D&D Movie/TV Netflix Planning Forgotten Realms D&D TV Show With Stranger Things Producer

A Dungeons & Dragons TV show set in the Forgotten Realms is in development at Netflix. Deadline reports that the new TV series, titled The Forgotten Realms, is being produced by Shawn Levy, with Drew Crevello serving as writer and showrunner. No timeframe was given for the show's release. No cast has been announced and neither Hasbro nor Netflix has actually confirmed the project. If successful, the series could launch a wider D&D cinematic universe, long a goal for Hasbro.

Hasbro has tried unsuccessfully to get Dungeons & Dragons to television for several years. At one point, Paramount+ had a TV show in development with Rawson Marshall Thurber writing the pilot. While the project was ultimately scrapped, Crevello (who was set to be showrunner on that version of the show) stayed on the project and redeveloped it with a new concept. According to Deadline, this project is not tied to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, although the movie is set to debut on Netflix this month and is also set in the Forgotten Realms.

Dungeons & Dragons was also featured in an episode of Secret Level, an animated series focused on various game franchises that aired on Amazon Prime. Legendary, meanwhile, is adapting Hasbro's other major fantasy franchise Magic: The Gathering into a movie and TV project.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

And Netflix primarily cares about the numbers early on

This is a product of the streaming model. What they want are shows that make people want to take out a subscription, and probably the best way to measure this is to see how many people binge watch it as soon as it comes out. Once people are subscribed, they can keep them by showing endless reruns of cheep but popular old shows. So subsequent seasons of expensive new shows are not really much value to Netflix. What I have noticed is they are commissioning/buying more shows that are only ever intended to be a single season, such as the various Harlan Coben series.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is a product of the streaming model. What they want are shows that make people want to take out a subscription, and probably the best way to measure this is to see how many people binge watch it as soon as it comes out. Once people are subscribed, they can keep them by showing endless reruns of cheep but popular old shows. So subsequent seasons of expensive new shows are not really much value to Netflix. What I have noticed is they are commissioning/buying more shows that are only ever intended to be a single season, such as the various Harlan Coben series.

Yeah, I have a friend from high school who's the lead writer on a show that came out this month. It was very important that all of her friends finished the series this month, when the numbers matter the most to Netflix. (Luckily, it's a fun show and something I would have happily watched anyway.)

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I found this list interesting. What were the most streamed shows of 2024?

1. “Bluey” - 55.62 billion minutes
2. “Grey’s Anatomy” - 47.85 billion minutes
3. “Family Guy” - 42.44 billion minutes
4. “Bob’s Burgers” - 36.8 billion minutes
5. “NCIS” - 35.91 billion minutes
6. “Young Sheldon” - 32.08 billion minutes
7. “The Big Bang Theory” - 29.12 billion minutes
8. “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” - 28.72 billion minutes
9. “Criminal Minds” - 28.40 billion minutes
10. “SpongeBob SquarePants” - 27.87 billion minutes

“The Big Bang Theory” was also the most binged, according to Nielsen. It had 265.5 episodes streamed per viewer on Max.

No original programming was among the top 10. “Bridgerton” was the highest original show with 21.42 billion viewing minutes.

The most popular new original drama was “Fallout” with 11.95 billion viewing minutes. It was followed by “Fool Me Once,” Nielsen found.


As for documentaries and unscripted programming, “American Nightmare” from Netflix had the most viewing with 3.57 billion minutes.

For films, “Moana” had the most with 13.03 billion minutes viewed.

Here’s the rest of the movies’ Top 10 list:

1. “Moana”
2. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”
3. “Red One”
4. “Trolls Band Together”
5. “Minions”
6. “Encanto”
7. “Frozen”
8. “Paw Patrol: The Movie”
9. “Inside Out”
10. “Boss Baby”

I'm actually surprised the Office is not on this list. [edit to add: and Friends]

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I mean, Paych intentionally lampshade the silliness of substituting Vancoiver for Santa Barbara within the shoe all the time, it was hilarious.

I'm sorry Parmandur, I've read this sentence like 5 times, and still don't get what you are saying. I think there are some typos in here that are corrupting the meaning. OR I don't know what the use of the noun "lampshade" as a verb means

 

[Parmandur]

I'm sorry Parmandur, I've read this sentence like 5 times, and still don't get what you are saying. I think there are some typos in here that are corrupting the meaning. OR I don't know what the use of the noun "lampshade" as a verb means

Yeah, lampshade is a trope.alang term for when fiction acknowledges a bit of a stretch in the actual text, which Paych did all the time in regards to Vancouver subbing for Santa Barbara:

Lampshade Hanging - TV Tropes

Lampshade Hanging (or, more informally, "Lampshading") is the writers' trick of dealing with any element of the story that seems too dubious to take at face value, whether a very implausible plot development or a particularly blatant use of a …

tvtropes.org

 

[Azzy]

I'm sorry Parmandur, I've read this sentence like 5 times, and still don't get what you are saying. I think there are some typos in here that are corrupting the meaning. OR I don't know what the use of the noun "lampshade" as a verb means

Don't waste too many hours on there, but TV Tropes to the rescue.
Ninja'd!

 

[Henadic Theologian]

This is a product of the streaming model. What they want are shows that make people want to take out a subscription, and probably the best way to measure this is to see how many people binge watch it as soon as it comes out. Once people are subscribed, they can keep them by showing endless reruns of cheep but popular old shows. So subsequent seasons of expensive new shows are not really much value to Netflix. What I have noticed is they are commissioning/buying more shows that are only ever intended to be a single season, such as the various Harlan Coben series.

They can keep SOME folks with reruns of older shows, but if a new show has enough minutes watched like Stranger Things, then it's valuable enough for subscriber retention to keep.

The fact that it's Stranger Things Shawn Levy running this makes it alot less likely to get dumped prematurely. ST bucked the Netflix pattern. 5 seasons!

 

[Parmandur]

They can keep SOME folks with reruns of older shows, but if a new show has enough minutes watched like Stranger Things, then it's valuable enough for subscriber retention to keep.

The fact that it's Stranger Things Shawn Levy running this makes it alot less likely to get dumped prematurely. ST bucked the Netflix pattern. 5 seasons!

It isn't even really a "pattern"...Netflix doesn't renew every show they give a season or two, but they have a lot of 5 or more Season original shows. Dragon Prince just had the 7th season drop just a couple months ago.

 

[Warren]

It isn't even really a "pattern"...Netflix doesn't renew every show they give a season or two, but they have a lot of 5 or more Season original shows. Dragon Prince just had the 7th season drop just a couple months ago.

Yeah I'm not sure where Netflix gets this reputation for cancelling "popular" shows. I'm sure they have cut their fair share, but streamers and Netflix specifically have perfected the art of knowing what shows are worth. It sucks when you like something that is cancelled, but that's life. Shows that cost a lot to make are obviously going to fall victim to this more often.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Netflix produced its own version of "Urban Arcana", "Bright", with Will Smith. Of course a production style "Urban Arcana" or "Dark*Matter" should be easier to be produced but also other studios could follow the same style.

Really when I start to love certain characters I don't want to watch them doing it in a bed or showing skin. Jim Henson's Labyrinth is a cult classic and it's kid-friendly.

We can't forget the adventage of D&D as franchise is if a second season is renewed we could use a different group of heroes.

Maybe the bet shouldn't be too risky, and it would be better a miniserie or with a low number of episodes.