DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS Film Escapes Legal Hangups
The copyright lawsuit has ended among Hasbro and Sweetpea Entertainment, and Warner Bros. announced that they have a Dungeon and Dragons film in the works.
The lawsuit began in May 2013, Deadline reports, after Hasbro filed a copyright and trademark infringement complaint against Courtney Solomon and Sweetpea. Hasbro claimed that Solomon and Sweetpea only had rights to make sequels for the Dungeons and Dragons film. Solomon and Sweetpea made two sequels D&D: Wrath of the Dragon God and D&D: Book of Vile Darkness that aired on SyFy, in 2005 and 2010. Jeremy Goldman, the lawyer who represented Hasbro, told the court that the third D&D movie was not connected to the first in any way, which was the reason for the lawsuit.
The two companies have gone back and forth several times about who owns the rights to D&D, and after the two-year lawsuit Warner Bros. has been able to pick up the rights for a film after the companies came to an agreement.
“This is far and away the most well-known brand in fantasy, which is the genre that drives the most passionate film followings,” Greg Silverman, Warner Bros. president of creative development and worldwide production, tells Variety. “‘D&D’ has endless creative possibilities, giving our filmmakers immense opportunities to delight and thrill both fans and moviegoers new to the property.”
A Dungeons and Dragons film came out in 2000, but received negative reviews from critics. It received 10% on Rotten Tomatoes and did $7,237,422 for its opening weekend.
David Leslie Johnson has already written the screenplay set in the “D&D” fantasy world of Forgotten Realms. He has also written the films Orphan, Red Riding Hood, and Wrath of the Titans. Roy Lee is producing the film, and no director has been chosen.
