D&D Movie/TV Paramount+ Will Not Proceed with Dungeons & Dragons Live-Action TV Show

Deadline reports that the live-action Dungeons & Dragons television series will not continue at Paramount+. The show was originally announced in January 2023 as Paramount+ placed an eight episode straight-to-series order. Normally that’s the best you can hope for in terms of a guarantee of the show happening as the show would produce the entire first season instead of needing to make a pilot to be approved.

Two big corporate changes happened since then, however. First, Hasbro sold the show’s co-producer Entertainment One to Lionsgate in December 2023 and shifted the production to Hasbro Entertainment. Currently, Paramount is searching for a buyer for the company with the current front runner according to reports being Sony Pictures, who have partnered with private equity firms to place a rumored $26 billion offer for the studio.

Little was announced about the plot other than it would be character-focused and involve the Underdark. These tidbits plus the fact that the character of Xenk from the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was originally intended to be Drizzt Do'Urden but changed during pre-production led to speculation that the series would be an adaptation of the Drizzt novels, particularly the origin story novel Homeland.

Creator Rawson Marshall Thurber (Red Notice, Easy A, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) and showrunner Drew Crevello (The Grudge 2, WeCrashed) are still attached to the project. Hasbro will repackage and update the pitch for the show and stop it around to other distributors.

 

[bloodtide]

That doesn't mean we should perpetuate the myth that PG-13 isn't where the most money is available AND that it is also where D&D has been ever since ages were added to book labels.

You know D&D books had nudity in them at one time, right? Was that for kids?

And D&D is about mass murder for loot....so how does that fit into "kids stuff"? And if it is Kids stuff....well, why don't they just show it: blood, death, murder of people and people like foes like drow, orcs, and goblins?

Even in D&D, when say a bard character encounters a foe or monster...they don't...yuck yuck...run away like they are part of the Scooby Do gang...they swing they weapon and try to kill it.

Just look at the current top 10 most streamed movies and shows. Only one is R and another is TV-MA.

Just if you just take a random week and add movies?

 

[bedir than]

You know D&D books had nudity in them at one time, right? Was that for kids?

Of course. But we also know that version wasn't as popular as this one. It's a faded glory that was problematic.

And D&D is about mass murder for loot....so how does that fit into "kids stuff"? And if it is Kids stuff....well, why don't they just show it: blood, death, murder of people and people like foes like drow, orcs, and goblins?

You do know all of that happens in PG and PG13, and those aren't Bluey and Paw Patrol.

Even in D&D, when say a bard character encounters a foe or monster...they don't...yuck yuck...run away like they are part of the Scooby Do gang...they swing they weapon and try to kill it.

Of course. This is very common in PG and PG-13 movies and TV-14 shows.
It's also, of course, the norm in the current generation of D&D which is generally labelled as 12+ and 13+

Just if you just take a random week and add movies?

I chose last week because the data was readily available.
But we can choose every single streaming movie and TV for today if you'd like.

TOP 10 on Streaming in the World • FlixPatrol

Daily updated VOD charts for 917 streaming platforms in 167 countries worldwide. Netflix TOP 10, Amazon Best Sellers & more.

flixpatrol.com

There's the resource. Do the work and show that R or TV-MA are actually the most popular shows among adults.

 

[Parmandur]

Of course. But we also know that version wasn't as popular as this one. It's a faded glory that was problematic.

You do know all of that happens in PG and PG13, and those aren't Bluey and Paw Patrol.

Of course. This is very common in PG and PG-13 movies and TV-14 shows.
It's also, of course, the norm in the current generation of D&D which is generally labelled as 12+ and 13+

I chose last week because the data was readily available.
But we can choose every single streaming movie and TV for today if you'd like.

TOP 10 on Streaming in the World • FlixPatrol

Daily updated VOD charts for 917 streaming platforms in 167 countries worldwide. Netflix TOP 10, Amazon Best Sellers & more.

flixpatrol.com

There's the resource. Do the work and show that R or TV-MA are actually the most popular shows among adults.

The most popular shows among adults are TV-14 crime procedurally on CBS.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Hasbro wants D&D to be a family-friendly brand, and the TTRPG franchises should be designed to allow all types of different styles. Let's remember there are titles of Marvel comics created for children, and others for mature readers.

Are the heroes of Hero-Quest "murder-hobos"?

Today there are animated shows for adults, for example Ricky & Morty.

Crime procedurally shows aren't so good to sell toys and videogames.

 

[Oofta]

Let's say we have two hypothetical countries. Erunaki is being invaded by the Assiru. Are the Erunakins committing "mass murder" by defending their country? Is it a war crime if they capture some Assiru materials and refurbish them to aid in their fight?

