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.

 

[Argyle King]

I don't disagree that the elements you bring up could be polished and made the centerpiece of an interesting Dragonlance universe. But I think Dragonlance, as is, presents itself as an antiquated idea where the gods decide to kill the world because "Good is too powerful." Though it seems like a minor nitpick, the language used for these things matters a lot. Law vs Chaos or Order vs Chaos works because Law and Chaos aren't inherently Good or Evil. But when you try to tell me "Being too good means becoming rigid" you're now clashing with the current generational AND personal definitions of good out there. These terms are too defined and too heavily influenced by virtually all of human experience to be presented in the way Dragonlance presents them; telling me that the Cataclysm had to happen because one Priest wanted to be come a god and because Evil is needed to balance out Good just isn't going to cut it presented as is.

Now, it is possible that someone with a strong vision could use these same terms and really ram home what Dragonlance is truly getting at in a creative and fantastical way that I could not imagine. In fact, it seems Joe is someone who could've done that. But having read some of the earlier books, all the earlier setting lore and stuff, I just don't see a future for the setting in today's current Fantasy ecosystem.

Game of Thrones didn't have clear portrayals of good & evil; it did quite well.

A show about a war between dragons would likely do well if released during times when House of the Dragon is between seasons (similar to how Vikings and Last Kingdom tended to be staggered).

I further posit that the antiquated idea might make for a good show by being different than show #473 that feels beholden to contemporary cinema's nartow view of what constitutes correct thought. A show which embraced messy morality, the complexities of loyalty and relationships during a war, and addressed (rather than hid from) the warts of the source material in a compelling way could be very good.

 

[jerryrice4949]

While I would have been interested to see this series, I can't say I'm surprised. Dragonlance was a decent story for the time, but times have changed. I don't have demographics, but I suspect these boards skew older than the D&D player base as a whole, and I think a lot of us around here don't fully appreciate how different the current culture is. We can't really expect what was cool in the 80's to still be cool with the younger generation now (for perspective, that would be like expecting us to get excited about WWII era stuff back when DL first came out!). I feel like WotC was heavily leaning in to nostalgia for a while, but I think it's past time to shift to new stories a new ideas more.

Really? The 1st game of Thrones book was written in 1996. LOTR and Hobbit way before that. Eye of the World (Wheel of Time) came out in 1990. So I don’t think the idea of things changing so much is a serious barrier. All things adapted for tv or movies have changes to make them relevant or fit the current Zeitgeist.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Bummer news. Between this and Death Saves being pretty much moribund, things are not going great for Manganiello, D&D-wise.

 

[jerryrice4949]

Bummer news. Between this and Death Saves being pretty much moribund, things are not going great for Manganiello, D&D-wise.

Maybe Sophia was his good luck charm. I mean how could she not be.

 

[DarkCrisis]

 

[Shardstone]

Game of Thrones didn't have clear portrayals of good & evil; it did quite well.

A show about a war between dragons would likely do well if released during times when House of the Dragon is between seasons (similar to how Vikings and Last Kingdom tended to be staggered).

I further posit that the antiquated idea might make for a good show by being different than show #473 that feels beholden to contemporary cinema's nartow view of what constitutes correct thought. A show which embraced messy morality, the complexities of loyalty and relationships during a war, and addressed (rather than hid from) the warts of the source material in a compelling way could be very good.

My friend, the bolded line is my entire point.

 

[michaeljpastor]

I've said before that they may look at the sales and reception of the various settings that they have released in the last 10 years to see what settings they would further develop in the next (10) years. If I recall correctly, Dragonlance was toward the bottom of that list. If they are looking at DnD as a brand, they'll develop the ancillary products correspondingly. He simply picked the wrong horse.

 

[Retreater]

He simply picked the wrong horse.

Are you suggesting another My Little Pony series?

 

[DarkCrisis]

I've said before that they may look at the sales and reception of the various settings that they have released in the last 10 years to see what settings they would further develop in the next (10) years. If I recall correctly, Dragonlance was toward the bottom of that list. If they are looking at DnD as a brand, they'll develop the ancillary products correspondingly. He simply picked the wrong horse.

They could have put some actual effort into bringing it back. Instead they squirted out a subpar adventure book that barely explains the world and a board game tie-in, but yes it's all the fans fault.

 

[Alzrius]

Are you suggesting another My Little Pony series?

If they aren't, I am.