Shawn Levy Provides Update on Netflix D&D Show

Shawn Levy has provided a brief update on the Forgotten Realms series in development at Netflix. Speaking to Collider ahead of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, Levy was asked about the progress of the new Dungeons & Dragons series that he's producing for Netflix. "I think that the reason it's taken so long and the reason why it is a challenging process is you're not adapting story IP," Levy told Collider. "You're adapting a world and a lexicon and a spirit, but story needs to be invented largely from scratch. And it needs to be invented in a way that feels organic to everything that's great about DnD. So that one is in very active every day chipping-away-at-it development at Netflix."

Announced earlier this year, Netflix is developing a live-action television series titled the Forgotten Realms. No further details were provided about the nature of the series, but Levy's comments suggest that they're developing an original storyline as opposed to adapting a novel or adventure story into TV. Levy is serving as the producer of the series, with Drew Crevello serving as the writer/showrunner.

Collider also asked if the Forgotten Realms series would move forward, Levy replied "I really hope so. I really really hope so."

 

[timbannock]

I don’t believe him. You have hundreds of adventures already written. Plus you can’t come up with a decent writer. This smells of lack of commitment and or finances

Yeah, could be something like the typical nepotism of Hollywood writing is at play: Levy and/or his closest writer-buds just aren't the right people for the project, but because they want to work, they'd rather keep making half-hearted swings at it rather than get the Right Person For The JobTM. That's a thing that happens all the time, and is why some IPs do really well (arguably the LOTR films, which had some new material and "flourishes" but largely stayed true to the original thing) while others seem to veer off of or completely forget about the good elements of the underlying IP (Witcher, apparently, which continues to deviate from the lore -- I'm just going off what I read as I haven't watched it, so insert whatever other media does this in your opinion).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Or maybe those old TSR novels aren't really what a modern audience is looking for in a TV show.

 

[gnarlygninja]

A ton? You mean 100? Sounds about right.

Whatever, there aren’t enough of them to make a significant contribution to the viewing figures. For the show to be successful, they need a good story, and Drizzt ain’t that.

I'm not sure what the connection between 100 and a ton is, but we don't have the same internet if you think a streaming series needs a good story to be successful. I agree that those books don't have one though, I opened my post by saying they were awful.

 

[Azzy]

Or maybe those old TSR novels aren't really what a modern audience is looking for in a TV show.

Heh, much of those old TSR novels weren't what I was looking for in a book when they originally came out.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Because it very much relies on D&D tropes that someone new to the franchise wouldn't know. If you're going to do the work to add that context, and avoid any blackface stuff, and tone down the S&M and arguable sexism stuff, you're already a long way towards just creating a new story from scratch. And just starting from scratch is a lot easier and can be made to appeal to 21st century fans, rather than worrying about fidelity with a decades-old book series.

I mean the first drizzt book doesnt go into any bdsm stuff and even the matriarchy is a distant thing in his backstory.

It really wouldnt be hard.