Recent weeks have been a bit of a giddy whirlwind for film and TV loving gamers of all stripes. We’ve had a banger of a Fallout Season 2 finale on Prime Video, gotten an exciting first look at Sophie Turner’s Tomb Raider, seen Neon drop an first eerie Exit 8 trailer, and witnessed a slew of eye-catching casting announcements for Ronald D. Moore’s God Of War. Now, per Variety, we’re hearing that The Last Of Us co-showrunner Craig Mazin has set his sights on developing a Baldur’s Gate series at HBO.
For those unfamiliar with Hasbro and Larian Studios’ fantasy RPG series, Baldur’s Gate is a major part of the wider Dungeons & Dragons franchise, with its most recent entry, Baldur’s Gate 3, having released in 2023 to overwhelming critical acclaim and commercial success. Unlike Mazin’s previous major HBO videogame adaptation however, the aforementioned The Last Of Us, the writer-creator-showrunner’s Baldur’s Gate series is set to pick up where the game left off, following returning — and new — characters as they wrestle with the aftermath of the events of BG3. How exactly that will work given the choose-your-own-adventure format of the game is unclear, but given Mazin’s credentials (the man’s a Dungeon Master of 15 years who’s completed Baldur’s Gate 3 in the hard-as-flails Honour Mode), we trust he’ll figure it out.
“After putting nearly 1000 hours into the incredible world of Baldur’s Gate 3, it is a dream come true to be able to continue the story that Larian and Wizards of The Coast created,” Mazin said in a statement accompanying the new show’s announcement. “I am a devoted fan of D&D and the brilliant way that Swen Vincke and his gifted team adapted it. I can’t wait to help bring Baldur’s Gate and all of its incredible characters to life with as much respect and love as we can, and I’m deeply grateful to Gabe Marano and his team at Hasbro for entrusting me with this incredibly important property.”
With The Last Of Us expected now to wrap with its forthcoming third season, the expectation is very much that Mazin’s journey into the Forgotten Realms will be next up for the showrunner. And, excitingly, Deadline reports that Mazin is planning on reaching out to BG3‘s voice cast with a view to getting them involved in the show too — so keep an eye (and an ear) out for potential Astarion, Gale, Lae’zel, Karlach, Shadowheart et al castings in the weeks and months ahead. Here’s hoping Mazin will have another *cough* critical hit on his hands, here. (Sorry.)
