Legendary Entertainment and Hasbro Entertainment announced a live-action movie based on Magic: The Gathering earlier this year, and now Deadline reports that Matt Johnson (BlackBerry) is being eyed to direct the project. It’s still early days, so Johnson doesn’t have a formal offer yet, but sources have told the outlet that he’s the first choice to direct.
The Magic: The Gathering movie is only the first step. A TV series and other content are set to follow. In a statement, Mary Parent, Legendary’s Chairman of Worldwide Production, said, “We pride ourselves on being thoughtful caretakers of singular, beloved IP, and no property better fits that description than Magic: The Gathering. Alongside the fantastic Hasbro team, we look forward to creating a multimedia universe that thrills longstanding fans and creates a broad wave of new ones.“
Zev Foreman, Hasbro Entertainment’s Head of Film, added, “This is an exciting and complementary partnership, uniting one of the world’s most iconic brands with a powerful and proven steward. Magic: The Gathering has inspired decades of epic world-building and creative storytelling. It is a perfect match for Legendary’s diversified approach to marquee IP, and we are excited to work together to build a whole new Magic: The Gathering.“
Created by Richard Garfield and released in 1993, Magic: The Gathering involves players acting as powerful duelling wizards known as Planeswalkers. Each player has their own deck of cards, with each one representing a magical spell that can be used in battle.
This isn’t the only Magic: The Gathering project in the works, as Hasbro has also been developing an animated series with Netflix. The project was initially announced in 2019 with Joe and Anthony Russo set to serve as showrunners, but they eventually departed the series over creative differences. Jeff Klein (Transformers: Prime) stepped in to take over, but the series fell apart. However, Netflix announced last year that the project was being resurrected and that Terry Matalas (Star Trek: Picard) would be steering the ship. This also isn’t the first movie that’s been in the works, as Fox tapped Simon Kinberg to produce a Magic: The Gathering feature film back in 2014.
Johnson has also been linked to an Anthony Bourdain biopic set to star Dominic Seesa (The Holdovers).
