Everyone remember exactly where you are right now, when the lines of geekiness are still clearly intact, because, on Monday, Warner Bros. announced a Dungeons & Dragons film on the way. If their past record is any indication, this might be the thing that takes D&D mainstream. After all, look at what they've done for comic books. There was a time when it was a nerdy, fringe-y thing to like comics and superhero movies, and now they're so universally popular that studios are making bank as fast as they can spin off franchises and reboot series that are less than five years old. (Yes, Spider Man , I'm looking at you.) Making a huge, blowout-budget movie about something seems to be the new ticket to the big time, so anyone who's enjoying D&D being a cool, fringe-y thing better hold onto your butts.
I suspect this time next year, or in 2017, or whenever it comes out, there's gonna be a huge surge in the fantasy role-playing game's popularity as everyone and their brother hops on that bandwagon. And now that I'm thinking about it, I'm guessing that date will probably be sooner rather than later, because, apparently, the project already has not only a script, written by David Leslie Johnson, who was also responsible for The Conjuring 2 and Wrath of the Titans, but also the excitement of Warner Bros. president Greg Silverman. He said about the project:
We are so excited about bringing the world of Dungeons & Dragons to life on the big screen. This is far and away the most well-known brand in fantasy, which is the genre that drives the most passionate film followings.
Yup, I think they're definitely onto something here, especially since, as The Wrap pointed out, the studio's most popular (and profitable!) films to date have been fantasy-based, in the form of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises. (Maybe you've heard of them?) They seem to have their fingers on the pulse of America's nerd culture, so, for all those Dungeon Masters and players out there, it's time to get ready to start telling everyone that you liked D&D "before it was cool."
Image: Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro
