After a protracted legal battle between Hasbro, Warner Bros., and Sweetpea Entertainment, an undisclosed settlement has been reached and a film is now in the works.
In 2013, Warner Bros. had previously announced their acquisition of the rights to make the next Dungeons & Dragons film, but Hasbro had intervened, filing suit against both Warner Bros. and Sweetpea Entertainment producer Courtney Solomon, claiming Sweetpea no longer owned the rights after a period of inactivity with the property.
Solomon disputed this claim, citing the two sequels they had already made - one for TV, the other a direct-to-dvd movie - as the impetus for the production company’s continued work on the franchise. Meanwhile, Hasbro had been developing their own script with Universal Studios.
The first Dungeons & Dragons film was a box-office flop. Can Hasbro, Warner Bros., and Sweetpea do better this time around?
The details of the compromise have not been released, but it seems Warner Bros., Sweetpea Entertainment and Hasbro will be working together again bringing to life Dungeons & Dragons’ most popular campaign setting, Forgotten Realms.
Stephen Davis of Hasbro, one of the two producers of the film, is excited to see Forgotten Realms finally get some screen time. “D&D is the role-playing game that started it all,” he said, “and now we have the opportunity to ignite a franchise for its legions of avid fans in a way never done before.”
The 2000 flick was an underwhelming performer at the box-office and was widely hated by critics and fans of the tabletop franchise alike. Here’s hoping that this latest reboot does the job right.
