The Dungeon Crawler Carl TV show certainly won't be the first major book-to-screen adaptation to get underway before its source material was complete. I'm looking at you, original Harry Potter movies, and obviously Game of Thrones, though there are surely other examples. I think, if you're invested in the source material and waiting for the next book, it's fair to be some level of wary about this kind of situation.
Speaking more plainly, there's always some concern the author's involvement in the adaptation might impede their ability to finish the story they've been telling. There's also the worry that if the author doesn't have enough say in the adaptation, the finished product might veer too far from what we love about the books. It's with those things in mind that I can't entirely decide if I love or hate Matt Dinniman's recent comments about his involvement in the DCC TV show that's in the works. (One more thing for those with a Peacock subscription to look forward to!)
TV Insider checked in with Dinniman about the upcoming adaptation of his mega-popular LitRPG series. Here's what he told them.
There's a writers room, and I am seeing scripts and stuff like that, and adding my own notes, but I'm not actively day-to-day in the script-writing process. I'm a co-executive producer on the show. The people who are involved in the scripts are all fans, and I have complete faith in them.
The update is more or less what we knew about the status of the Dungeon Crawler Carl TV show right now. While we wait for more updates about casting and filming, it sounds like the episodes are still being written. From Dinniman's comments, it also sounds like his involvement in that process extends to giving notes on what's being written, and not much more.
I think The Dungeon Crawler Carl fan in me would feel more confident the show was in safe hands if Dinniman were more actively involved in the writing process. He's the mastermind behind the characters we've come to know and love over the span of eight books (so far), after all. Are notes going to be enough to make sure the best of those characters and the world he's built makes it to our screens? I hope so.
On the other hand, I'm among the many Crawlers out there who's caught up on the series through this year's release, A Parade of Horribles, and eagerly awaiting news about the arrival of Book 9 (release date TBD) and eventually Book 10. When Dinniman spoke to Variety back in July, he talked about being "full steam ahead" on the writing process for Book 9, which is comforting to hear, as it sounds like this won't be a Winds of Winter situation.
I think if I had to choose between wanting him to be more involved in the TV show or more focused on finishing the series, I'd go with the latter. So, I suppose I'm going to resume being some range of optimistic to giddily ecstatic about both the next book and the upcoming TV show.
I think the Harry Potter books are a good example of a series that stuck the landing, despite the massive popularity boom and the release of the movies all happening around the same time that books were still being released. It's absolutely possible for all of this to work out in the best way for DCC fans who are waiting for the final books and also excited for the TV show. Matt Dinniman's confidence in the writers of the TV show is, at the very least, a comforting update.
