For over three decades, the fantasy franchise Magic: The Gathering has been a force in collectible trading cards with forays into books, comics, and even video games. But there has yet to be a version of Magic: The Gathering that’s escaped Hollywood’s development Hell. However, the franchise is about to get another chance to expand into film and television.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary Entertainment will join forces with Wizards of the Coast and its parent company, Hasbro Entertainment, to bring a new Magic: The Gathering shared universe to life in TV and movies. And making a film is the top priority.
It would take too long to explain the rules and intricacies of the Magic: The Gathering game. Wizards of the Coast launched the game in 1993, and it quickly caught on with fans worldwide. Wizards of the Coast subsequently became such a major figure in fantasy that it purchased the parent company of Dungeons & Dragons, TSR, in 1997, before Wizards was itself acquired by Hasbro two years later.
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If Legendary’s strategy to adapt Magic: The Gathering sounds familiar, it’s probably because it’s very similar to the plan that Hasbro Entertainment tried to execute with Dungeons & Dragons a few years ago. From that arrangement, only Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves made it to the big screen. Unfortunately, its box-office total were less impressive than hoped, and no other D&D films are currently planned.
Magic: The Gathering has hit a few previous roadblocks in Hollywood as well. A planned feature film was in the works at 20th Century Fox in 2014 with X-Men: Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg attached to produce it. That film was canceled five years later when Disney purchased Fox. More recently, Netflix hired the Russo brothers to develop a Magic: The Gathering animated series. But the Russo brothers eventually departed the project, which is being redeveloped by Star Trek: Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas.
The new Magic: The Gathering deal doesn’t currently have a network or a studio attached to produce the film or TV series.