Last June, we learned that an animated series was headed to Netflix based on Magic: The Gathering, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Russo Brothers attached. Now another Magic: The Gathering-based project is headed to the streaming service. This one is a documentary and it hails from the folks behind the hits ‘The Toys That Made Us’ and ‘The Movies That Made Us’.
‘Igniting the Spark, The Story of Magic: The Gathering’ will examine the evolution of the hit card game from its launch in 1993. It will be directed by Brian Stillman and Kelley Slagle, co-directors of last year’s doc ‘Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons’. Stillman is a consulting producer of ‘The Toys…’ and also wrote, directed, and produced 2014’s ‘Plastic Galaxy: The Story of The Star Wars Toys’. Slagle directed the Dungeons & Dragons doc ‘Of Dice and Men’ also released in 2014. CEO of The Nacelle Company, Brian Volk-Weiss, creator of ‘The Toys…’ and ‘The Movies…’ is producing. The Nacelle Company is partnering with Cavegirl Productions and X-Ray Films.
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In a statement, Stillman and Slagle said:
“Magic: The Gathering is a classic success story, a homegrown game that came from nowhere and achieved worldwide success. It’s brought joy to millions of people and along the way completely transformed the game industry. We can’t wait to tell this story.”
Co-producer Seth Polansky added:
“I’ve played Magic: The Gathering since 1994. Now, 25 years later, I’m beyond thrilled to be able to give something back to the game and the community that has given me so much joy over the years.”
Magic: The Gathering was the first collectible card roleplaying game, and was created by mathematician Richard Garfield. It was first released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast, which is now a subsidiary of Hasbro. It inspired the creation of other card games including the card version of Pokémon. Magic has sold billions of cards, and millions of players enjoy the game each year. In fact, this weekend marked the Magic: The Gathering World Championships, with the winner taking home $300,000.
Magic has also been adapted into video games and comic books. A film was in the works at 20th Century Fox, with Simon Kinberg producing, but it was scrapped after Disney bought Fox. A previous documentary, ‘Enter the Battlefield’ was released in 2016.
‘The Toys That Made Us’ has been a hit on Netflix with twelve episodes dedicated to classic toy lines like ‘Barbie’, ‘GI Joe’, ”Masters of the Universe’, ‘Star Wars’ and more. This past December, Netflix released ‘The Movies That Made Us’, which took the same irreverent style and pulled back the curtain on ‘Die Hard’, ‘Dirty Dancing’, ‘Ghostbusters’, and ‘Home Alone’.
Are you looking forward to seeing the same approach given to Magic: The Gathering?
