MAGIC: THE GATHERING Animated Series from Russo Brothers in the Works at Netflix
Netflix has found its
Game of Thrones-like fantasy franchise. The streaming giant is teaming with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast for the first-ever
Magic: The Gathering TV series. Brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, fresh off
Avengers: Endgame, will executive produce the series.
Henry Gilroy (
Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Jose Molina (
The Tick, Agent Carter) will serve as lead writers and co-exec producers on the anime series. An episode order and length of each installment has yet to be determined as Netflix, the creative team and
Magic: The Gathering parent company Wizards of the Coast — who will produce — will let the storytelling drive those decisions.
The Russo brothers — who have been fans and players of what is considered a nearly $1 billion franchise trading card game — will oversee the creation of an all new storyline and expand on the stories of
M:TG's famed Planeswalkers — the franchise's magic-wielding heroes and villains — as they contend with stakes larger than any one world can hold.
Octopie will oversee production on the series, with the Russos' AGBO president Todd Makurath, Eric Calderon and Dave Newberg producing. AGBO president of production Mike Larocca and Isaac Krauss also exec producing. Yoriaki Mochizuki will serve as supervising director and co-exec producers. Animation on the series will be done by Bardel Entertainment (
Teen Titans Go).
Sources say the big-picture goal for Netflix and Hasbro-owned Wizards of the Coast will be to expand the series into a larger franchise featuring multiple series — a la the streamer's former Marvel suite of since-canceled shows. The deal is the first time
Magic: The Gathering will be adapted for the screen after Fox in 2014 planned to
adapt the strategy-based card game for the big screen. The project, which had
Game of Thrones grad Bryan Cogman attached to pen the script and
X-Men's Simon Helberg on board to exec produce, never got off the ground.)
Launched in 1993, the Magic franchise counts a massive 38 million fans, with cards published in 11 languages and players in more than 70 countries. Hasbro acquired
M:TG parent company Wizards of the Coast in 1999 for $325 million. As of 2017, Wizards comprised 7 percent of Hasbro's $12 billion market cap with the latter valued at an estimated $840 million (according to the former's 10-K SEC filing). In the past few years, Wizards and Hasbro have made a
play for eSports and launched a new
comic book miniseries, among other endeavors.
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