It’s hard to imagine any other actor more gung-ho about than Vin Diesel. The movie star constantly muses about his love for D&D on social media, has third-party books typically owned by old-school D&D fans, and he played a massive game with the folks at Nerdist. (Side note: He played as a custom-made "witch hunter" class created by the Nerdist crew.) Given how studios love passionate actors who will vie for their properties, might he then want to star in Warner Bros.’ upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie?
During the press junket for The Last Witch Hunter, Cinema Blend geeked out with Diesel over the beloved role-playing game. (Check back later for more on the hidden links between the film and D&D.) Something that came up was the upcoming film adaptation that was placed in development after that longtime lawsuit was finally settled. As for whether or not Vin Diesel wants a part in it, he explained,
They have come to me in the past with something, and I guess I was too busy at the time. For me to do something like that, it would have to be so — I would be — they have to think really carefully, because it would have to be amazing. And the previous attempts of any kind of cinematic D&D film have failed and just haven’t been done right, and that’s hard to do with the typical studio type in Hollywood.
The first attempt at a live-action Dungeons & Dragons feature film came in 2000 from director Courtney Solomon. Jeremy Irons portrayed villainous mage Profion, while Justin Whalin and Marlon Wayans played two of the lead characters. There have been other attempts since, such as Wrath of the Dragon God in 2005 and The Book of Vile Darkness in 2012, but none stuck.
Vin Diesel continued to say that he considers D&D sacred territory, so if the WB wants him for the new adaptation, they’d have to turn out something major. He explained,
I have a friend named Flint Dille, who’s one of the writers for my company who, you know, will write something for Riddick, or he’ll write something for Hannibal. If you ever read that graphic novel 300 from Frank Miller, there’s a character that’s modeled after this guy Flint Dille, who's named Flint Delius and he’s the orator, he’s the one telling you the whole 300 story. In fact, when I was in one of my more intense pre-production phases of Hannibal, Frank Miller was at my house sketching out storyboards… but he said he was great friends with [D&D co-creator] Gary Gygax, and he said something that really, really shocked me, which was that Gary Gygax, before he passed away, said that he wanted me to tell his story. So whatever it would be in the world of D&D, it would have to be very sacred. And that’s how you get me.
Vin Diesel can be seen next in The Last Witch Hunter on October 23. And hopefully in a D&D movie somewhere down the line.
