The Flash for Warner Bros. only for them to eventually exit.
Dungeons & Dragons currently has a release date of May 27, 2022.
When news hit that Paramount Pictures would be rethinking the Star Trek franchise placing Noah Hawley’s Star Trek 4 on pause it was revealed by Deadline that the Quentin Tarantino project penned by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, Overlord, The Midnight Sky) may have been influenced by a classic Star Trek episode titled “A Piece of The Action” that featured a 1930s gangster setting.
Tarantino dropped out as director, but the project is still viable based on an episode of the classic Star Trek series that takes place largely earthbound in a 30s gangster setting — might serve the franchise best as Logan-like spinoffs when the core franchise has been revitalized.
SFX Magazine (via Games Radar) spoke with Mark L. Smith and he certainly indicated that Captain Kirk would have been part of it. We have to assume they would have wanted Chris Pine back in that role given Tarantino’s previous supportive comments on Pine.
SMITH: “I wrote a Star Trek with Tarantino, and that was a sci-fi script on which I could have fun and lean into some bigger, broader things. Kirk is always just so fun. Tarantino and I had so much fun with him, because Kirk is just William Shatner, y’know? It’s like: you’re not sure who is who, so you can kinda lean into that. Because you watch Chris Pine and he’s playing Kirk, but he’s also playing William Shatner a touch.”
How Paramount moves forward with the franchise is a little unclear as Star Trek 4 isn’t happening anytime soon and the studio seems to be more keen to grind-out various television shows for it’s streaming service. Tarantino also has been public that he is going to be working on books and is prepping a television series of Bounty Law as well.
Yesterday, Deadline confirmed that Los Angeles filming on the New Line Cinema thriller Don’t Worry Darling has temporarily paused due to a positive COVID-19 test from an undisclosed member of the production, not to be part of the main cast. The period film being directed by Booksmart’s Olivia Wilde has an impressive cast that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, KiKi Layne, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, and Olivia Wilde.
Production will pause for 14 days.
New Line tonight temporarily shut down production on the Olivia Wilde-directed film Don’t Worry Darling when a member of the production tested positive for COVID-19. The studio confirmed it happened, something that is an occupational hazard for any film or TV show that is shooting right now. They shut down right away.
With the United States hitting 103,000+ single day new positive COVID-19 cases, an all-time record, there is a good chance that other productions in and outside of California are likely going to see more productions hit with positive tests. Even with aggressive safety protocols in place.
The New Line project isn’t the only project filming stateside that has had hiccups due to positive tests as Dwayne Johnson (along with his family) tested positive just weeks before Netflix’s Red Notice was set to resume filming in Atlanta. Speaking of Atlanta, Marvel Studios has a huge presence in the area with Disney+ shows wrapping up alongside Spider-Man 3, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk all set to film there.
In mid-October, filming on the Netflix western The Harder They Fall starring Idris Elba and Regina King that was taking place in New Mexico paused for COVID-19 tests as well. Elba famously had previously dealt with the Coronavirus while in Australia and shared his experience on social media.
There were reports that Spyglass Media’s Scream 5 had three crew members contract COVID-19 in North Carolina but kept on filming anyways which sounds extremely risky from an insurance perspective and to the safety of their cast/crew.
Production bubbles seem to be where things are headed and might be a way to curb potential future shut downs. Bubbles limit the contact of people working on the film to outsiders and hinder the chance of positive tests, the NBA bubble was a huge success story over the summer.
Director Olivia Wilde is expected to follow-up Don’t Worry Darling with an untitled Sony/Marvel film which is reportedly focusing on Jesscia Drew aka Spider-Woman.
Deadline reports that Shia LaBeouf had to exit the upcoming thriller Don’t Worry Darling from director Olivia Wilde and will now be replaced by Dunkirk actor Harry Styles.
The rest of the cast includes Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, and Wilde has a supporting role.
Don’t Worry Darling is set in an isolated, utopian community in the 1950s California desert.
Olivia Wilde made waves with with debut effort Booksmart and recently closed a deal to direct a Marvel film for Sony Pictures said to be Spider-Woman.
The New Line Cinema pic hasn’t landed an official release date.
Director Patty Jenkins promises fans the film will be released in theaters, but doesn’t mention a release date. A possible hint that it will move again?
They also dropped a brand new trailer!
In the new footage we get a first on-screen look at the film’s villain Cheetah, but you won’t get more than a handful of glimpses.
Wonder Woman 1984 is currently slated for release on October 2nd, but could be pushed later in the year or to 2021.
Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big screen adventure finds her facing two all-new foes: Max Lord and The Cheetah. With director Patty Jenkins back at the helm and Gal Gadot returning in the title role, “Wonder Woman 1984” is Warner Bros. Pictures’ follow up to the DC Super Hero’s first outing, 2017’s record-breaking “Wonder Woman,” which took in $822 million at the worldwide box office. The film also stars Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Kristen Wiig as The Cheetah, Pedro Pascal as Max Lord, Robin Wright as Antiope, and Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta.
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