Magic: The Gathering Movie Franchise Coming Soon Courtesy Of Fox

Fans of the game and lore of Magic: The Gathering rejoice! 20th Century Fox has reportedly just closed a deal that would bring the wildly popular and iconic collectible card game (CCG) to the big screen in not just one but, hopefully, a series of films.

The Magic universe came into being around 1993 by Wizards of the Coast (WotC), who was looking to carve out a place in the market that was heavily populated by Dungeons and Dragons and tabletop role-playing games. Although Dungeons and Dragons was bought by Wizards, who was eventually acquired by Hasbro, Magic: The Gathering's popularity never waned, even in the face of other popular card game titles, like Yu-Gi-Oh or even Pokemon.

But what successful game franchise would be without a film adaptation? After all, there are quite a number of game titles that have found their way to the big screen, though their success is definitely up to debate. Even World of Warcraft, which has become a household name among massively multiplayer online RPGs (MMORPG) is also following suit, possibly starting production this month.

Fox doesn't want a one off movie, however, and envisions a whole franchise around the game. For this purpose, it has assigned Simon Kinberg to oversee the endeavor, the very same writer-producer who has helped bring X-Men and Fantastic Four to the studio's hands. Daniel Persitz will handle matters on Hasbro's end, with Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis, as well as WotC president Greg Leeds in production roles.

At this time, no word on when production will start has been divulged. But Fox's ambitions involve a franchise as massive as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, so can expect either a production of epic proportions or an epic fail.

VIA: Hollywood Reporter