Get ready to tap some mana, because the Magic: The Gathering movie may have been reclaimed from the graveyard. There have been extensive efforts to bring the extremely popular collectible card game to the screen, but progress on the various projects has been as rare and elusive as a mint-condition Black Lotus. However, the film’s director has good news for longtime fans of the franchise.

Director Matt Johnson recently discussed the project with MovieWeb, giving an encouraging update: “I’m still in the middle of it, that’s very much happening. It’s the biggest project I’ve ever been a part of in my life and I’m amazed it’s happening. As of today, as of this conversation, it’s very much full speed ahead.” Canadian director Johnson broke out with 2023’s corporate rise-and-fall epic BlackBerry, and is about to premiere his big-screen continuation of his cult-classic TV series, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. His involvement with a Magic: The Gathering movie was first reported last year.

What Is ‘Magic: The Gathering’?

Created by Richard Garfield, who was inspired by the worldbuilding of Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering was first released by Wizards of the Coast in 1993; Wizards of the Coast has since been acquired by toy and gaming conglomerate Hasbro. It is a customizable and collectible card game, allowing players to build their own decks of creatures, locations, and magic spells to do battle with their opponents. Over the intervening thirty-plus years, the series has accumulated extensive and complicated lore. The series centers around planeswalkers, a group of powerful magic-users who can travel between realms and dimensions; they duel with each other, unleashing powerful spells, creatures, and artifacts as they draw upon the power of their environment.

While a number of Magic: The Gathering video games, novels, and comic books have expanded the franchise, a TV or film adaptation has proved elusive. A film adaptation was announced back in 2014, with Simon Kinberg (X-Men) tapped to produce, but that never came to pass. Meanwhile, in 2019, Avengers hitmakers Joe and Anthony Russo were recruited to produce an animated series for Netflix: however, development of that series lingered in the Dark Realms until 2024, when Star Trek: Picard‘s Terry Matalas was brought in to captain the ship. At last report, that series was being cast.

A Magic: The Gathering movie is in development; no release date has yet been announced.

via Collider