Netflix this week announced it is working on a live-action adaptation of 80s classic Dragon’s Lair. The original content maker added that it is in talks with Ryan Reynolds to play protagonist Dirk the Daring as he attempts to rescue Princess Daphne from an evil dragon.
Netflix also notes that original Dragon’s Lair creators Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, and Jon Pomeroy are all on board to produce, with a script set to be written by The LEGO Movie writers Daniel and Kevin Hageman. This announcement comes after months of negotiations, with Reynolds set to produce the project under his Maximum Effort umbrella.
Dragon’s Lair was published by Cinematronics in 1983. The laserdisc-based title took advantage of the massive storage potential of the platform to overcome other hardware limitations, resulting in superior graphics. Kids flocked to local arcades in the summer of 1983, eager to fork over quarters for the opportunity to witness the “movie-quality” imagery in person.
Indeed, Dragon’s Lair was essentially just that an interactive film that largely consisted of animated cutscenes. User input was minimal – a button press here or there to clear a quick time event but that didn’t matter initially. Of course, once the magic wore off and its lack of replayability was exposed, gamers moved on.
Netflix added that Don Bluth, Roy Lee, Trevor Engelson, Gary Goldman and Jon Pomeroy are already on board to produce the movie, which will be written by Kevin and Daniel Hageman.
