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.

 

[Zardnaar]

Even if this project has been cancelled, at least it has been useful to knock doors and meet new contacts, and this could help to save time when in the future they wanted to start a new project.

Or maybe it is because now Paramount is not in its best time and they want to avoid risks.

Most Hollywood projects fall through.

It's a downside of the always relentless positivity types getting excited about announcements.

Until you're watching it in front of you or playing it if it's a game don't get to excited.

Flip side of the coin the doomers are also full of crap.

 

[nyvinter]

Big company executives are constantly moving about, this is like a law of (un-)nature. But even if the people he liked had stayed, I doubt it would have ended differently: he spent years on the script that didn't get picked up by any distributors. Without that, it couldn't go forwards. Every showrunner has lots and lots of treatments where this has happened, you accept it and move on to the next thing.

If he takes not picking up this personal, I'd hate to see how he reacts to a show getting cancelled.

 

[Queer Venger]

It seems like it's been made clear to him that they have no plans to engage him in any such manner; he doesn't like who's in charge and he's not going to get what he wants from them, so why lie and say "it's been great working with them?"

yep, saw his video and tbh he came across a bit bitter and sour grapes.
I kind of suspected his intentions all along with how active he was with the WotC streams and events; obviously a Hollywood actor trying to bank on his love of DL (don't fault him for that at all). But to then burn your bridges publicly is kind of low-brow IMO.

Yeah, he came across as a petulant kid who didnt get the toy he wanted for Christmas.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If we're lucky, maybe the pilot will end up getting a table read on the Dead Pilots Society podcast, although this project didn't get as far as most of those scripts did.

 

[michaeljpastor]

yep, saw his video and tbh he came across a bit bitter and sour grapes.
I kind of suspected his intentions all along with how active he was with the WotC streams and events; obviously a Hollywood actor trying to bank on his love of DL (don't fault him for that at all). But to then burn your bridges publicly is kind of low-brow IMO.

Yeah, he came across as a petulant kid who didnt get the toy he wanted for Christmas.

I went back and watched it again with the lens of OGLgate and it occurred to me that Regime may be code for Hasbro C-Level, not WOTC dev team and it occurred to me that he isn't sour graping any more than people did during OGLgate.

 

[Queer Venger]

I went back and watched it again with the lens of OGLgate and it occurred to me that Regime may be code for Hasbro C-Level, not WOTC dev team and it occurred to me that he isn't sour graping any more than people did during OGLgate.

interesting, I wonder who those folks are? I guess the WotC D&D team is not really in charge of media products in particular

 

[michaeljpastor]

If we're lucky, maybe the pilot will end up getting a table read on the Dead Pilots Society podcast, although this project didn't get as far as most of those scripts did.

This is the first I've ever heard of this and I'm in love with it already and I haven't clicked on the link.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is the first I've ever heard of this and I'm in love with it already and I haven't clicked on the link.

I've never had an episode be a total waste of time, and many of them are real delights. Lots of big actors reading these scripts, too, depending on the episode.

 

[bedir than]

I guess the WotC D&D team is not really in charge of media products in particular

They aren't in charge, but they are the ones that work with media and gaming partners to assure lore is met. Stewart, Mearls and Law (?? double check my memory here) all worked on BG3 and/or the film as lore consultants. None of them are with Hasbro anymore. Only one was laid off though.