MAGIC: THE GATHERING Director Matt Johnson Calls the Film “My STAR WARS” After a Crushing 2006 Pro Tour Loss

When news broke that Magic: The Gathering was getting a live-action movie, a few fans did a double take at the name attached to it.

Matt Johnson, the filmmaker behind BlackBerry and Nirvanna the Band the Show, isn’t the first person you’d expect to direct a sprawling fantasy epic built from one of the most iconic trading card games ever made.

But here’s the thing. Magic isn’t just another gig for Johnson. It’s personal.

In a recent interview with The Big Picture, Johnson opened up about just how deep his connection to Magic: The Gathering runs, and it turns out this movie isn’t some studio assignment. It’s a full-circle moment decades in the making.

"That game taught me to read. When I was a kid, my dream was to be a professional Magic card player. I mean that literally. I made Day 2 in Detroit, 2006 Pro Tour [with] Champions of Kamigawa. I drafted like garbage. I sat next to [Magic] player Richard Hoaen, who just beat the shit out of me.”

That loss hit hard. For Johnson, the 2006 Pro Tour in Detroit wasn’t just another tournament. It was the moment he realized the pro circuit probably wasn’t in the cards.

Instead of chasing the competitive scene, he pivoted.

"I made the decision right then to take filmmaking seriously, because I'm never going to be a pro Magic player. Then I just quit. [It] broke my heart."

Hell, being a professional filmmaker seems harder than being a pro Magic: The Gathering player! Regardless, it’s a wild crossroads. Walk away from the dream you had as a kid and bet everything on something else.

In Johnson’s case, that gamble paid off. Years later, he’s the one calling the shots on a major Magic: The Gathering movie.

Even now, the sting of that old loss hasn’t totally faded.

"For years, I've said I would trade my entire career to be a professional Magic card player. Now I'm making the Magic card movie. It's almost like someone was listening.

“It was like making a wish on a monkey paw… To me, that's my Star Wars – getting to revisit a world that I know so well, that I love so much, that meant so much to me, is surreal."

For Johnson, Magic isn’t just IP. It’s mythology. It’s childhood. It’s the thing that shaped him before he ever picked up a camera. Calling it “my Star Wars” makes perfect sense. It’s the universe that lit up his imagination the way Star Wars did for an entire generation of filmmakers.

Right now, details about the Magic: The Gathering movie are scarce. We know that Hasbro and Legendary are teaming up to build not just a live-action film, but an entire “television universe” around the property.

Johnson was officially named director in April 2025, signaling that development is moving forward in a real way.

When the partnership was announced, Hasbro’s head of film, Zev Foreman, said, "This is an exciting and complementary partnership, uniting one of the world's most iconic brands with a powerful and proven steward.

“Magic: The Gathering has inspired decades of epic world-building and creative storytelling. It is a perfect match for Legendary's diversified approach to marquee IP, and we are excited to work together to build a whole new Magic. The Gathering universe."

For fans of Magic: The Gathering, that promise of a shared universe is huge. Decades of planes, Planeswalkers, multiverse conflicts, and legendary creatures are sitting there waiting to be adapted. The lore is dense, weird, emotional, and sometimes downright metal. In the right hands, it could be something incredibly awesome.

That’s where Johnson’s history with the game matters. This isn’t a director parachuting in to figure out what a Black Lotus does. This is someone who lived the grind, drafted in tournaments, got crushed at a Pro Tour table, and walked away heartbroken. He knows the culture. He knows the obsession. He knows how much this world means to players.

He may not have become a pro Magic player in 2006, but in a strange twist of fate, he’s now shaping the cinematic future of one of the most beloved fantasy franchises in gaming history.

For a kid who once dreamed of winning tournaments, directing Magic: The Gathering might be the ultimate topdeck.