There are plenty of book-to-screen adaptations floating around at the moment, but ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ is one that could end up being either gloriously bonkers or an absolute nightmare to pull off. Thankfully, it now has a proper home, with the live-action series officially in development at Peacock.
Based on the hugely popular LitRPG novels by Matt Dinniman, the project had already been set up at Universal International Studios back in early 2025, but until now, there was no broadcaster or streamer attached. Peacock has now stepped in to take the series forward, with Chris Yost (Thor: Ragnarok, Cowboy Bebop, The Mandalorian) on board to write and executive produce, and Seth MacFarlane attached as an executive producer via Fuzzy Door.
LitRPG, for anyone not already neck-deep in that corner of book fandom, stands for Literary Role-Playing Game. It’s a genre which blends traditional storytelling with the mechanics of video games and tabletop RPGs, so characters often deal with things like levels, stats, quests, inventory systems, achievements and skill upgrades as actual parts of the narrative. In the case of ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’, that means the story leans hard into the idea of a brutal, game-like survival challenge, where the rules are as important as the monsters trying to kill you.
If you’ve somehow managed to avoid hearing about the books, the story is set after an alien invasion wipes out most of humanity, and the survivors are forced into a deadly intergalactic reality show. At the centre of it all is Carl, a Coast Guard veteran dragged into a murderous dungeon-crawl spectacle alongside his ex-girlfriend’s very pampered, very opinionated show cat, Princess Donut. The result is part apocalypse, part monster-fight, part savage gameshow satire, which is exactly why fans have been both excited and slightly terrified about how this might look in live action.
That concern is something Dinniman himself has clearly been aware of. He recently suggested the adaptation would only move forward if it could be done properly, pointing to Fuzzy Door’s effects work on projects such as Ted and The Orville as a reason for optimism. Given that one of the big make-or-break elements here is obviously Princess Donut, that feels like a fairly sensible point to raise early.
The timing also makes sense. The book series has built up a very loyal following, with seven novels currently released and the eighth due in May. Dinniman has previously indicated the story is planned to run for ten books in total, so there is plenty of material if Peacock decides to move beyond development and into full series order.
Right now, there’s no casting news for Carl or Princess Donut, and no indication yet of whether the show will actually make it into production. But in terms of sheer chaotic genre energy, this is one of the stranger and more intriguing TV projects currently bubbling away in development.
‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ is currently classed as ‘in development’ so may, or may not, make it to series. We’ll let you know when we hear more!
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