Hasbroand Legendary Entertainment may have found the director who will usher in the live-actionMagic: The Gatheringuniverse. Fresh off of his riotous SXSW movie,Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, being acquired by Neon,Matt Johnsonis being eyed to helm the first film in the new franchise, according to a new report from Deadline. A deal hasn’t been finalized to bring him into the fold yet, nor is there a writer set to pen the script, but the studios appear to have a direction for the project at least. The hope is forthe magical franchise, announced in February, to hit the screen first with a feature project before expanding with more film and television installments based on the card game.
For Johnson, the project will be a big step-up after finding critical successes withhis aforementionedBack to the Futurehomage and the underrated2023 biographical comedy-dramaBlackBerryabout the titular phone company.Magic: The Gatheringis the first Hasbro brand to ever cross the $1 billion mark, and it’s recognized as the first-ever trading card game, reaching over 50 million players worldwide since 1993 and inspiring countless other big names like the Pokémon Trading Card Game andYu-Gi-Oh!. Created by Wizards of the Coast, the game casts players as powerful summoners and spellcasters known as Planeswalkers, who use everything in their decks to try and defeat their opponent in battle. Its popularity has grown to the point that the series has produced crossover cards featuring characters fromMarvel,Dungeons & Dragons,Lord of the Rings,Final Fantasy, and more.
While theGlenn Howerton-headlinedBlackBerryshot Johnson into the public eye, the indie director has been hard at work for years. He previously directed and starred in the 2016 conspiracy comedy-dramaOperation Avalanche, following four FBI agents going undercover at NASA as a documentary film crew. Before theNirvannamovie, he andJay McCarrolalso co-created and shared the screen in the Viceland Canadian mockumentaryNirvanna the Band the Show, a reboot of their web series of the same name. Hasbro and Legendary aren’t the only ones keeping tabs on him, as A24 has also been attached totheDominic Sessa-ledAnthony Bourdainbiopic.
‘Magic: The Gathering’
Assuming the studios close the deal for Johnson, this will mark the second big-name creative working on bringingMagicto screens.Terry MatalasofStar Trek: Picardfame wasbrought in back in Septemberto resurrect the scrapped animated series at Netflix. It’s been a long and tortured road for that project to reach the screen with multiple creative teams stepping down andall hope seeming to be lostin the days before the12 Monkeyscreator was tapped to implement his vision. It’ll be a while before this new universe begins to bear fruit, but the inclusion of two acclaimed creators has laid a solid foundation for what’s to come next in the world of the Planeswalkers.
Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the widerMagic: The Gatheringuniverse as development continues on potential film and television projects.
BlackBerry
Source:Deadline
