D&D Movie/TV Joe Manganiello: Dragonlance TV Show No Longer In Development

Actor Joe Manganiello has confirmed that the anticipated Dragonlance TV show that he had been working on is no longer being developed. In an interview with ComicBook.com. According to Manganiello, following poor sales of Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen and the Warriors of Krynn board game last year, "Dragonlance is not a property [WotC] are interested in developing further currently". This decision was also prompted by Hasbro's sale of its media studio, eOne.

In March last year, Manganiello confirmed during an official D&D video update that he was working on a TV show for WotC, and a D&D live action series was greenly by Paramount in January. It's not clear if these are the same property.

Manganiello also talked about his approach to the property, and the new designs he had for the world, the dragons, and even the casting. "I want to make [the show] because I want to see it and I just want to feel that excited and electric about something. The characters...like the casting, I have a look book with over 1,000 pages, but it's not what you expect. The design concepts I had for the world, for the armor, for the swords....I had a fresh take on what the dragons were going to look like, it was going to be nothing like anyone has ever seen."

He has been working on a script for years, and was told by TV executives that his pilot was one of the best fantasy scripts they had ever read. He even offered to buy Dragonlance from WotC.

You can watch the whole interview at the link above.

 

[Incenjucar]

What makes something "Distinctly D&D"? Using official spells even if the PC claims credit for Bigby's Hand? Fighting chromatic dragons that use appropriate breath weapons? Can you not use vampires and necromancers because they're too generic? Races straight out of the official rules?

No, that's setting.

D&D is how the world works, not which world it is.

 

[mamba]

No, that's setting.

D&D is how the world works, not which world it is.

I don’t think we will ever have a D&D movie then, only generic fantasy set in the Forgotten Realms or wherever

 

[Dire Bare]

The recent D&D movie doesn't really care about the game at all, and if you ask me, it's still a D&D movie.

I would disagree. There are certainly places where the story strayed from the game rules (wild shape!) but a lot of what happens in the story maps very well to the game. Also, the writer/directors are on record stating that they wrote each character to embody the types of characters we often play at the table.

 

[Incenjucar]

Think of it this way: If you are using Vampire: The Masquerade rules to explore dungeons in Middle Earth, what game are you playing?

 

[Oofta]

No, that's setting.

D&D is how the world works, not which world it is.

I'm not following. I was referencing Legend of Vox Machina, which obviously works "like a D&D world". It's not like there is only one setting for D&D campaigns. That campaign takes place in a unique world, just like my campaigns.

 

[Dire Bare]

Think of it this way: If you are using Vampire: The Masquerade rules to explore dungeons in Middle Earth, what game are you playing?

If that's what you and your group are interested in doing, sounds like a fun time!

 

[Incenjucar]

I'm not following. I was referencing Legend of Vox Machina, which obviously works "like a D&D world". It's not like there is only one setting for D&D campaigns. That campaign takes place in a unique world, just like my campaigns.

You cited specific elements. Colorful dragons can exist in Shadowrun just as easily.

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Edit: Overall the issue is that the greater the distance between what can happen on the screen and what is supported by the products, the less relevant the brand is to the show. If the show applies equally to Shadowrun or Werewolf why are you calling it D&D?

 

[michaeljpastor]

No, that's setting.

D&D is how the world works, not which world it is.

It had Mimics, the Cartoon Kids, Intellect Devourers and Dialogue reminiscent of a bunch of people sitting around a table (according to my brother, who has never played D&D). It was D&D dude.

 

[Dire Bare]

You cited specific elements. Colorful dragons can exist in Shadowrun just as easily.

Really?!?! Are you really trying to convince folks that the Legend of Vox Machina was not a story pulled straight from a D&D campaign, keeping many easily identifiable aspects of the D&D meta-setting. That somehow they could have just as easily drawn from . . . . Shadowrun?!?!

Oookay.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm not following. I was referencing Legend of Vox Machina, which obviously works "like a D&D world". It's not like there is only one setting for D&D campaigns. That campaign takes place in a unique world, just like my campaigns.

And heck, the cartoon takes place in an official published D&D Setting.