Legendary plans to bring Magic: The Gathering to the big screen and television.
Can a shared universe of Magic: The Gathering succeed where Dungeons & Dragons adaptations have failed?
After more than 30 years, Magic: The Gathering, a popular collectible card franchise, is about to explore new opportunities in the world of film and television. Despite previous failed attempts in Hollywood, it has been announced that Legendary Entertainment will partner with Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Entertainment to develop a new shared universe for Magic: The Gathering.
The initial focus will be on creating a movie, as adapting the complexities of the game into a visual format can be challenging. Magic: The Gathering was launched in 1993 and quickly became a global phenomenon. Wizards of the Coast, which acquired the company behind Dungeons & Dragons in 1997, was in turn purchased by Hasbro in 1999.
This adaptation attempt is reminiscent of a previous Hasbro project related to Dungeons & Dragons, from which only the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves materialized. However, its box office performance was not as expected, resulting in a lack of plans for further installments.
The history of Magic: The Gathering in Hollywood has seen several missteps. In 2014, 20th Century Fox began working on a movie with Simon Kinberg as producer, but the project was canceled five years later due to Disney's acquisition of Fox. More recently, Netflix had hired the Russo brothers to develop an animated series, but they later abandoned the project, which is now being developed by Terry Matalas, the showrunner for the third season of Star Trek: Picard.
Currently, there is no specific studio or network designated to produce this new adaptation of Magic: The Gathering, but steps towards its realization are underway.