There is a world of difference between a soldier fighting to defend their country and a thief breaking into the house of someone they don't know and killing the inhabitants so that they can steal their stuff. If someone sees no difference between the two they have a very different definition of murder. Same way that, yes, the motivation behind what PCs in D&D do matters. In games I play yes, there is violence. Heck, most popular video games are based on fighting as are the biggest blockbuster movies.

The reasons behind why people fight absolutely makes a difference to the vast majority of people. Whether conflict based entertainment is a good thing or not is a completely different question, but at the end of the day we are still talking about a game not real world morality.

 

[bloodtide]

Of course. But we also know that version wasn't as popular as this one. It's a faded glory that was problematic.

It was popular though.....

You do know all of that happens in PG and PG13, and those aren't Bluey and Paw Patrol.

Sure you can have a PG13 kids show where the good guy has a sword and occasionally taps a foe with it and that foe then falls down on the ground to go boom and take a nap. And far more often, with the PG13 show you will see loony things like the good guy tosses a basket of apples and the foe trips and falls down.

Of course. This is very common in PG and PG-13 movies and TV-14 shows.
It's also, of course, the norm in the current generation of D&D which is generally labelled as 12+ and 13+

Well, just note it is not a good thing when a character see a monster and runs away like a Scooby Do member.

Let's say we have two hypothetical countries. Erunaki is being invaded by the Assiru. Are the Erunakins committing "mass murder" by defending their country? Is it a war crime if they capture some Assiru materials and refurbish them to aid in their fight?

It depends who you ask. Some would say you can only defend yourself and never attack. And more then a few of them would say that "you" may never, ever defend yourself and you must let only the cops/military do that.

Same way that, yes, the motivation behind what PCs in D&D do matters. In games I play yes, there is violence. Heck, most popular video games are based on fighting as are the biggest blockbuster movies.

Well, very few published D&D adventures have ever had the PCs as offical members of a fantasy country that are acting as offical government representatives. The average PC is not an offical anything and lives on the edge of society.

And yes, most popular video games and movies toss aside all that "civilization" to be popular.

The reasons behind why people fight absolutely makes a difference to the vast majority of people. Whether conflict based entertainment is a good thing or not is a completely different question, but at the end of the day we are still talking about a game not real world morality.

Well, we are just talking about a TV show.

 

[Oofta]

It was popular though.....

Sure you can have a PG13 kids show where the good guy has a sword and occasionally taps a foe with it and that foe then falls down on the ground to go boom and take a nap. And far more often, with the PG13 show you will see loony things like the good guy tosses a basket of apples and the foe trips and falls down.


Well, just note it is not a good thing when a character see a monster and runs away like a Scooby Do member.

It depends who you ask. Some would say you can only defend yourself and never attack. And more then a few of them would say that "you" may never, ever defend yourself and you must let only the cops/military do that.

Well, very few published D&D adventures have ever had the PCs as offical members of a fantasy country that are acting as offical government representatives. The average PC is not an offical anything and lives on the edge of society.

And yes, most popular video games and movies toss aside all that "civilization" to be popular.


Well, we are just talking about a TV show.

PCs may not be part of an official government, but they are doing their best because someone wants to do really bad things to large swathes of innocent people. Heck, Vecna wants to destroy the multiverse, it's not like he's some innocent schmuck sitting around playing canasta. If I look at BG3, while you can go the evil arc you are basically a group of people trying to stop the takeover and enslavement of an entire region. The fact that the PCs are not employed by a government is irrelevant.

But if you want to claim that PCs in BG3 are automatically murder hobos because they're doing their best to stop an invasion all I can say that I disagree.

 

[bloodtide]

But if you want to claim that PCs in BG3 are automatically murder hobos because they're doing their best to stop an invasion all I can say that I disagree.

I don't know about video games.

 

[Oofta]

I don't know about video games.

It's a straightforward plot that would fit any number of D&D campaigns. Basically the PCs are trying to save themselves and ultimately trying save the region from invasion by mind flayers (there are also alternative evil path you can take).

My point is that whether they are soldiers working for the government to fight off an invasion or just people that do it on their own is irrelevant. The motivation behind the actions is what matters to most people.

 

[bloodtide]

My point is that whether they are soldiers working for the government to fight off an invasion or just people that do it on their own is irrelevant. The motivation behind the actions is what matters to most people.

Ok.

But you can't just say anyone can just say they are "doing good" and then they can just do whatever they feel like on a whim.

And I'm not really talking about who gets to point a finger and say someone is "good or bad".

It is about having an MA TV show that depicts the harsh reality of life and death. So no..."making the orc trip on some apples and fall down", but yes to "stabbing the orc with a sword with blood and gore and killing them and dropping their dead body in the mud. "

It is not about just killing characters as they are NPC and it does not matter...like most video games. It's about having man characters with mature adult minds who will say things like they don't like all the killings.