Paramount Pictures and Hasbro/eOne are on a great quest for an actor to play a fantasy hero and they may have just found them. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that “Star Trek” franchise actor Chris Pine is now in talks with the studio to take the heroic lead in their upcoming “Dungeons & Dragons” remake.
“Dungeons & Dragons” is based on the famous table-top game from Gary Gygax, which is directly inspired by the various fantasy worlds created by authors Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkien, Fritz Leiber, and others. Interestingly enough, “Dungeons & Dragons” eventually incorporated a lot of the characters, creatures, mythology, and locations from Fritz Leiber’s “Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.” It had been previously adapted into a feature film by New Line Cinema back in 2000 but turned out to be a hot mess.
At the helm are the directors of comedic thriller “Game Night,” Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who wrote the latest version of the script. The duo wrote one of the early drafts of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” for Marvel, and had been tasked to direct “The Flash” movie starring Ezra Miller for Warner Bros. but eventually exited to pursue this project instead.
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It’s unknown at the moment if the studio is attempting a story mimicking something like the “Jumanji” franchise with players being sucked into the world of a game created by a Dungeon Master or if they’re making a straight-up fantasy film within the mythology of the game itself.
Paramount Pictures had previously set the release date for ‘Dungeons & Dragons‘ on May 27, 2022. The existing date could suggest that filming will begin sometime in the spring or summer. Last we checked, it will be shooting in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and in various exterior locations in France as well similar to the recent Ridley Scott period drama ‘The Last Duel.’ They’ve also officially selected “Game Night” cinematographer Barry Peterson as the film’s director of photography and will mean the visuals will be exceptional once again.
Pine will be next seen in Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman 1984” coming to theaters and HBO Max this Christmas. He has also attached himself to a new feature film based on the 1960s series “The Saint” with Dexter Fletcher set to direct.