Having already proven his TV writing chops with shows like Chernobyl, and his ability to adapt video games to TV in The Last of Us, Craig Mazin can essentially do whatever he wants. What he wants is to tackle an even bigger, even more daunting game-to-screen challenge. Thursday evening saw the news (via Deadline) that Mazin will create, write, executive produce and showrun the TV adaptation of RPG gaming juggernaut Baldur’s Gate. HBO, Mazin’s partners on the previous series, is developing the project. More exciting, the series will not adapt Larian Studios’ universally beloved Baldur’s Gate 3 but will instead continue on from it.
This will be the first live-action series taking place directly in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Also exec producing are Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O’Connor and Hasbro Entertainment’s Gabriel Marano. Chris Perkins, Head of Story at Hasbro’s subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, which is behind the D&D game franchise, will serve as consultant.
The Baldur’s Gate series will take place immediately after the events of the Game of the Year-winning BG3 and how “the characters — old and new — are dealing with the ramifications of the events in the third game.”
“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.”
The show will not tie in to any other Baldur’s Gate game in development, which will allow Mazin the unique freedom to shape the story how he sees fit and how best continues the story. The TV series will feature both existing characters from Baldur’s Gate 3 and new ones. The expectation will be 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.
This is, to quote my best friend who I just texted about this, wonderful news. Shows like Fallout and The Last of Us prove video game storytelling can translate to serialized television. Now we can add a high-fantasy series to that list.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.
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