'Roundtable' Live Read: Brian K. Vaughan's Unproduced Script To Be Read Aloud In Hollywood

In the summer of 2008, Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic writer Brian K. Vaughan (Lost, Y: The Last Man) sold a high-concept screenplay to DreamWorks called Roundtable. The movie never went into production, the script sat on a shelf collecting dust, and Vaughan went on to become the showrunner of the CBS TV series Under the Dome and continue his career in comics by writing things like the sci-fi/fantasy epic Saga. But now, eleven years later, Vaughan's Roundtable script will finally see the light of day.

Sort of.

The Black List, the organization that publishes an annual list of the best unproduced screenplays in the industry, is sponsoring a live reading of the script for one night only in Los Angeles, and this sounds like a cool opportunity to experience a story that may otherwise languish in obscurity forever. Read on for the synopsis of Roundtable, and to find out how to get tickets to the show.

Here's the description of Brian K. Vaughan's Roundtable script:

When an ancient evil returns to terrorize modern-day England, legendary wizard Merlin must assemble a new Roundtable, only to learn that today's knights aren't noble warriors, but athletes, businessmen, and celebrities like Sir Michael Caine.

Hell yes. I remember being hyped for this movie when it was first announced (I read about it on /Film back in the day!), and I am absolutely still here for it. Vaughan has blended science fiction and mythology before during his time writing and producing Lost, and I'm extremely curious if his full script can live up to the promise of this promising logline. Back in 2008, the script was described as being "more Ghostbusters than Excalibur," and Vaughan acknowledges that in a recent Instagram post about this live read, in which he refers to Roundtable as a comedy.

Vaughan also teases an "unbelievable cast of superstar actors," though it's unclear exactly who those will be – I wonder if they managed to get the real Michael Caine to read the Michael Caine part? That would rule so hard.

Here's a list of actors who have participated in prior live reads: Rachel McAdams, Thomas Middleditch, Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Aubrey Plaza, Patton Oswalt, Darren Criss, Paul Reubens, Milo Ventimiglia, John Cho, Glen Powell, Gina Rodriguez, Judy Greer, Mae Whitman, Alexis Bledel, Randall Park, Don Cheadle, Ben Schwartz, Jaime Camil, Nathan Fillion, Allison Brie, Tessa Thompson, Timothee Chalamet, Molly Ringwald, Parker Posey, Constance Wu, Paul Scheer, Kristen Schaal, Beck Bennett, Gillian Jacobs, Seth Green, and more.

As of this writing, tickets are still available for $20 each. I just bought some for myself because this seems too cool to pass up, so if you see me while you're there, come up and say hello! The Roundtable live read takes place at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood on November 2, 2019. For those who can't attend, Vaughan still has several ongoing comic series on his plate as well as adaptations of Y: The Last Man, Paper Girls, and Gundam in the works.