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Paramount + Orders Dungeons & Dragons series for platform

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  • MRP
    Persistent Member
    • Jul 19, 2016
    • 2035

    Paramount + Orders Dungeons & Dragons series for platform

    https://deadline.com/2023/01/dungeon...es-1235215486/

    An 8 episode straight to series order has been taken by Paramount + to adapt the D&D game to a series for their streaming service.

    From the article at Deadline:

    EXCLUSIVE: Paramount+ has given an eight-episode, straight-to-series order to an adaptation of Hasbro’s wildly popular Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game franchise. Red Notice filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber wrote the pilot script and is set to direct the first episode of the series which will be a co-production between eOne and Paramount Pictures.

    eOne, the lead studio, took the project out in November, garnering interest from multiple buyers, with Paramount+ ultimately landing the show in a competitive situation. eOne and Paramount Pictures are partnering on the Dungeons & Dragons series after also co-producing and co-financing the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie directed by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, which premieres March 31.

    At Paramount+, the Dungeons & Dragons series will join Halo, the video game adaptation, which is one of the streamer’s most popular originals. Over the last couple of years, there has been a resurgence in bringing gaming titles to television, and this is the latest example.

    Adapting Dungeons & Dragons for television has been a major focus for eOne under President of Global Television Michael Lombardo following the company’s 2019 acquisition by Hasbro. The live-action series has been tipped to be the studio’s largest-scope TV project ever, potentially launching a “Dungeons & Dragons” universe spanning multiple scripted and unscripted shows.

    Overseeing the series for eOne is Gabriel Marano, the company’s EVP Scripted Television.

    Hasbro, which is handling all series-based consumer products, is currently looking to sell eOne’s film and TV businesses, including the Lombardo-run TV operation, which developed and sold the Dungeons & Dragons TV series.

    Featuring humans, elves, orcs and other fantastical creatures engaging in wars, treasure hunts and campaigns, the D&D game, one of Hasbro’s key franchise brands hailing from Wizards of the Coast, is overseen by a host, known as the Dungeon Master, and employs a signature multisided dice. More than 50 million fans have played D&D since it was first launched 49 years ago, including videogames and livestream entertainment on Twitch and YouTube.

    Thurber is the writer, producer and director of Red Notice, starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, which became Netflix’s most watched film of all time. He is currently penning two sequels for Netflix and recently sold a pitch for a feature adaptation of the classic animated series Voltron to Amazon, which he is co-writing with Ellen Shanman and will direct and produce alongside Todd Lieberman. Thurber is repped by WME and Hansen Jacobson Teller.

    I am cautiously optimistic about this. Depending how the movie winds up being will influence that optimism.

    -M
    "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato
  • Liu Bei
    Banned
    • Mar 31, 2018
    • 755

    #2
    Considering Hasbro’s track record when it comes to adapting their properties to film and television, I won’t hold my breath on this one.

    Comment

    • sprytel
      Talkative Member
      • Jun 26, 2009
      • 6539

      #3
      D&D is currently embroiled in a major controversy around Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast trying to change the rules of their Open Gaming License to rob third-parties who made compatible content. The timing of this announcement feels like an attempt to shift attention elsewhere. I don't think it is going to work.

      Comment

      • MRP
        Persistent Member
        • Jul 19, 2016
        • 2035

        #4
        Originally posted by sprytel
        D&D is currently embroiled in a major controversy around Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast trying to change the rules of their Open Gaming License to rob third-parties who made compatible content. The timing of this announcement feels like an attempt to shift attention elsewhere. I don't think it is going to work.
        How exactly are they going to rob third party creators? Is it by being able to use their content without paying for it-the same thing those content creators have been doing with WotC's content for 20 years-using it any way they want without paying a dime for it when their businesses wouldn't exist at all without exploiting WotC's intellectual property for free? If doing so is objectively wrong, and it's wrong for WotC to do it to them, then it's wrong for them to do it to WotC too.

        Is it by asking for a percentage of revenue for the biggest creator's products based on WotC's IP? I mean they could instead just charge an up front licensing fee like every other industry in the world does and make those creators pay a much larger fee than the 20-25% would result in up front before they made a single cent in revenue and with no guarantee they would even make back the licensing fee. And again, only the largest producers making over $750K a year using WotC's IP would have to pay.

        Is it because they are taking away the livelihood of content creators, people who would have no livelihood if not for WotC's IP to begin with, and whose livelihood is based on a business plan that is essentially exploit someone else's IP without paying for it? Does that sound sustainable or even ethical. They chose to pursue a career using someone else's IP. In biology, something living off another organism while offering little to nothing in return is called a parasite, not a partner. WotC is not responsible for others career choices. No artist is going to make aliving making comics about Marvle super-heroes without either working for Marvel or paying Marvel a hefty sum to do so.

        Yes it's a d**c move by WotC without question, but just because WotC is the bad guy here doesn't make those content creators the good guys. They are whining like young adults who have just been told by their parents the grave train is over and they won't be living rent free and having all their bills paid by someone else anymore and will have to start adulting and run a real business that covers its own expenses and pays to use someone else's IP just like they would if they were trying to create content for any other industry but the ttrpg.

        I bet Mego would love to be able to use any IP without having to license it and just pay a percentage of the revenue it creates to the IP holder if they made over $750K and only on the portion over $750K starting a year from now even if it meant that the IP holder had approval over what they made and Mego had to register what they were making with the IP holder.

