Peacock’s Dungeon Crawler Carl adaptation is targeting a 2027 filming start, with more details potentially coming within weeks. The production is also still searching for the actor who will bring Carl to life.
Speaking at New York Comic-Con on October 10, Universal Global Television scripted series chief Kelsey Balance said the team has begun receiving drafts and outlines while assembling the production’s key creative personnel.
“We are starting to see drafts and outlines, and we’ve gotten the whole series pitch, which is really exciting, but it’s continued to evolve,” Balance said. “While that’s happening, we are building the ship, or building the plane, as we fly. So that’s happening, and that drives everything. At the same time, we’re into soft prep. So we’re hiring HODs. We’re finding great line producers, production designers, directors, casting — all of it is kind of happening right now, which is fun.”
Balance teased that more details would arrive “very soon, within the next few weeks.” With that update coming on October 10, we hopefully won’t have to wait much longer to learn what the team has in store.
She also outlined the production schedule, with formal prep expected to begin in early 2027 and filming planned for that year.
“We’re going to be locking in all of those key things, which will be fun to share with you guys,” Balance said. “Then we’ll start actual real prep in the new year and shooting next year. So, the plan is to have all scripts written before production starts, which is great. We’re on track for that and then we’ll start shooting it, which is exciting. We’re constantly brainstorming all the time on when and how we can share things.”
The executives couldn’t provide a premiere date, but author and panel moderator Matt Dinniman did offer a casting update. Aside from audiobook narrator Jeff Hays voicing Princess Donut, no casting decisions have been made.
“We were just discussing this backstage. Carl’s not been cast. And we don’t have a specific answer for that,” Dinniman said when asked which actor he would like to see take on the role. “I want Carl to be played by someone who embodies the role and someone who can be both goofy and give off that really, really scary vibe. When Carl’s upset, he’s a very scary person.”
Based on Dinniman’s best-selling LitRPG novel series, Dungeon Crawler Carl follows a Coast Guard veteran and his ex-girlfriend’s talking cat as they navigate an alien game show following the apocalypse.
“An alien invasion has wiped out most of humanity, and any survivors are forced to fight for their lives on a sadistic intergalactic game show,” the official logline reads. “Sounds bad, right? Now try doing it with bare feet and a stuck-up, self-centered, tiara-wearing talking cat as your partner. Welcome to Dungeon Crawler World: Earth, where the apocalypse will be televised … and Coast Guard vet Carl finds himself stuck with his ex-girlfriend’s award-winning show cat, Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk, as they try to survive the end of the world, fighting monsters, aliens, an insane A.I. and even other survivors … all for the sake of good TV. Survival is optional. Entertainment is not.”