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'Magic: The Gathering' Coming To A Theater Near You

Lilian Min |
January 14, 2014 | 1:35 p.m. PST

Music Editor

I guess we know what the film's title is gonna look like. (via Wikimedia)
I guess we know what the film's title is gonna look like. (via Wikimedia)
It's time to d-d-d-d, d-d-d-d-duel!

Oh wait, wrong CCG (that's "collectible card game" for you n00bs). But it's all the same, right?

WRONG. Or at least, that's the reaction that 20th Century Fox is banking on.

The studio has bought the screen rights for the massively popular but arguably still niche "Magic: The Gathering" card game, reportedly "to launch a massive franchise on the scale of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings."

This follows in the wake of other "nerdy" big screen pursuits like the upcoming "World of Warcraft" film (which just signed on Dominic Cooper), and presumably will be succeeded with an announcement that David Fincher will be adapting "Minecraft." (That is a joke.) ("The Story of Mojang" doesn't count.)

Lest one believe that the writer is jesting at the idea of a "Magic: The Gathering" film, let her be clear that she is not. A lot of CCGs are adaptations of existing universes (see: "Star Wars"), and serve to expand those universes outwards and to continue the film/TV storylines beyond their original scope.

So for something like "Magic," which has largely stayed within the realm of trading cards, its universe is already in place. The challenge then becomes how to incorporate it in the formation of characters and narratives. 

With "Magic" on its way into theaters, what other CCG adaptations could follow? Is there any way "Magic" will reach the lofty success of "Harry Potter" or "LOTR"? Who knows... but anything's possible if you believe in the heart of the cards.

Reach Music Editor Lilian Min here; follow her on Twitter here and on Google+ here.



 

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