
The studio began negotiations with various talent, as the casting process began. In March 2019, it was revealed that Gilio had completed a first draft and studio executives expressed excitement for the film. In February 2018, Paramount was in talks with both Chris McKay and Michael Gilio to direct and write the film, respectively.


In December 2017, after varying degrees of progression, the film was moved by Hasbro to Paramount Pictures and was scheduled for a release date of July 23, 2021. Upon completing the script, Manganiello worked in collaboration with Brad Peyton and Dwayne Johnson, who were both in negotiations to develop the film. In April 2017, actor Joe Manganiello, an avid fan of Dungeons & Dragons, revealed that he had written a script with John Cassel for the project and was "talking to all the right parties" to make the film happen. On March 31, 2016, Rob Letterman was in negotiations to direct Johnson-McGoldrick‘s script, with his role confirmed on May 13, 2016. film was set for pre-production with Hasbro. District Judge Dolly Gee urged Sweetpea Entertainment and Hasbro to settle the rights case, the Warner Bros. Two days later, Hasbro issued a lawsuit saying that they were co-producing a Dungeons & Dragons film at Universal Pictures with Chris Morgan writing and directing. Pictures and Courtney Solomon's Sweetpea Entertainment announced a film based on Dungeons & Dragons with David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick writing the script and Roy Lee, Alan Zeman, and Solomon producing.
