Hollywood continues to cast and produce films even as the exhibition industry struggles to find ways to survive in the new normal brought about by the global coronavirus pandemic. The latest news is that Chris Pine will lead in a new Dungeons and Dragons film adaptation.

Deadline reports that the Paramount and Hasbro/eOne co-production has approached the 40-year-old actor with regards to the film. This new adaptation will have a script written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who will also be directing.

Goldstein and Daley were hired on the strength of their work directing Game Night as well as for their script for Spider-Man: Homecoming. According to the duo, the approach they will be taking with the Dungeons & Dragons film is “subversive,” and that the film will feature an ensemble cast.

The pair will have an uphill battle ahead of them. As pointed out by Variety, this current adaptation has had a long history, with Ansel Elgort initially meant to star and Warner Bros. in charge of production.

However, legal troubles delayed the project, with the rights to the film adaptation ending up in Paramount. A couple of directors had also been attached to the project previously, starting with Rob Letterman back when it was with Warner Bros., followed by Chris McKay, before settling on Goldstein and Daley.

This new adaptation will also have to overcome the critical and commercial disappointment that was the 2000 film adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons. That first film starred Jeremy Irons, Thora Birch, Marlon Wayans, and Justin Whalin.

Pine, who will be seen this Christmas in the superhero sequel Wonder Woman 1984, is not the only superhero film alum that has been bagging new gigs. It was recently announced that 67-year-old Alfred Molina would be reprising his role as Doc Ock in the third Spider-Man film starring Tom Holland.

Molina had earlier played Doc Ock back in 2004 in Spider-Man 2 when Tobey Maguire was the one portraying Spider-Man. He will be joining Jamie Foxx, who is returning as the supervillain Electro after portraying it in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which starred Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man.

Also joining Holland’s third Spider-Man film is Benedict Cumberbatch, whose Doctor Strange will be taking over the mentor role that Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark had played in the previous Spider-Man films.

When the third Spider-Man film and this new Dungeons & Dragons film make it into the theaters will depend on the state of the global coronavirus pandemic by the time 2021 rolls in. The Dec. 14 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at 16,113,148 people in the United States. Deaths caused by COVID-19 are now at 298,266 people.

Globally, the World Health Organization’s Dec. 14 update says there is now 71,051,805 confirmed COVID-19. Fatalities from COVID-19 are now at 1,608,648  people.