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.

 

[Clint_L]

None of the monsters or spells are D&D. In fact the whole beholder story from first campaign was scratched because it's a D&D monster, as are Mind Flayers.

No, it was scratched because it wasn't a cohesive story. The original KS was very clear about the storylines they would be adapting, and the Briarwood arc was always going to be the focus, once they had funding for a whole season. The Briarwood arc which is also D&D. Yes, they have altered some things slightly to avoid IP issues, but if a cartoon closely adhering to an actual D&D campaign isn't D&D enough for you, then I dunno.

The world of Exandria feels a lot more like traditional D&D to me than Krynn does, that's for sure.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

We are talking about the point of view by the audience, but we should realise how it should be watched by the point of view by the producers. If it was so easy, then lots of studios could have tried to create their own epic fantasy franchise.

If the FXs were too expensive, then we have got the option of the animation. Today the animation for adults is wellcome. Everybody knows not all the cartoons are for children.

If the videogame BG3 has worked very well, then I hope there is an opened door for a Dragonlance videogame, where we shouldn't worry too much abouch the coherence with the previous canon because we should be able to customize it to our own taste.

I suspect something is happening in Hollywood behind the curtains, and not only Disney, Warner or Paramount. There are some internal troubles we can't imagine. Then our speculations will be useless here.

* About the lore my suspects is the king-priest of Ishtar was responsabile, but not totally, and even the true cause of the Cataclysm was linked mainly with the destroyed Zivilyn, an "air body" within the Krynnspace. The fall of the "meteor" on Instar was a colateral effect of the destruction of the Zivilyn planet (let's say the king-priest was responsible because he wanted to call/summon somebody else, and then he "opened the wrong door").

Maybe a part of Zivilyn was saved as a demiplane, a "gift" by he good deities to "evacuate" their loyal worshipers. Other piece of the world of Zivilyn was also "saved" but it is practically like a dark domain, a nightmare land to punish the souls of "reincarnaed" sinners who believed they could challenge the deities.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The world of Exandria feels a lot more like traditional D&D to me than Krynn does, that's for sure.

Certainly, the animated show feels like a group of typical D&D PCs pursuing a typical D&D storyline. Which is more than I can say for Dragonlance. I've never run a DL adventure with the Heroes of the Lance as PCs, but I can't imagine them behaving like they do in the novels!

One of the reason WotC finds it so difficult to spin D&D into gold is that so much of it, including the vast majority of the monsters, is in the public domain.

 

[Zardnaar]

Certainly, the animated show feels like a group of typical D&D PCs pursuing a typical D&D storyline. Which is more than I can say for Dragonlance. I've never run a DL adventure with the Heroes of the Lance as PCs, but I can't imagine them behaving like they do in the novels!

One of the reason WotC finds it so difficult to spin D&D into gold is that so much of it, including the vast majority of the monsters, is in the public domain.

I noticed BG3 the core of the game is WotC IP.

Illithids and Gith are major components along with Selune, Shar and BG itself.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I noticed BG3 the fore of the game is WotC IP.

Illithids and Gith are major components along with Selune, Shar and BG itself.

Indeed. I don't think it's a coincidence that the vast majority of BG3 is based around the relatively small proportion of D&D that does belong to WotC.

 

[Zardnaar]

Indeed. I don't think it's a coincidence that the vast majority of BG3 is based around the relatively small proportion of D&D that does belong to WotC.

Yup Yuant Ti, Beholder and eone different gods involved is more or less what's left for non obscure stuff.

BG3 also more or less follows a "perfect" formula for a D&D adventure.

Last ten years or so been looking at a lot of various adventures for what works.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Let's remember Hasbro is more focused in D&D in the videogame industry than the TTRPGs. If my memory doesn't fail in the first days of BG3 sales it was more money than years selling printed sourcebooks, and we are talking the best time for D&D.

"Goblin Slayer" is a manga what drinks a lot of D&D elements, but the most of "isekai" stories are about a main character, and his "harem" of female sidekicks/allies. Some times the main characters are "broken" ( = too overpowered). I mean if other writters haven't tried to create their own epic fantasy saga with the same style of Dragonlance, there is some reason.

Even if the sourcebook hasn't been sold so well, at least WotC will earn money thanks the unlocking in DMGuild. Let's await what are the best ideas by the 3PPs.

Saturation of fantasy genre? That would be like saying there is a saturation of soap-operas or sitcoms.

* I can tell an idea to explain with enough coherence the reason because somebody from "real life" could reincarnate within "Dragonlance world" known this was a fantasy saga. Really the events of the novels happened in the "Krynnspace 1.0.", and after somebody wrote in the "real life". After a soul of somebody who read the books in "real life" is reincarnated in the world of Dragonlance, but it wouldn't be the original Krynnspace 1.0. but a new timeline with several retcons (for example sorcerers and warlocks are added, and dragonborns are a "nerfed" version of the draconians, or ordinary humanoids who mutated by effects of arcane draconic powers).

 

[michaeljpastor]

Let's remember Hasbro is more focused in D&D in the videogame industry than the TTRPGs. If my memory doesn't fail in the first days of BG3 sales it was more money than years selling printed sourcebooks, and we are talking the best time for D&D.



Saturation of fantasy genre? That would be like saying there is a saturation of soap-operas or sitcoms.

There was, and is a saturation of both, given how the market/appetite has shrunken over the years.

 

[nyvinter]

I think we and everyone else here is also ignoring a very big part of the tv-series not going forwards: they still didn't have a distributor for it. None of the streaming services were interested for now and after a certain time of that can't just continue to throw development money at it.

 

[Queer Venger]

No, it was scratched because it wasn't a cohesive story. The original KS was very clear about the storylines they would be adapting, and the Briarwood arc was always going to be the focus, once they had funding for a whole season. The Briarwood arc which is also D&D. Yes, they have altered some things slightly to avoid IP issues, but if a cartoon closely adhering to an actual D&D campaign isn't D&D enough for you, then I dunno.

The world of Exandria feels a lot more like traditional D&D to me than Krynn does, that's for sure.

perhaps I long for a finale that would have had big bad Vecna and Manganiello's edge lord character Arkhan; one can dream.