Maya Hawke is stepping into the multiverse. The actress has closed a deal to star in "Magic: The Gathering," the long-gestating live-action film adaptation of the beloved fantasy card game, USA Film News has confirmed. Matt Johnson, the Canadian filmmaker behind "BlackBerry" and "Operation Avalanche," is set to direct the project, which is being mounted as an English-language Hollywood production. Plot details remain under wraps, and no release date has been announced.
The casting marks a significant milestone for a movie that has been gestating in various forms for years. "Magic: The Gathering," first published by Wizards of the Coast in 1993, has grown into one of the most enduring and profitable game franchises in the world, spawning countless expansion sets, a competitive tournament circuit and a vast storytelling ecosystem built around its "planeswalker" characters. A live-action feature has long been considered a natural extension of that reach, though translating the game's sprawling, mythology-heavy universe to the screen has proven a considerable challenge.
Hawke, the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, has built a résumé that balances franchise exposure with a determinedly indie sensibility. She broke out as Robin Buckley on Netflix's "Stranger Things," a role that made her a household name, and has since appeared in Wes Anderson's "Asteroid City" and "Moonrise Kingdom," as well as Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." She has also drawn acclaim for her music career, releasing two albums of folk-leaning original songs. Her involvement lends the project a young-adult-facing marquee name while signaling that the filmmakers may be aiming for something more character-driven than a pure spectacle play.
A Director With an Unconventional Track Record
Johnson's attachment is perhaps the more intriguing half of the equation. The director made his name with scrappy, improvisational films - "Operation Avalanche," a found-footage conspiracy thriller about faking the moon landing, and "The Dirties," a dark comedy about high school bullying - before earning widespread critical praise for "BlackBerry," his 2023 chronicle of the rise and fall of the Canadian smartphone maker. That film demonstrated an ability to wring drama from boardroom maneuvering and tech-world hubris, but it offers little obvious preparation for a fantasy tentpole built on spell-slinging wizards and elaborate world-building.
Still, Johnson has consistently gravitated toward stories about obsessive subcultures and the people who lose themselves in them, a sensibility that could prove surprisingly well suited to a property whose fans are famously devoted. His films tend to favor dry humor and grounded texture over visual bombast, which raises the question of what a Matt Johnson "Magic: The Gathering" movie might actually look like. The answer will not come anytime soon: with no plot synopsis released and production timelines unannounced, the project remains in early stages.
A Property Built for Adaptation - and for Risk
The game's narrative universe is enormous. Across three decades of cards, novels and ancillary fiction, "Magic" has introduced a sprawling cast of planeswalkers - powerful mages who travel between worlds - along with a multitude of richly detailed realms, from the gothic horror of Innistrad to the Egyptian-inspired sands of Amonkhet. That breadth is both an asset and a headache. Any film must choose a corner of the multiverse to inhabit while satisfying longtime players who will arrive with firm expectations about lore, characterization and visual fidelity.
Hollywood has circled the property before. A film adaptation was announced more than a decade ago with different creative personnel attached, but it never came together. The current iteration, with Hawke and Johnson now firmly in place, represents the most concrete progress the project has seen in some time.
For Hawke, the role adds another franchise to a filmography that already includes one of television's biggest hits, and it positions her at the center of a potential new fantasy series at a moment when studios are hungry for intellectual property with built-in global recognition. Whether "Magic: The Gathering" becomes the launchpad for a multi-film saga or a standalone adventure remains to be seen. For now, the film has a star, a director and a title - and a fan base that will be watching every development closely.
"Magic: The Gathering" is currently in development. No further casting, plot or release information was available at press time.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
