From the realm of Marvel superheroes to the world of classic fantasy, it seems we may have found the directors for the long-awaited Dungeons & Dragons movie.
Yes, that’s right. Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, most recently famous for scripting 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, are currently in talks to direct D&D, Deadline reports.
If talks go through, then the pair will helm the film, which will be funded by Paramount and AllSpark Pictures (Hasbro).
Goldstein and Daley most recently directed the 2018 black comedy film Game Night starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams. The film proved to be a critical and commercial success, earning an 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing $117 million worldwide. Suffice to say, Dungeons & Dragons is a much different kind of project.
The movie itself has been in the works since 2015 and was initially to be made by Warner Bros. By 2017 however, the project had been moved to Paramount, Sweetpea Entertainment, and Allspark. A release date was scheduled for July 21, 2021.
Joe Manganiello (Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Owen Morello in the CW’s One Tree Hill) also expressed interest in Dungeons & Dragons for a time, himself an avid fan of the tabletop game. He claimed to have negotiated the right to make the film while co-writing the script with John Cassel.
Since then, more developments have arisen. The script has seen a few rewrites, with Michael Gellio having completed his submission earlier this year, with studio executives excited for the movie.
Previous news has said that Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) was in talks to star in Dungeons & Dragons, but considering this was in 2016 and casting calls began circa March 2019, it’s unlikely to be set in stone at this point.
