Paramount is rolling the dice on a director for its live-action Dungeons & Dragons film. The studio is in talks with Lego Batman Movie helmer Chris McKay for the position.

If negotiations are successful, McKay, who is also working on the Nightwing movie (see “'Nightwing' Hits the Silver Screen), will direct the movie for Hasbro’s AllSpark Pictures (see “Hasbro Makes New Exclusive Deal for Movies, Television”). D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and the AllSpark agreement means Paramount -- not Warner Bros., which had gone to court in 2015 to preserve its rights to the property -- distributes the film.

At one point in time, Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver, Divergent) was in talks for the lead (see “First Casting for ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie”). The film is expected to open on July 23, 2021 (see “'Dungeons & Dragons' Film Moves to Paramount, Gets Date”).