D&D TV Show Update From Series Writer Derek Kolstad

Dungeons & Dragons began life as a role-playing tabletop game played with a bunch of dice and a bunch of imagination. Since then, its influence and reach has been seen in all kinds of tabletop expansions, role-playing computer games, excellent Community episodes, and yes, a particularly reviled big screen adaptation starring a very shouty Jeremy Irons. Now, a new take is coming to television, which feels like a particularly appropriate medium for such a lore-drenched, multi-faceted world as D&D. And our own Steve Weintraub spoke with the man behind it: Derek Kolstad.

Kolstad (John Wick, Nobody) is approaching the project, developed through Entertainment One, Hasbro's film studio, with a deep reverence for the fantasy genre, citing favorites like Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and even D&D novel offshoots like Dragonlance. But Kolstad's take on the D&D material — the series bible of which he delivered to eOne the day of Weintraub's interview — will have a much narrower scope than these mammoth properties with mammoth worlds. As Kolstad put it, "I want to do a tinier sliver of that world. And it's been a joy."

Kolstad explained why he wants to keep the series' focus intimate and character-driven, comparing it to other classic franchise-starters like Star Wars and First Blood.

"In the first Star Wars, you heard about Jabba the Hutt and you don't see him until the third one because you earn at that point, and whatever the budget was for the third one compared to the first one, who cares, right? And I think in Dungeons and Dragons, who has this massive, dedicated community of acolytes, I don't want to suddenly throw everything on screen and say, 'Here's the buffet.' You'd much rather keep the story intimate. When you think of our favorite movies, I'd rather do the First Blood version. It's a guy in the woods being hunted. And it's very small, but you allude to the other things through conversation. You have your USS Indianapolis [in Jaws], you see something in the background. You hear a name that 3% of the audience is like, 'Ho ho, I think we're going to see him soon.' I think the thing is just to take a deep breath, to go into it slowly, and to just respect the world, and as you adapt, certain things need to change. But you better not touch the heart and soul of why people love this thing."

Read the full story on Collider here: https://collider.com/dnd-tv-show-deta...

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