Official Baldur's Gate 3 HBO Adaptation Will "Continue the Story"

American filmmaker Craig Mazin (The Last of Us, Chernobyl) will be making an HBO adaptation of Baldur’s Gate 3 after The Last of Us comes to a close. Season 3 of The Last of Us is expected to be the final season. Whereas The Last of Us can be fully and accurately described as an adaptation, however, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a little different. Mazin’s work “will continue the story” of Baldur’s Gate 3.

As fans know, Larian could have pursued DLC for Baldur’s Gate 3 or moved on to Baldur’s Gate 4, but instead decided to turn back to its own IP, Divinity. Wizards of the Coast has expressed interest in Baldur’s Gate 4 in the past, and while a video game will likely happen again someday, it does seem that Mazin’s work will be canon. After all, it “will continue the story” of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Set in the Dungeons and Dragons setting of Faerun, Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) video games of the past few years. It’s fitting, then, that HBO has decided to create a drama series based on Baldur’s Gate 3, with Craig Mazin creating, writing, executing, producing, and showrunning the TV adaptation. Also attached are Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O’Conner, and Hasbro Entertainment’s Gabriel Marano. Wizards of the Coast is a subsidiary of Hasbro, with Head of Story at Hasbro Chris Perkins serving as a consultant.

This HBO adaptation of Baldur’s Gate 3 takes place immediately after the ending of the game, as reported by Deadline, where characters old and new deal with the fallout of the city’s destruction. It’s uncertain which ending of Baldur’s Gate 3 this show will adapt, whether a Tav or Durge led the party, or how it will deal with the possible fates of the companions. For the time being, fans will have to be patient.

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The HBO Adaptation Takes Place Right After BG3

It is from a fan perspective that Mazin is pursuing this adaptation, as he is a major fan. He has reportedly been playing Dungeons and Dragons, as a Dungeon Master, for 15 years, and he has reportedly beaten Baldur’s Gate 3 on Honor Mode. Speaking about his work on the adaptation, Mazin remarked,

“After putting nearly 1000 hours into the incredible world of Baldur’s Gate 3, it is a dream come true to be able to continue the story that Larian and Wizards of The Coast created.”

As Mazin continued, “I am a devoted fan of D&D and the brilliant way that Swen Vincke and his gifted team adapted it. I can’t wait to help bring Baldur’s Gate and all of its incredible characters to life with as much respect and love as we can, and I’m deeply grateful to Gabe Marano and his team at Hasbro for entrusting me with this incredibly important property.”

With no known Baldur’s Gate game in development, Mazin is said to have freedom with the story, past (BG1+2), present (BG3), and future (his adaptation). While plot details are under wraps and likely still being fine-tuned, it is said to follow traditional Dungeons and Dragons storytelling about new characters who are not that powerful until…well, they are capable of killing a god by the end of it. It’s uncertain if these new characters will go that far, but they will encounter beloved and (rightfully) hated characters of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Mazin reportedly plans to reach out to Baldur’s Gate 3 actors with ideas, hoping for them to participate in the TV adaptation if possible. It’s hard to imagine anyone else voicing beloved characters like Astarion, Karlach, and Shadowheart when Neil Newbon, Samantha Béart, and Jennifer English, respectively, played them perfectly (among the many other cast members involved in BG3). At the very least, Neil Newbon has stated that he’s open to reprising Astarion in the past.