Fans will have to wait a lot longer for the proposed Dungeons & Dragons live-action series. According to a report in Deadline, Paramount+ has decided not to go forward with the fantasy series. This news comes about a year and change since the streamer announced an eight-episode, straight-to-series order. This Dungeons & Dragons series was intended as a co-production between Hasbro’s eOne and Paramount Pictures. But this may not be the end for this adaptation of the iconic role-playing game. The series is undergoing a creative overhaul, and Hasbro is shopping the series to new potential buyers and streaming platforms.
Dungeons & Dragons has gone through a few iterations as a live-action series in recent years, with none ever going before the cameras. Derek Kolstad, the creator behind John Wick, was developing a Dungeons & Dragons series for Paramount and Hasbro a few years back. This most recent version came from Rawson Marshall Thurber, who wrote the pilot for the Dungeons & Dragons TV series. It was also his plan to direct some episodes. Now, it’s back to the drawing board again. It’s unclear if elements from this recently proposed version will appear in whatever future iteration the project takes. We’ll just have to wait and see.
While the report doesn’t cite any particular reason, it’s possible budgets have played a part. Many cite Paramount’s financial issues as the reason that Star Trek: Legacy never received a greenlit, so it’s possible these issues have also impacted D&D. Others say it’s the underperformance of the excellent Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves at the box office. Yet Dungeons & Dragons is too famous an IP to never pique the interest of some other streamer though. It’s just a question of when, and just what form the series will take. For now, however, it’s swords and shields down.