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

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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.
 

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Darryl Mott

Darryl Mott

Question is, what is usual new player demographic?
Based on the numbers WotC has shared in the past, about 8-14, though their target demographic is 12-24. Pretty heavy amount of early teen players, though.
It mostly boils down to what WotC want's to sell. TTRPG or toys. Cause those are completely separate customer demographics. I feel like Hasbro would love to rather sell toys, since they are toy company first and foremost and toy sales are down.
TTRPGs are toys.
I just don't see D&D as a kid and preteen brand, since their prime customers are 20+ year olds. It's about targeting ones who are willing to spend money on products.
D&D is a game primarily aimed at middle and high schoolers, and they seem to he succesing in that aim. Older players are appreciated, Imaure, but if you look at what QotC puts out and the numbers they have on who plays...it's a teen brand.
 

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@GrimCo this is the numbers (out of 40 million at the time) from a few years ago, but I see no reason to believe the percentages have shifted considerably since then. Note that "40-45" was later clarified to be "40+" so 8-12 year olds were a bigger part of the audience than all of Gen X and Boomers combined. Now, this doesn't show that the game is a "kids" game for babies, but it does show why WotC has a PG, all-ages focus. If you haven't looked at the kids material WotC and TwnSpeed has been putting out there recently...it is extensive. They are focused on the youth.

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What i found on the web, from 2023, is that 48% are milenials (so 28+), 33% are gen Z (12-27), and 19% are genX and older. 18+ are adults, so by this chart, 75% of the players are adults. Sorry but if majority of players are adults, you can't really peg it as teen game.

I understand "get them while they're young" business strategy. It's smart move.

That's why, personally, i think that if they try to make new media project, they should do separate movie/show for kids and for adults. We may be playing same game in theory, but games played by adults and by kids are very different games by theme and style.

Then again, i'm not privy to board meetings and don't have a clue what their corporate strategies are.
 

Sorry but if majority of players are adults, you can't really peg it as teen game.
But who is the primary driver of revenue? That lower age 25% could easily be the primary source of continued spending on WotC products.

We can read tea leaves all we want, but WotC behavior for years makes it very clear where they see their bread being buttered, and it ain't an R rated scene.
 

But who is the primary driver of revenue? That lower age 25% could easily be the primary source of continued spending on WotC products.

We can read tea leaves all we want, but WotC behavior for years makes it very clear where they see their bread being buttered, and it ain't an R rated scene.
That could change if they successfully move to other media as the primary revenue drivers then the audience could be different and so the stories told.
Even if D&D media initially takes hold within the gamer audience, I think it will need to break out of that audience to justify its costs and such success would been that it tells stories that the attracted audience is interested in.
 

That could change if they successfully move to other media as the primary revenue drivers then the audience could be different and so the stories told.
Even if D&D media initially takes hold within the gamer audience, I think it will need to break out of that audience to justify its costs and such success would been that it tells stories that the attracted audience is interested in.
I mean, that's another good argument for PG-13/TV-14, since that is what is most popular with the wider audience.
 


But who is the primary driver of revenue? That lower age 25% could easily be the primary source of continued spending on WotC products.
Yeah, i'm sure the kids are the ones spending money on books (like upcoming 99$ Making of D&D) or affiliated products, like 400e lego d&d set. Not adults with actual disposable income. But you nailed it, we don't know where their majority of revenue comes from. So we speculate. And have fun debating. :D
We can read tea leaves all we want, but WotC behavior for years makes it very clear where they see their bread being buttered, and it ain't an R rated scene.

Could you elaborate that, please? I'm not following what they do that closely , outside of their book releasing schedules. I can't see anything in their game line that targets younger demographic.
 

Could you elaborate that, please? I'm not following what they do that closely , outside of their book releasing schedules. I can't see anything in their game line that targets younger demographic.
The Young Adventurers Guides, the 1-2-3 and A-B-C books, the Little Golden Books, Behold! (a Look and Find style book), the coloring books, that Drsgon book for kids last year, etc. In addition to the explicit PG-13 style in the actual game books.
 

The Young Adventurers Guides, the 1-2-3 and A-B-C books, the Little Golden Books, Behold! (a Look and Find style book), the coloring books, that Drsgon book for kids last year, etc. In addition to the explicit PG-13 style in the actual game books.
I don't see any of it on their store. I googled, and those look like licensed products by third party, not WoTC official product. But, it could be just that i'm not looking at the right place on their website.

Sure, they license out to try to sell to kids. Smart move.

With some exceptions from previous editions ( Book of Vile Darkness), yeah, books are tame. But themes and pg rating of books and actual play varies a lot.

That's why i'm strongly pro animation. Cause it let's you create multiple shows for price of one live action, and then you can have Y-7, Tv-14 and TV-MA D&D shows. Something for every demographic.
 

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