Spring 2020 saw the announcement of a Netflix adaptation of dragon’s lair, famous 1980s video game in laser tag format, starring Ryan Reynolds as Dirk the Daring. Between the pandemic and a thousand other projects, everything was quiet then, but now the Canadian actor is launching again, promising something “never seen”.
I can say that Netflix has approached Dragon’s Lair with a spirit of participation that I’ve actually never seen before. They’re really busy. How we approach it, how we work on it and what we do, I think will surprise quite a few people. Because of its purpose, I mean. I’m not sure, but I don’t think anyone has ever actually tried to do something like this before. So I’m curious how it goes. It ties in uniquely with technology I’ve never seen before in the entertainment industry. So we’re trying to make some pretty innovative attempts with this particular intellectual property in a way that blows my mind. And I am very glad that others are as involved as we are.
Reynolds would go on to describe the adaptation as something “alive, not the usual thing to look atwhich means everything and nothing, but when you think of the origins and gameplay of the original video game, you think of a kind of pumped-up version of Bandersnatch, the interactive episode of Blackmirror released in 2018. After all, interactivity would restore the original feel of the video game, which was in fact a so-called “laser game”, or rather… an interactive movie, with the scenes changing according to the (simple: jump, move, attack) choices of the player .
Netflix has shown in recent years that it is willing to experiment with the mix between different branches of entertainment: the streaming platform has several interactive shows along the lines of laser tag, both cartoons and live action. They range from Minecraft’s “Story Mode” to special spin-offs from Jurassic World and Carmen Sandiego, going through Bear Grills’ “School of Survival”. There’s also a curious quiz game coming up that you can play alone or in pairs called Triviaverse.
Production is handled by Roy Lee (Vertigo Entertainment), Trevor Engelson (Underground Films) and Reynolds himself, with his company Maximum Effort. Producers include Gary Goldman, Jon Pomeroy, and (this is heartwarming) original creator and director, the never-celebrated Don Bluth, who will also co-direct with Goldman, from Dan and Kevin Hageman’s reworked screenplay.
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Source: Lega Nerd
