Netflix Orders Live-Action Dungeons & Dragons Series Centered on Strahd von Zarovich
Netflix is developing a live-action Dungeons & Dragons series based on the Ravenloft campaign, telling the origin story of the vampire Darklord Strahd von Zarovich. The project is created by John August and executive produced by Alfonso Cuarón.
Netflix is developing a live-action television series based on the Dungeons & Dragons gothic-horror campaign Ravenloft, with the story focused on the origin of its iconic vampire villain, Darklord Strahd von Zarovich. The project is described as a prestige fantasy series where adventure collides with gothic horror and tragic romance, according to details shared with Variety.
The series will chronicle the making of Strahd, tracing his transformation from a tragic antihero into one of the tabletop role-playing game's most notorious villains. The official description frames the narrative around power, love, obsession, and undead transformation, set within the shadowy Domains of Dread. John August, known for his work on Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as the co-host of the Scriptnotes podcast, is attached as creator. Alfonso Cuarón, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Gravity and Roma, is among the executive producers, alongside Hasbro's Gabriel Marano, Richard Schwartz, and Esperanto Filmoj's Gaby Rodriguez.
Strahd von Zarovich is a character heavily inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula. In the lore of Dungeons & Dragons, he was once a prince and warlord who, fearing his own mortality, made a pact with the Dark Powers to gain immortality. The terms of that pact required him to kill his own brother in order to claim his brother's wife as his own. The woman, however, rejected him so completely that she threw herself from a cliff rather than marry him, leaving Strahd heartbroken and cursed to an eternal existence as a vampire in the land of Barovia.
The announcement arrives as the Dungeons & Dragons franchise continues to expand across multiple media. Wizards of the Coast released Ravenloft: The Horrors Within in April 2026, an expansion that updated the original campaign as part of the game's Season of Horror event. Additionally, a new video game titled Dungeons & Dragons: Warlock was recently showcased at gamescom, featuring voice acting from Tricia Helfer and Maggie Robertson, who is known for her role as Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village.
The live-action series also follows the lingering hopes for a sequel to the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein have expressed continued interest in returning for another movie, though Paramount passed on the project citing financial reasons. While the film was not a box office hit upon release, it has gained a devoted following in the years since, and the new Netflix project signals renewed studio confidence in the Dungeons & Dragons brand as a source of compelling entertainment.
