Peacock’s “Dungeon Crawler Carl” live-action TV series will begin filming next year, writer Matt Dinniman and Universal TV executives announced Saturday.
“We’re starting to see drafts and outlines and we’ve wrapped up the entire series pitch, which is really exciting, but it’s still evolving,” Kelsey Balance, Universal Global Television’s head of scripted series, said during a New York Comic Con panel hosted by Dinniman. “As that’s happening, we’re building the ship or the plane as we fly. That’s what’s happening, and that’s what’s driving everything. We’re also in the soft staging phase. That’s why we’re hiring HODs. We’re finding great producers, production designers, directors, actors; it’s all happening right now, and that’s fun, too.”
Based on Matt Dinniman’s best-selling LitRPG novel series, the “Dungeon Crawler Carl” TV show will be directed by Chris Yost and Eric Heisserer, who will executive produce alongside MacFarlane’s banner Fuzzy Door’s Seth MacFarlane, Erica Huggins and Rachel Hargreaves-Heald. Dinniman is co-producer. The adaptation comes from Universal Global Television.
Here’s the official logline for the “Dungeon Crawler Carl” TV series: “An alien invasion has wiped out most of humanity, and the survivors are forced to fight for their lives on a sadistic intergalactic game show. Sounds bad, right? Now try doing it barefoot and with a smug, selfish, crown-wearing talking cat as your partner. Welcome to Dungeon Crawler World: Earth, where the apocalypse will be televised… and Coast Guard vet Carl tries to survive the end of the world.” As he battles monsters, aliens, a crazy AI, and even other survivors, he finds himself stuck with his ex-girlfriend’s prized show cat, Princess Donut Queen Mother Chonk.
Balance noted that the “DCC” TV series team was “hopeful that we can announce something today” during Saturday’s NYCC panel, but that the project is “in the middle of the chaos of the storm and not all of this has officially landed yet.” However, Balance says additional details will be coming “very soon, within the next few weeks.”
“We’re going to lock down all this important stuff that will be fun to share with you,” the Universal TV executive said. “Then we’ll start real preparations in the new year and shooting next year. So our plan is to have all the scripts written before production starts, which is great. We’re on track for that and then we’ll start shooting, which is exciting. We’re constantly brainstorming about when and how we can share things.”
For now, Dinniman and executives say they can’t provide an update on when the series might air, but the writer tried to get a response from them while moderating the panel. In addition to Balance, panelists included Jordan Moblo, EVP, Creative Acquisitions & IP Management, Universal Studio Group and Vivian Cannon, EVP, Drama Development, Universal Television. The panel was an event for NYCC press and professional badge holders, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how Universal Studios Group identifies promising intellectual property, partners with creators, and executes adaptations throughout the development process.
Dinniman also said that other than the announcement that “Carl” audiobook narrator Jeff Hays will voice Princess Donut for the TV series, no other casting decisions have been made, including who will play Carl.
When an audience member asked which actor he wanted to play in this role, Dinniman said, “We were just having this behind-the-scenes discussion. Carl wasn’t cast. And we don’t have a definitive answer to that.” “I want Carl to be played by someone who truly embodies the role and can be goofy but also give off that really scary vibe. Carl becomes a very scary person when he’s upset.”