New Netflix Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons TV Show Announced
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A recent story from Deadline reports that Netflix is currently developing an live action Dungeons & Dragons television series entitled The Forgotten Realms which, as the name suggests, will be set in the iconic D&D campaign setting. The project already has a script and production team in place, not to mention the involvement of Netflix and Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast, although a cast and more details on the story have yet to be announced.
It’s a surprising announcement given that a number of major D&D TV projects have fallen apart in recent years. It’s also surprising given that the 2023 Honor Among Thieves film was generally regarded as a financial loss, despite receiving positive critical and fan reviews.
So is this Forgotten Realms TV show actually happening and, if so, what can fans expect to see on the small screen? Below, we break out everything we know so far.
What is the new Forgotten Realms D&D TV series about?
Currently, we know very little about what the upcoming Forgotten Realms show will be about (although as of this writing it does currently have an IMDB page). According to the Deadline article “the proposed series will take place in the iconic campaign setting and centerpiece of the Dungeons & Dragons universe, a fantasy world that is home to some of the brand’s most famous characters and launchpad for some of D&D’s most popular adventures.”
What we do know is that the project is currently spearheaded by Shawn Levy (who is a producer and director on Stranger Things and recently co-wrote and directed Deadpool & Wolverine). Theshow also feature the involvement of Dan Levine and will be run through the production company 21 Laps Entertainment. Writing and showrunning duties falling to Drew Crevello (who is best known for the TV mini series WeCrashed). In fact, according to the Deadline articles, Crevello has already written the pilot.
It’s not clear if the show will feature any of the iconic Forgotten Realms characters, such as the legendary drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden, but given the fan appeal there’s a distinct possibility. In fact, the producers of the Honor Among Thieves film had originally considered adding the dark elf character in an early draft of the script, so it seems like a no-brainer.
When will the Forgotten Realms TV show come out?
Currently, no release date has been announced. In fact, there is no guarantee the show will come out at all. That being said, having the full financial and logistical backing of Netflix, not to mention the involvement of major producers means it has a decent shot. That being said, it could take years for it to see the light of day, if indeed it makes it out of the early development stages.
In fact, despite Dungeons & Dragons incredibly popularity, the last time the game actually made it to the small screen was in 1983 with the CBS cartoon series. Over the decades there have been numerous other failed attempts to port the franchise over to the big and small screens. At one point, the idea was actually a majority priority for the Hasbro owned eOne production company, but that changed when it was sold off to Lionsgate in 2023.
Most recently, actor and producer Joe Manganiello had shopped around a Dragonlance TV series that eventually fell apart due to studio interest. Around the same time, another live action D&D series was reportedly in development for Paramount+. It was also to be set in the Forgotten Realms and was created by Rawson Marhsall Thurber (writer and director of the 2021 Netflix film Red Notice). Notably, Drew Crevello was also brought on as executive producer and showrunner for that series, before it was axed by Paramount.
Hasbro later said it was shopping around the TV project to other studios and it now appears that Netflix has bitten on it. According to Deadline, the new Forgotten Realms show will be different than what Thurber has originally proposed, and the concept has been further refined in-house by Hasbro.
Final Thoughts
Hollywood has been trying to make a live action Dungeons & Dragons TV series for decades. In fact, D&D co-creator Gary Gygax relocated to Hollywood for several years to try to get film and TV projects off the ground before he was ousted from TSR. In recent years, fans have also been frustrated after hearing about major announcements that later fall through, so it’s hard not to be a little skeptical. The closest we’ve got so far, has been the D&D episode of the Amazon Secret Level TV series.
At the same time, this new Forgotten Realms series feels different, given that clout of Netflix and the production team behind it. It remains to be seen, however, if actually passes it’s saving throw versus development hell.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story in the days ahead and will update this page with more information as it becomes available.
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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).
