Dragonlance TV Series Will Not Be Moving Forward
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Actor and screenwriter Joe Manganiello confirms that live action project is no longer in pre-production
In recent interviews, actor, producer and longtime Dungeons & Dragons fan Joe Manganiello has often mentioned the he’s been working on a live action Dragonlance TV series. And it seemed like a project that actually could happen. The DnD game has never been more popular or more mainstream, the Honor Among Thieves film was released to critical and fan acclaim, and there has even been recent rumblings from Hasbro that a possible DnD TV Series was in the works.
Unfortunately, it looks like a live action Dragonlance TV series simply isn’t meant to be. At least for now. In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, the True Blood and Justice League actor confirmed that his Dragonlance project has failed its death saving throw and will not being moving forward, despite a having a completed script and interest from several Hollywood producers.
So just what happened and what might have been? Below we take a closer look at all the details.
What was the Dragonlance movie going to be about?
In the interview with ComicBook.com, Manganiello spoke about his work adapting the Dragonlance books into a TV series, with the action focused primarily on the Dragonlance Chronicles novels, which follow the adventures of a group of heroes during the tumultuous war that ravages the world of Krynn. During the development of the TV pilot script, Manganiello indicated he had consulted closely with Dragonlance creators and writers Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis.
“Tracy and Margaret were all about it,” Manganiello said. “It was really me getting in there and fleshing out the world they built, and a world they hinted at in some places but didn’t shine the magnifying glass on.”
“What I had planned for the first season was mind blowing,” Manganiello added. “I have a look book with over 1,000 pages, but it’s not what you expect. The design concepts I had for the world, for the armor, for the swords….I had a fresh take on what the dragons were going to look like, it was going to be nothing like anyone has ever seen.”
Manganiello also said that the pilot he prepared for the Dragonlance series was well-received by a number of Hollywood producers and industry veterans. “The biggest fantasy literary agent in town, he said and these are his words and not mine, that it was the best fantasy pilot he had read since the original Game of Thrones,” Manganiello said. “There was another executive that read it and said it was one of the best fantasy scripts he’s ever read. I actually got an email just this morning from a producer who said it was awesome and that he wanted to send it to the rest of his company and hopes I develop another fantasy IP.”
Why was the project cancelled?
In the interview with ComicBook.com, Manganiello indicated that the Dragonlance TV series was not moving forward for a few key reasons. The biggest is Hasbro recently selling off eOne, the TV and film company they had been using to develop a number of projects based on their intellectual properties. Manganiello cites the departure of eOne President Michael Lombardo (whom he had also worked with at HBO on True Blood) as another key factor, as Lombardo had been a champion of the project. Manganiello also indicated that the relatively poor performance of the 2022 DnD 5e adventure Shadow of the Dragon Queen (and the related board game) was also a factor.
“I didn’t write a script that was terrible,” Manganiello said. “Calls were made to say this is what you should be making, this is what you should be doing, but currently it is to no avail.”
Manganiello also mentioned in the interview that at one point he had even attempted to acquire the rights to the IP himself. “I offered to buy Dragonlance. I was talking to people with money just to get it and separate it so that I could get the option and take it out on the town.”
Unfortunately, it looks like his effort were in vain, with Wizards of the Coast recently informing Manganiello that they would not be selling the rights or moving forward with his project.
Final Thoughts
It’s disappointing that a Dragonlance TV series won’t be happening anytime soon. It was clearly a passion project for Joe Manganiello and something that has a ton of potential, with established characters and ton of source material to draw on.
That being said, in the interview Manganiello offered a hint of optimism that the world of Krynn might someday still have a chance to make it onto the small screen. “Maybe somewhere down the line, someone comes back or the company switches hands and somebody sees the value.”
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Cameron Nichols is a Senior Editor who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been playing D&D since the early 90s, when he was introduced by his older brother and cut his teeth on AD&D 2nd Edition. Since then he’s played virtually every RPG he could get his nerdy little mitts on (including a weird Goth phase in the early 2000s when he rocked Vampire: The Masquerade pretty hard). His favorite D&D campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms and his favorite character to play was a Half-Orc Barbarian named Grug (who was unfortunately devoured by a gelatinous cube).
