Dungeons & Dragons arrived in the world in 1974. That means, I’m sorry to report, that the popular roleplaying game approaches its 50th anniversary. With that milestone on the horizon, it’s the ideal time to look back at the creation of the epic tabletop franchise. Happily, an official Dungeons & Dragons documentary is in the works. Joe Manganiello and Kyle Newman will co-direct (we first spotted the news at Deadline). Its release aligns with the 2024 anniversary of the game. The directors are both avid Dungeons & Dragons players, with Manganiello being an official ambassador for the game.
The Dungeons & Dragons documentary comes from Hasbro’s entertainment studio, Entertainment One. According to Deadline, the documentary uses “400 hours of archived, never-before-seen footage.” The Manganiellos (Joe’s brother Nick is a co-producer), Newman, and Adam F. Goldberg have exclusive rights to this content. And since Hasbro’s studio is involved, that means the group has access to D&D gamemaker Wizards of the Coast.
Manganiello seems like the perfect candidate to take on a Dungeons & Dragons documentary. He runs a D&D game of his own and recently kickstarted the tabletop RPG augmented reality app ARcana. And Newman has worked on Heroes Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook and Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana.
In a statement, Manganiello said:
I couldn’t be more proud and excited to get back behind the camera for another documentary, this time with the D&D dream team of Jon, Kyle, and my brother and producing partner Nick. I lived through the rise and fall and rise again of this legacy brand that has not only meant so much to me but has served as the fountainhead of creativity for an entire generation of writers, artists, and creative minds, influencing so much of our culture.
Amy Ratcliffe is the Editor-in-Chief for Nerdist and the author of Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy, The Art of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, The Jedi Mind, and more. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.