        I used to freelance in the ttrpg industry around the time of 3.5's end and the launch of 4E. I know the turmoil changes in the OGL can cause, and the changes to it are one reason why I no longer freelance in the industry, but WotC never owed me a living making money off their IP for free. I made my choice to do so, and when that opportunity became limited it was up to me to find alternatives, not them to continue to support me. They didn't rob from me, they made a business decision that wasn't in my best interest. Happens all the time in every industry. They didn't default on a contract or an obligation to me, they went in a different direction that wasn't in my best financial interest to go in.

        Did all content creators who made content for VHS get robbed when new tech was introduced and VHS became obsolete? Did people who made CD-ROM content get robbed when industry changes meant the content they made was no longer commercially viable and they couldn't continue to make money off of it? Industries change and evolve over time, and if you make a living making content for that industry you have to adapt or die. It's not the industry's fault if your business model becomes obsolete.


        Again, it's a d**k move by WotC to unauthorize the existing OGL, and I don't like it, but nobody is robbing the content creators.

        -M
        "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

        Comment

        • Werewolf
          Inhuman
          • Jul 14, 2003
          • 14615

          #5
          I don't think WOTC is really the bad guy here. I also get their point and this effects fan creators very little. Just business competitors that have been exploiting the D&D IP for years. I also get their license changes that try to prevent the use of the IP with hateful content which could hurt their brand.
          You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

          Comment

          • Liu Bei
            Banned
            • Mar 31, 2018
            • 755

            #6
            Originally posted by Werewolf
            I don't think WOTC is really the bad guy here. I also get their point and this effects fan creators very little. Just business competitors that have been exploiting the D&D IP for years. I also get their license changes that try to prevent the use of the IP with hateful content which could hurt their brand.
            I’m lost. I liked the Dragonlance novels back in the day, and a lot of the PC games, but never really got into the tabletop part of it. What in the world is hateful content?

            Comment

            • sprytel
              Talkative Member
              • Jun 26, 2009
              • 6539

              #7
              (Apologies for the long-winded response...)

              In 2000, WOTC voluntary released certain materials they produced under the Open Gaming License. They were a narrow subset of Dungeons & Dragons ruleset that defined the base game mechanics. This didn't allow people to use D&D intellectual property/product identity like Drizzt Do'Urden, the town of Waterdeep, the Temple of Elemental Evil, etc. This doesn't even give anyone else the right to use the term "Dungeons & Dragons". But what it did do was explicitly granted the right for this core content to be used by others, to create a common standard that everyone could build upon.

              Why? This wasn't charity. WOTC gambled that if they allowed others to play in their sandbox, it would grow the product's popularity. It allowed Critical Role, Ginny Di, and others to build new D&D audiences via social media. It allowed third-party companies to sell compatible adventures and supplements on Kickstarter, DrivethruRPG, and elsewhere. It let fans create their own homebrew stuff and put it out on the internet. And it worked! It fostered an ecosystem that made D&D more popular today than ever.

              Now that others have helped make D&D massively successful, WOTC feels that arrangement was unfair to them. Which is their prerogative. Nobody is arguing that WOTC doesn't have the right to put out a new version of the OGL with different terms (or even to release the next version of the D&D rules without any open gaming content whatsoever). Maybe this new version of D&D is more compelling, and will make people want to jump ship to their new and more restrictive license. Maybe people will just ignore it and keep creating under the ruleset covered in the OGL 1.0. It would be an interesting experiment.

              But WOTC isn't taking that route. They are claiming they can de-authorize the old license and you can't use it anymore.

              They have no legal right to do this. The 1.0 license states: "You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License." This language is there specifically to protect against what Wizards is trying to do. WOTC said this themselves in their own FAQ:

              Can't Wizards of the Coast change the License in a way that I wouldn't like?

              Yes, it could. However, the License already defines what will happen to content that has been previously distributed using an earlier version, in Section 9. As a result, even if Wizards made a change you disagreed with, you could continue to use an earlier, acceptable version at your option. In other words, there's no reason for Wizards to ever make a change that the community of people using the Open Gaming License would object to, because the community would just ignore the change anyway.
              Wizards is trying to create ambiguity on the use of the word "authorized", but it is not a sound legal argument. There is no ability to "de-authorize" granted in the license agreement. This is not in either the letter or the spirit of the agreement. However, Hasbro is a big company with a big legal team and they know that smaller companies can't afford to fight them in court. So they figure they can do it anyway, create FUD, and force the community into going along with it.

              Oh, and the "hateful content" is clever marketing spin on the whole thing, I admit... but has absolutely nothing to do with this. They are not doing all of this out of some principled stance to protect us from bigotry. This is about money and stifling competition.

              This is only a fraction of why the OGL 1.1 is terrible, but like I said, they can do whatever they want with their new license. But trying to weasel out of an agreement that YOU ORIGINALLY WROTE and YOU MASSIVELY BENEFITED FROM? That is literally "I Am Altering the Deal, Pray I Don't Alter It Any Further." And I don't know if you noticed, but the Empire weren't the good guys in that movie...

              Comment

              • palitoy
                live. laugh. lisa needs braces
                • Jun 16, 2001
                • 59203

                #8
                Me right now.

                Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions

                Buy Toy-Ventures Magazine here:
                http://www.plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop

                Comment

                • PNGwynne
                  Master of Fowl Play
                  • Jun 5, 2008
                  • 19444

                  #9
                  It's like Clue with Dr. Orchid that doesn't exist for me. Well, maybe not.
                  WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

                  Comment

                  • sprytel
                    Talkative Member
                    • Jun 26, 2009
                    • 6539

                    #10
                    Oh totally. This is a very nerdy topic. But if anyone is interested in learning more, this video has a pretty good summary of what this is all about...



                    Or this article on Gizmodo:

                    An exclusive look at Wizards of the Coast's new open gaming license shows efforts to curtail competitors and and tighten control on creators of all sizes.

                    Comment

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