It’s no secret that Joe Manganiello is a huge Dungeons & Dragons fan. That’s one of the reasons why Wizards of the Coast made Manganiello an official ambassador for the game. And Manganiello has participated in several RPG-themed web series, including Critical Role, CelebriD&D, and Force Grey. Now, via Variety, Manganiello will take his love for the franchise to a new level by teaming up with Kyle Newman to co-direct a Dungeons & Dragons documentary.
The documentary is being backed by Wizards of the Coast’s parent company, Hasbro, and eOne. As such, it’s being called “the definitive documentary feature about the world’s greatest roleplaying game.” Manganiello and his brother, Nick Manganiello, and their production partners Newman and Adam F. Goldberg, have reportedly secured access to over “400 hours of archived, never-before-seen Dungeons & Dragons footage from the game’s creation in the early 1970s.”
“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 [Peterson], Kyle and my brother and producing partner Nick,” said Manganiello in a statement. “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. None of this would have been possible without Nathan Stewart at Wizards of the Coast and my eternally supportive boss from the HBO/True Blood days, Michael Lombardo and the fantastic team at eOne.”
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Michael Lombardo, eOne’s head of global television, shared a statement of his own.
“I have had the pleasure of working in the past with Joe on True Blood among other projects and cannot think of a better more passionate person to dive headfirst into the world of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ from both a player and fan perspective. The addition of Kyle Newman, Nick Manganiello, and Jon Peterson also bring unique and multiple dimensions to the history we plan to document. As we approach 50 years of this incredible gaming universe, the time is right for an officially authorized telling of the game’s origins and current state of play to its passionate fan based from all walks of life and its global cultural impact.”
The Dungeons & Dragons documentary is expected to be released in 2024 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of D&D.
Are you looking forward to seeing the new documentary? What do you want to see in it? Let us know in the comment section below!
Photo Credit: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic via GettyImages
Recommended Reading: Dungeons & Dragons: Fell’s Five
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