Knights of Badassdom (a ComicCon favorite) is director Joe Lynch’s (Chillerama) LARPing film that has been gathering dust for two years waiting for a distributor. Written by Kevin Dreyfuss and Matt Wall, eOne has come to the rescue, committing to release the comedy/horror movie theatrically and on VOD in 2013.
LARPing stands for Live Action Role Players. People who dress up in battlegear on weekends and pretend to be knights, wizards, elves and other characters of Middle Ages fantasy. Knights of Badassdom revolves around a LARPing adventure society in central New Jersey. Joe, played by True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten, is down in the dumps. He’s been unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend Beth, played by Margarita Levieva (Invisible, Spread and TV’s Revenge).
Joe’s buddies, Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent, Game of Thrones), Steve Zahn (The Perfect Getaway, Diary of a Wimpy Kid), and Danny Pudi (Community), convince Joe to shake off the blues by putting on a costume and coming out to play a live game of Dungeons & Dragons in the woods of New Jersey. Joe meets hot LARPer Gwen (Summer Glau of Firefly), a confident sex-pot playing a huntress. Things are going great until a make believe wizard casts a spell that releases a real demon who is hungry for blood. The fun game turns into a deadly fight for survival.
Knights of Badassdom was produced by IndieVest Pictures, along with Mark Burton, Matt Wall and Kevin Dreyfuss. According to Slashfilm, it’s unclear whether eOne will be releasing Lynch’s original cut of the film, or a re-cut version by producer Wade Bradley, who fired Lynch and took control of the film in late 2011.