We’re not entirely sure how Craig Mazin became HBO’s go-to guy for adapting text-heavy video games—it’s not exactly a natural endpoint for the “Hangover sequel writer to Chernobyl mastermind” pipeline. But here we are, as Deadline reports that the Last Of Us showrunner has been tapped to helm an even more ambitious piece of video game TV adaptation for the prestige cable network: A show set in the world of fantasy video game sensation Baldur’s Gate.
For the uninitiated: Baldur’s Gate is a big, old deal in video games, with its first few titles (released from 1998 to 2001) representing one of the most successful efforts of their time to import Dungeons And Dragons directly into computer games. After lying fallow for a few decades, the series then got a massive infusion of interest and energy a couple of years ago when Larian Studios picked back up the unused brand, creating 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3—one of the most successful role-playing games in recent memory. Baldur’s Gate 3 was an absolutely massive hit at a time when D&D owner Hasbro is desperate to get TV shows and movies based in the brand off the ground, so it’s not entirely surprising that HBO would go sniffing around it as it looks for its next big adaptation win—although the reveal that the TV series will serve as a sequel to the game, rather than a direct adaptation of it, does open up space for an enormous amount of questions.
See, Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of those games that’s all about respecting player choice (even if those choices seem to mostly revolve around which of your co-workers you’re inclined to smash). The endstate for the game, then, can range from “Got the entire region of Baldur’s Gate nuked” to “completely triumphant,” with a whole lot of dark or bittersweet outcomes in between. (Because nothing says “heroic fantasy” like totally failing to defy your dark god’s commands at the last hurdle and being reduced to a feral killing machine with no control over either your murderous urges or your bladder.) That is a lot of possible endpoints for Mazin to have to pick through when creating a sequel story, which seems insanely daunting to us. Did the party save Baldur’s Gate? Is Astarion still kicking around? What’s going on with Karlach’s infernal heart? Who did you smooch? No, seriously: Who the fuck did you smooch? Was it Shadowheart?
Mazin at least has familiarity with the source material: In one of the funnier “No, seriously, our guy knows what he’s doing” blurbs we’ve ever seen, press materials from HBO assure readers that “He has proudly completed the game on the challenging Honor Mode,” and, in his own words, “put nearly 1,000 hours into the incredible world of Baldur’s Gate 3.” The new series will reportedly involve both new and old characters, with Deadline noting that Mazin intends to reach out to the cast members from the game about appearing in the show, in similar ways to what happened with The Last Of Us. (Which Mazin will, obviously, have to finish before he can start playing with his mind flayers and warlocks; that series is currently gearing up for production on its third and final season).
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