Chris Pine Will Star In a New ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie
Frankly, given the enormous popularity of Game of Thrones in the last decade, it’s kind of shocking it’s taken this long for someone to reboot the big-screen Dungeons & Dragons franchise for the 2020s. But finally, it’s happening. And Chris Pine will be its star. (Presumably playing neither a dungeon nor a dragon.)
That’s the latest report from Deadline. Pine’s D&D film will be written and directed by Game Night’s Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. A few more details:
Goldstein & Daley had been set in 2019 to direct a film that will feature an ensemble cast and take a subversive approach to the game. Landing Pine, who has been the linchpin of the Star Trek film series for Paramount, is a strong start for what the studios hope will be a new franchise launch. They’re making plans to shoot first quarter of next year in Belfast. Goldstein & Daley were hired off the dark comedy Game Night, and after scripting Spider-Man: Homecoming.
You may know John Francis Daley best as Sam Weir from Freaks & Geeks — where his character and his fellow geeks actually played D&D. So this is like the fulfillment of some kind of prophecy.
The last time Hollywood tried to make a big-budget Dungeons & Dragons movie, the year was 2000 and the end result looked like this:
Two direct-to-video sequels eventually followed in 2005 and 2012, but it’s not exactly a trilogy that altered the course of cinema forever. That franchise never had a star on the level of Chris Pine, though. So this could finally bring D&D into the full mainstream.
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