Surprise: a Harry Potter director tackling Netflix’s live-action D&D TV show

Right then, this one’s for the Dungeons & Dragons lot and anyone who fancies a bit of brooding vampires with their high fantasy. Netflix has officially locked in a live-action series pulled straight out of Ravenloft, and it’s got some proper heavyweight names behind it. If you were hoping for yet another wobbly blockbuster cash-in, it might be time to pause your cynicism—because Alfonso Cuarón (yes, that one, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) is executive producing. There’s a title confirmed and everything: it’s just called Ravenloft.

The Team Behind the Curtain

So, let’s name-check. Alongside Cuarón, the production lineup includes Gabriel Marano (out of Hasbro Entertainment), Richard Schwartz, Gaby Rodriguez and John August. August isn’t just shaking hands—he’s penned the scripts too, steering this as a proper gothic horror drama. If you’re the type who skims credits, these are not random suits but genre veterans, which bodes well if you value world-building over cheap nostalgia.

Fans of D&D lore have probably clocked that Netflix already dipped its toe in with an ambitious Forgotten Realms project, greenlit by the streamer back in 2025. Well, awkward update: that series, which had Shawn Levy attached as executive producer and Drew Crevello set to write, has now been quietly binned. Instead, Ravenloft is the new flagship, running on its own separate timeline with zero ties to that forgotten (sorry) effort.

Ravenloft, the D&D series from Netflix, is not connected to the previously announced Forgotten Realms adaptation—which has since been scrapped.

In the Land of the Vampire Lord

This new series is keeping things squarely in the Ravenloft corner of the D&D universe. If you don’t know your Barovia from your Baldur’s Gate, the short version: Ravenloft is classic dark fantasy fare, big on gothic horror and tragic romance. The main event is Strahd von Zarovich, a vampire with a tragic backstory and a very bad attitude, who doesn’t start out as a moustache-twirler, but definitely ends up as one of D&D’s nastiest villains.

Ravenloft’s origins go way, way back to 1983, courtesy of Tracy and Laura Hickman. Since then it’s absolutely exploded beyond the original tabletop module—think upwards of a hundred official tie-in novels, videogames, adventures, and fat rulebooks. If you watched Stranger Things and noticed the kids dropping Strahd’s name, it’s because that’s the kind of legendary status this villain enjoys among D&D fans.

Ravenloft originated in the early ‘80s and has inspired well over a hundred Dungeons & Dragons-related stories, games and rulebooks.

• Title: Ravenloft
• Platform: Netflix
• Director (EP): Alfonso Cuarón
• Writer (EP): John August
• Cast/Release date: TBA
• Core premise: Dark fantasy, gothic horror, tragic vampires, heavy on Strahd

Ravenloft won’t cross over with Forgotten Realms or any other prior Netflix D&D attempt. This one’s a clean slate. If you want castles, curses, and one of the nastiest big bads in RPG history—well, Netflix clearly thinks you’re not alone.