Alfonso Cuarón, the Mexico City-born director of “Y tu mamá también” and “Roma,” is heading back to Netflix — this time to executive produce a series set in the gothic-horror world of Dungeons & Dragons.
“Ravenloft” is a live-action series set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe that follows the transformation of Strahd von Zarovich into the evil Darklord, the vampire ruler of Barovia.
According to Deadline and other reports last week, Cuarón, 64, will executive produce through London-based Esperanto Filmoj, the company he co-founded in 2002. (Filmoj is an Esperanto word meaning “films.”)
The series marks Cuarón’s return to Netflix, which showcased his semi-biographical “Roma” in late 2018 following a short release in theaters — a flashpoint in the early debate over streaming films’ theatrical releases.
The black-and-white drama, set in Mexico City of the early 1970s, went on to earn Netflix its first Academy Award best-picture nomination, among 10 total nominations. It lost to “Green Book” for best picture, but did win Oscars for best director, best cinematography and best foreign language film, now called best international feature film.
“Ravenloft” is being written by John August, whose background in gothic fantasy is a good fit for the series’ horror and dark-romance premise. His co-writing credentials include five Tim Burton films, including “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Corpse Bride” and “Dark Shadows.”
First introduced in 1983, Ravenloft became one of the tabletop game’s best-known settings. Its realm of Barovia is a mist-shrouded gothic-horror world ruled by Strahd, who is both its tyrant and its prisoner.
The project is separate from “The Forgotten Realms,” a previously announced Netflix Dungeons & Dragons series no longer in development.
For “Ravenloft,” Netflix has not announced a cast, director, production start date or release date. Late 2027 would be the earliest plausible release time, though 2028 is more realistic.
Cuarón won Oscars for directing and editing the 2013 space thriller “Gravity,” becoming the first Mexican-born winner of the Best Director award. He had already directed “Y tu mamá también” (2001), “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004) and “Children of Men” (2006). He co-wrote “Y tu mamá” with his brother, Carlos.
More recently, he wrote, directed and executive produced the limited series “Disclaimer,” and he is also co-writing and executive-producing the forthcoming drama “Ascension,” both for Apple TV.
