Magic: The Gathering is a collectible trading card game that's been popular since the early 1990s, where players take on the roles of powerful Planeswalker wizards and do battle against each other. The game currently has 50 million players around the world. And now, Hollywood wants to make a Magic: The Gathering cinematic universe, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
This is a joint venture between Hasbro Entertainment, which owns Magic: The Gathering; and Legendary Entertainment, which is behind the new swath of Dune movies and TV shows, as well as the newer Godzilla/Kong movies and the upcoming Minecraft movie. They know their way around a franchise.
Per THR, the plan is to start with a Magic: The Gathering movie before expanding to TV. Adapting Magic to the screen is different from adapting, say, Dune, which is based on a book that has a story with a beginning, middle and end. That translates pretty easily to the screen. The world of Magic: The Gathering does have lore; it's set in a multiverse, with most of the events taking place on the worlds of Dominaria, Ravnica, Zendikar and Innistrad. Only the Planeswalkers can move between these dimensions, which will put them at the center of whatever story Hasbro and Legendary come up with. But most people don't first think of the story when they hear "Magic: The Gathering"; they think of tapping mana and casting spells. So whichever writers are hired for this project will have some work to do.
There are places they could look. Various Magic: The Gathering comics, novels and ebooks have been released over the years. Perhaps they'll consult novelist and screenwriter Nic Kelmen, the franchise's Head of Story and Entertainment. If Hollywood can make a compelling, successful movie based on Barbie, who is a doll, they can probably do something with MTG. It's all about finding the right people and the right project.
Obviously there's no release date for any of this stuff as of yet. But if you're looking for a fantasy show to watch while you wait, you have plenty of options:
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