The writer, director, and producer of Red Notice, Netflix’s most-watched film, has a whole new world to play in. Rawson Marshall Thurber has been hired by the studio eOne to “creatively oversee” a live-action Dungeons & Dragons series. He’ll write, direct, and executive produce the hour-long show, which doesn’t have a network set to air it—yet.
Deadline notes that the series “will complement” the D&D film franchise; production recently wrapped on the Chris Pine-starring Dungeons & Dragons movie that was casting people left and right last year.
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Along with the much-watched (and critically reviled) Red Notice, Thurber is the writer and director of Dodgeball: An Underdog Story; the thoroughly enjoyable and patently absurd Dwayne Johnson movie Skyscraper; and Central Intelligence, which also starred The Rock. (Are we now hoping for The Rock to appear in the untitled D&D series? Maaaaaaybe a little.) He’s also directed a few episodes of assorted series, including Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television.
Deadline also says that the D&D series “has been garnering interest from multiple buyers” and suggests that Netflix is likely to be interested, given their success with Red Notice, but nothing is confirmed in terms of network or streaming platform.
More than 50 million people have played Wizards of the Coast’s game Dungeons and Dragons since its inception, making it not at all surprising that the good folks at eOne have a Dungeons & Dragons cinematic universe in their sights. Thurber’s series will be the flagship, with more projects building on (and in) its world. Last year it was announced that John Wick creator Derek Kolstad had been hired to develop a D&D series, but there’s no mention of him in association with Thurber’s show. Could be he’s moved on; could be that’s another potential series.
On Twitter, Thurber shared his enthusiasm—and his D&D bonafides:
So deeply thrilled about this. Grew up playing the pnp version (lvl 13 lawful good paladin, holla!), enjoyed the heck outta @DDOUnlimited — learned to tell stories through (always) being the DM. Boyhood dreams do come true, ya’ll. Can’t wait to get cracking. https://t.co/ZkBXr5mkoX
— Rawson Thurber (@RawsonThurber) February 1, 2022
No word yet on when the quest begins.
