Dungeons and Dragons movie writers considering big changes due to COVID-19

COVID-19 is disrupting the film industry in ways that it has never been experienced before, not even during times of global war. Not only are theatres shut and movie productions halted around the globe, but it is also causing movie studios to rethink how they are going to be made in a time of physical distancing. We have heard stories of how the next two Mission: Impossible movies are receiving rewrites to alter locations in the film so that they can film scenes away from Italy and now there is news that the writers of Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons film may be changing the scale of their project as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

Several studios have attempted to bring a big Dungeons & Dragons film to life. Many attempts just never materialised, while the three movies that did get made about the franchise failed to live up to expectations.  It appears the latest attempt may continue that curse, with its entire scope needing to change according to a THR interview with writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein:

That whole world is going to change dramatically, I feel. We have these scenes with big crowds that we are now rethinking and deciding if it’s worth preserving or if we should try to pivot and find another way into the scenes we were imagining

Given that all the latest guidelines around shooting that may commence in the near future in some parts of the world, large crowds will not be allowed on film sets. While visual effects can fix some of those problems, you will still want an actual crowd for a proper sense of realism in these scenes. While we know very little about this film, I could imagine that to do the story justice, they will want to create a rich world and epic scenes which could require crowds.

Hopefully, the film will not be too affected by the pandemic. It will be nice to get a decent D&D movie to the big screen and with fantasy, and to actually do the property justice this time. Unlike the first time it hit the big screen.