Summary
Magic: The Gatheringhas been a titan in the tabletop and digital collectible card game spaces for ages, and now the IP is looking to expand its multimedia reach with a bold new move by the game’s parent company.
Magic: The Gatheringpretty much created the now insanely popular trading card game genre, starting out in 1993 with inspiration from role-playing games and more complex mechanics and rules than any other mainstream card game. Entirely distinct from anything that came before it, the game quickly became widely popular and amassed a dedicated player base that’s only grown with time. Since then, the game has added more cards, mechanics, and formats and evencollaborated with popular IPs likeFinal Fantasyvia specialMagic: The Gatheringcard seriesand more. As of the 2020s, the game has managed to attain yearly earnings in the realm of even the most popular Hollywood franchises.
There have been some amazingMagic: The Gatheringcrossover serieswith other IPs over the years, and the game’s latest move brings it even closer to many of those collaborators. As reported byTheWrap, the popular collectible card game is being expanded into a film and TV franchise via a partnership between IP holder Hasbro Entertainment and film production company Legendary Entertainment. Initial plans involve the release of a feature film before expanding into TV and other endeavors, which follows from the late 2024 announcement of an animated adaptation ofMagic: The Gatheringin production at Netflix. “This is an exciting and complementary partnership, uniting one of the world’s most iconic brands with a powerful and proven steward.” Hasbro Entertainment’s Head of Film Zev Foreman said in an official statement. “‘Magic: The Gathering’ has inspired decades of epic world-building and creative storytelling. It is a perfect match for Legendary’s diversified approach to marquee IP, and we are excited to work together to build a whole new ‘Magic: The Gathering’ universe.”
Hasbro made an attempt at aMagic: The Gatheringmovie in the 2010s but was thwarted by Disney’s acquisition of Fox and has been silent on that front since. While pleasantly unexpected, this move is transparently just one of many recent moves towards fully utilizing big IP in the film and TV space. Hasbro has been on a mission of late, seeking out various partnerships to launch film and TV franchises for other IP in their arsenal includingClue, Monopoly,Trivial Pursuit,andScrabble.This move was likely also encouraged by the success of thewell-received tabletop game adaptationDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, another iconic tabletop game in Hasbro’s IP collection that has seen a surge in mainstream interest of late. WhileMagic: The Gatheringis highly unlikely to enter the mainstream in quite the same way thanks to its heavy reliance on mechanics in lieu of roleplay and quirky character moments, there’s no doubt that an adaptation would do a lot to get more people interested in the IP and possibly giving the game a chance. More importantly, if successful, the adaptation could be a major source of revenue and relevance, potentially opening up even more avenues to move mediums and sell figures.
The potential for success is very high forMagic: The Gathering,as its roots in fantasy and inspiration from role-playing games mean that the game’s designs lend themselves to adaptation a lot better than would otherwise be the case for a card game of the regular sort. If the companies can work together to bring fans a solid new franchise withoutHasbro’s bad AI habit rearing its headin the production, then longtime players and casual viewers are in for a treat when the film hits theaters.
