QuoteFox to Bring 'Magic: The Gathering' to the Big Screen


Simon Kinberg will produce the adaptation and oversee the building of the "Magic" universe.

Magic: The Gathering is headed to the big screen.

20th Century Fox has closed a deal to acquire the screen rights to the hugely popular fantasy card game from Hasbro and will develop the property with an eye to launch a massive franchise on the scale of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

The studio has enlisted Simon Kinberg, the Fox-based writer-producer who is also helping shepherd the X-Men and Fantastic Four universes at the studio, to produce the adaptation. Kinberg will also act as the franchise's engineer -- or supreme sorcerer, if you will -- overseeing the development of the movie series in concert with Hasbro execs.

Magic was introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast, a company involved in the making of role-playing games that soon found itself at the forefront of the collectible-trading-card-game movement.

Magic involves cards with a host of wizards and creatures, weapons and spells that players use to defeat each other. Cards vary in strength, and some are rarer than others. (The rare ones also became hugely valuable.)

The game swept comic book shops and schools in the 1990s, and tournaments were organized. The popularity of the game is such that tournaments are now held worldwide.

Others companies followed Wizards of the Coast, which was bought by Hasbro in 1999, by acquiring licenses and creating card gamed based on properties such as Star Wars and Pokemon.

Execs Kira Goldberg and Ryan Jones were instrumental in the acquisition and will shepherd the films for Fox. Daniel Persitz will oversee for Hasbro.

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis and Wizards of the Coast president Greg Leeds will act in production capacities. Aditya Sood and Josh Feldman, Kinberg's key execs at his Genre Films production shingle, will also act as executive producers on the movie.

Quote from: Rincewind1;723406I hope it won't, most Magic settings are pretty damn cool.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;723429But they will probably go for generic fantasy in the first movie, just to be safe. Too bad, I'd love to see Mirrodin on the big screen.

I also note we're getting a MTG movie, yet there still hasn't been the obvious RPG adaptation.

Quote from: Rincewind1;723431I suspect the film will be tied to the newest (by then) edition/expansion pack, so I'd be not so sure on the generic fantasy line. Especially seeing how popular realistic/dark fantasy is these days.

Quote from: ggroy;723404Wonder if this will fall flat on its face.  :rolleyes:

Quote from: Justin Alexander;72368699% of licensed properties are never turned into films. At least 90% of those that are turned into films suck.

And it doesn't really matter what the property is.

Quote from: The Butcher;723704So many fantastic fantasy IPs entirely untapped, and they go for Magic: the Gathering?

Fuck Hollywood.

I once dreamed that there was a Dying Earth movie, and Terry Gilliam was directing. Now that would make me sit up and pay attention.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;723730Yeah, and why weren't Snow Crash or Neuromancer made into the movies they were obviously meant to be be back when they were relevant? I would have taken that over The Matrix.

Quote from: jeff37923;723846because they fucked up with the movie version of Johnnie Mnemonic.