EXCLUSIVE: Craig Mazin, co-creator of arguably the most acclaimed TV adaptation of a video game to date, HBO‘s The Last Of Us, will be taking on another hugely popular and acclaimed game title next, Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3, which is set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons.
HBO is developing Baldur’s Gate, a drama series based on Hasbro Entertainment’s video game franchise, with Mazin attached to create, write, executive produce and showrun the TV adaptation. Also exec producing are Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O’Connor and Hasbro Entertainment’s Gabriel Marano. Chris Perkins, the longtime Head of Story at Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, which is behind the D&D game franchise, will serve as consultant.
Unlike HBO’s The Last Of Us, which retold the story from the PlayStation games, the Baldur’s Gate TV series will be a continuation to the games, telling a story that takes place immediately after the events of Baldur’s Gate 3, as the characters — old and new — are dealing with the ramifications of the events in the third game.
Like with The Last Of Us, Mazin’s passion for Baldur’s Gate 3 and its characters led to his decision to adapt it as a TV series. He has proudly completed the Swen Vincke-developed game on the challenging honor mode, and he is also a longtime D&D fan, a Dungeon Master who has been playing the game weekly for the past 15 years, including tonight.
“After putting nearly 1000 hours into the incredible world of Baldur’s Gate 3, it is a dream come true to be able to continue the story that Larian and Wizards of The Coast created,” Mazin said. “I am a devoted fan of D&D and the brilliant way that Swen Vincke and his gifted team adapted it. I can’t wait to help bring Baldur’s Gate and all of its incredible characters to life with as much respect and love as we can, and I’m deeply grateful to Gabe Marano and his team at Hasbro for entrusting me with this incredibly important property.”
With no ties to another Baldur’s Gate game in development, Mazin has freedom over the direction of the story, making it more of a traditional show vs. The Last of Us whose plot and lifespan were determined by the existing games. As Deadline has reported, the post-apocalyptic drama is expected to end with its upcoming third season. Baldur’s Gate slated to be Mazin’s followup series for HBO where he also created and executive produced the Emmy-winning Chernobyl.
Baldur’s Gate is designed to be ongoing and continue with different kinds of stories within the sprawling world of the game. The series draws deeply from the source material of Baldur’s Gate 3 — how it begins how the game ends — and not so much from the first two games which are not official source material. Still, there are some commonalities across those games that are connected to Dungeons & Dragons lore, which Mazin plans to draw upon under the agreement with Wizards of the Coast.
The TV series will feature both existing characters from Baldur’s Gate 3 and new ones. It is expected to keep the D&D tradition of taking new characters who are not that powerful and follow their journey through adventures that make them powerful. The new protagonists are bound to run into beloved characters from Baldur’s Gate 3 — some of them heroes, some of them villains, some of them literally devils — who occupy the same world. Now incredibly powerful, they will meddle, helping or hindering the new heroes.
Mazin, who is just now starting his own journey with the material as his deal just closed, plans to reach out to voice cast members of Baldur’s Gate 3 with ideas for them to participate in the TV adaptation, if possible. He and The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann did it on their HBO series with several actors from that game, most notably Merle Dandridge who reprised her role as Marlene. Mazin, who has an overall deal with HBO, is now in final prep on Season 3 of The Last of Us.
“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Craig Mazin on Baldur’s Gate,” Francesca Orsi, EVP, Head of HBO Drama Programming said. “His deep and long-standing passion for the source material paired with his remarkable talent for building immersive worlds filled with rich, compelling characters promises groundbreaking results.”
HBO’s Baldur’s Gate is designed to co-exist alongside The Forgotten Realms live-action Dungeons & Dragons series Hasbro Entertainment has set up at Netflix with Shawn Levy producing. The two share D&D’s The Forgotten Realms campaign setting, which is vast and could accommodate multiple TV series.
“The fans have been eagerly awaiting an adaptation of Baldur’s Gate, and we could not ask for better partners than HBO and the incomparable Craig Mazin to build this world with,” Gabriel Marano, Head of Television, Hasbro Entertainment said.
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Hasbro Entertainment also has a Power Rangers live-action series in the works at Disney+ and a couple of other high-profile series in the marketplace.
Part of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise, the Baldur’s Gate character-driven role-playing video game series originated in 1998 and became known for its mature setting of crime, political intrigue, and edgy adventure. The most recent game, Baldur’s Gate 3, launched to massive critical and commercial success with over 15 million lifetime players, over 34 industry award wins, and made history as the first game to win all five major Game of The Year awards.
Mazin is repped by CAA; Hasbro Entertainment is repped by WME.
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