Ryan Reynolds in talks to star in a live-action Dragon's Lair movie on Netflix

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It can't be as bad as 6 Underground, right?

(Image credit: Netflix)

Dragon's Lair was a technological marvel when it was released in 1983. Instead of using conventional graphics of the day, which were not great, it featured real animation by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth, enabled by beefy LaserDisc storage. It wasn't a particularly good game—it sucked, frankly—but those stunning visuals turned it into a five-star quarters-eater, and inspired home versions on a variety of platforms. The original is on Steam, and GOG picked up the Dragon's Lair Trilogy in 2018.

In 2015, Bluth and Gary Goldman launched a $550,000 Kickstarter project to help fund the creation of Dragons' Lair: The Movie. It tanked, so they cancelled and went to Indiegogo looking for $250,000—just slightly over what was pledged on Kickstarter—and this time, they were successful, achieving their goal in just a couple of weeks and ultimately pulling in more than $730,000.

And now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the project has been picked up by Netflix, with none other than Ryan Reynolds in talks to star as Dragon's Lair hero Dirk the Daring. Bluth, Goldman, and John Pomeroy, another animator who left Disney to work with Bluth, are producing. Netflix confirmed the report on Twitter:

Dragon's Lair isn't big on plot: Princess Daphne has been kidnapped by the dragon Singe and is being held in the fortress of the evil wizard Mordoc, and Dirk the Daring, a bold, vaguely dim-witted knight, crashes the castle to rescue her. The game itself doesn't provide any greater depth, because it's basically a series of rapid-fire quicktime events. That means the writers have the freedom to run with pretty much whatever they want, but whether that's actually a good thing, we'll have to wait and see. 

Hopefully it will be better than Reynolds' last collaboration with Netflix, the Michael Bay-directed cinematic fiasco 6 Underground—honestly, I can't imagine it being any worse.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.