The live-action Magic: The Gathering movie officially has screenwriters. Hasbro and Legendary Entertainment announced in February that they would be partnering to turn the popular card game franchise into a film and TV series. They have now taken a vital step forward.
The Magic: The Gathering Movie Screenwriters Announcement
In an official report from Deadline, two screenwriters have closed a deal to write the live-action Magic: The Gathering movie. Those screenwriters are Noah Gardner, whose work includes the blockbuster Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and Aidan Fitzgerald, who has written several episodes of the Apple TV sci-fi drama, Calls.
Both Gardner and Fitzgerald also have some experience working within established franchises. The report credits both writers on a stalled Power Rangers movie for Hasbro, The Trench, a (cancelled) Aquaman spin-off show for DC Entertainment, and a TV adaptation of the cult sci-fi film, Trancers, for Amazon.
Regardless of experience, Gardner and Fitzgerald have a tall order with a Magic: The Gathering movie. Much like another Hasbro property, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic is a complex, sprawling setting. It comprises the main card game, comics, and several tie-in novels. All telling stories of Planeswalkers, immensely powerful interdimensional wizards facing larger than life threats across a sprawling multiverse.
Part of this abundance is due to the card game's popularity since its debut in 1993. Its gameplay manages to be both accessible to general audiences and infectiously exciting at a competitive level. It's game design is so malleable that crossovers with Doctor Who and Final Fantasy can happen without anything feeling out of place.
It is such a franchise ripe for storytelling that at one point, Netflix tried producing an animated series. It was announced in 2019 and included an eclectic cast of actors and at one point had the Russo Brothers (Avengers: Endgame) attached to the project. But, for one reason or another, the series was unceremoniously cancelled in 2022, confirmed by actor Brandon Routh at a film festival.
