After a long-gestating legal battle withCourtney Solomon, director of the firstDungeons & Dragonsmovie and the right’s holder to the film franchise, Warner Bros. is finally making their first casting addition to the live-action movie:Ansel Elgort.
According toDeadline, the youngFault in Our Starsactor, who got more Hollywood street cred for starring inEdgar Wright’sBaby Driver, is in early negotiations to star. This would mark Elgort’s first hardcore fantasy movie, though he’s been a mainstay of theDivergentsci-fi franchise and appeared in theChloe Grace Moretz-led remake ofCarrie.
This is certainly a coveted role — becoming the face of the studio’s next big franchise after the DC Extended Universe, Harry Potter, and the LEGO universe — but it didn’t really work the way the actors of the original film probably hoped.Marlon WayansandJustin Whalinswere starting to make a name for themselves, whileJeremy IronsandThora Birchwere already packing some star power. And yet, that film flopped, but hopefully this new take will have better luck.
Legendary recently debutedWarcraft, another hardcore fantasy film based on a beloved D&D-esque property, with little success. (In fact, most critics bashed it.) Even if this new film doesn’t find success, Elgort has enough going on that it wouldn’t harm him much.
Rob Letterman(Goosebumps) isdirectingDungeons & Dragonsbased off a screenplay byDavid Leslie Johnson(The Conjuring 2). Johnson likened the tone toGuardians of the Galaxyduringan interview with Collider.
This newDungeons & Dragonswill be aGuardians of the Galaxy-tone movie in a Tolkien-like universe. Because when you think of all theHobbitmovies andThe Lord of the Rings, they have an earnestness to them, and to see something fun, aRaidersromp inside that world, I feel is something the audience has not seen before.
Vin Diesel, a diehardD&Dfan, expressed interest in appearing in the film and revealed he had been approached in the past about starring, but that the script at the time wasn’t where he thought it needed to be.
