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."

 

[Parmandur]

I've been saying for years that D&D settings are like Star Trek literally made to tell your own stories, until say Star Wars, Middle Earth, Wheel of Time, Witcher, etc..., simply weren't. Those setting might be more fameous and profitable in their respective genres, but they primarily tell a specific story or set if stories and coloring outside those lines ends up angering the fan base. Where as D&D setting like FR, you have a sandbox (or in Dragonlance's case a central story surrounded by a Sandbox), you still have to respect canon as much as possible, but D&D canon is specifically design be filled with story hooks and infinity possibilities.

Yeah, it really is perfect for thisnpurpose: has identifiable lore and plenty of hooks, but no sacrosanct literary story or definite character arcs to bow down to. But, that means more work.

 

[geek0id]

Sounds like the standard Hollywood "Development Hell." The first two paragraphs of the article make it sound like the project is moving forward, but the final sentence indicates it's questionable whether they will even move forward to actual production. The big question I would have liked to see answered is whether they have lined up sufficient funding to actually make the show.

All shows in development are always on the brink of being cut. Management change, budget changes, some VPs mistress doesn't like it. It really would be healthy for the community if we weren't even aware they were being made until a few months before release.

 

[bedir than]

All shows in development are always on the brink of being cut. Management change, budget changes, some VPs mistress doesn't like it. It really would be healthy for the community if we weren't even aware they were being made until a few months before release.

This is why during the Hasbro earnings call they said that they had 45-50 TV/movie projects in various stages of development but they'd wait until they were far along before giving details

 

[Von Ether]

I think this is somewhat ironic in that much of major criticism of recently adapted major fantasy IP (Witcher, Rings of Power, The Wheel of Time, etc.) has been that writers rooms are full of people who want to write and produce their own stories and consequently run roughshod over the IP source material, producing very mixed results at best.

Now I don't want to start an argument about the quality (or lack thereof) of recent adaptations, but this may show that starting with a blank slate, so to speak, is not as easy or desirable as some believe.

To add perspective, I think most of us can remember when it was highly likely any movie/TV adaption was going to be subpar. i.e. For every Incredible Hulk, there was three Captain Americas on a motorbike. The one or two people who were passionate about the material was drowned out by everyone else cashing a check.

I feel the biggest thing to give us the higher average quality adaptions we see today is that more of the people on the teams, grew up with the material. Go to any fan forum, though, and you know for every three fans there's five different takes on a piece of lore.

Are there still writing teams just cashing a check or trying to sneak their own stories in? Yep. Some of that happens while the IP is still being made (Larry DiTillio and Babylon 5 for example).

But I think some of it is the fans as well. When you get older, a lot of adaptions can feel like fan fic to you, probably because you already wrote it on a forum somewhere.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

Because no one under 50 cares about his books?

Hot yake but I think a lot of recent popular adaptations are of relatively ibscture material. This includes Wheel of Time, Foundation and Dune.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Hot yake but I think a lot of recent popular adaptations are of relatively ibscture material. This includes Wheel of Time, Foundation and Dune.

Those are considered genre classics (at least the 2nd two) on a par with LotR. WoT isn’t quite at the same level, but it’s close.

Drizzt is Doctor John Thorndike.

 

[bedir than]

Hot yake but I think a lot of recent popular adaptations are of relatively ibscture material. This includes Wheel of Time, Foundation and Dune.

Those all sell incredibly well this year.
They aren't obscure and in two cases are genre defining multiple award winners.

 

[Parmandur]

Those are considered genre classics (at least the 2nd two) on a par with LotR. WoT isn’t quite at the same level, but it’s close.

Drizzt is Doctor John Thorndike.

Dune has sold 20 million copies for just the first novel, and is literally the best selling science fiction book of all time.

Wheel of Time has sold over 90 million copies, or 6 million copies per book on average (obviously going yo be weighted towards the earlier books and the standalone prequel).

Foundation has sold some 20 million copies across a number of convoluted volumes, so significantly less popular than Dune or Wheel of Time...but still very popular, and importantly still in print decades after Aimov has passed away which is unusually impressive in publishing.

Drizzt is at 35 million sales across 33 novels...so commercially way below Dune or Wheel of Time, snd critically nowhere near any of them...but they have an audience.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Dune has sold 20 million copies for just the first novel, and is literally the best selling science fiction book of all time.

Wheel of Time has sold over 90 million copies, or 6 million copies per book on average (obviously going yo be weighted towards the earlier books and the standalone prequel).

Foundation has sold some 20 million copies across a number of convoluted volumes, so significantly less popular than Dune or Wheel of Time...but still very popular, and importantly still in print decades after Aimov has passed away which is unusually impressive in publishing.

Drizzt is at 35 million sales across 33 novels...so commercially way below Dune or Wheel of Time, snd critically nowhere near any of them...but they have an audience.

I’m not sure copies sold is a good guide. I’m pretty sure there are a pile of soppy romance novels that have outsold all of them!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

And the setting Birthright could be perfect for a new romantasy novel.