Where are all the fantasy movies?

Desdichado · May 24, 2005

Captain Tagon said:
When was the last time a big budget Sword and Sorcery movie came out?

Scorpion King, I think.

Mystery Man · May 24, 2005

Banshee16 said:
Supposedly the rights to make a series of books on a series of books called "The Runelords" has been purchased. I've seen the books in the stores, but never read them.

Tried to read those, couldn't get into them.

buzz · May 24, 2005

Captain Tagon said:
LOTR is about as far from S&S as you can get.

For the purposes of this discussion, it is S&S, if only to distinguish it from "fantasy" like Harry Potter and Bewitched. I.e., swords, elves, magic, dragons, etc.

buzz · May 24, 2005

Vigilance said:
From what I have read the effect of the LOTR movies on Hollywood seems to have been that they think sweeping epic dramas with great special effects might be the next place to look for Franchises, as opposed to sci-fi epics with great FX.

This makes sense, and is what seems to be happening.

Granted, I think this is misguided. I'm not sure why any kid (or nerd) all fired up about seeing LOTR would then bug their parents (or spouse) to see, say, Troy. I know I've had zero interest in these films (save for M&C, but I didn't see it as part of the trend).

buzz · May 24, 2005

Well, out of Kingihtfall's awesome list, these are the ones that even vaguely seem relevant to me. Including The Gamers is even a bit of a stretch.

Knightfall1972 said:
• Beowulf & Grendel *
• Dungeons & Dragons 2: The Elemental Might *
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe *
• The Gamers: Dorkness Rising *
• A Spell for Chameleon *
• John Carter of Mars *
• The Last Unicorn *
• Beowulf *
• The Runelords *
• Elric of Melnibone [first I've heard of this]
• The Hobbit [likely]
• King Conan: Crown of Iron [The script is being redone and won't likely have Arnold in it.]

Now look at the list and think about how many are "announced" or "in pre-production", and how many films ever make it past that stage. E.g., Watchmen was on the original list, and it's been "in production" since about 1989.

It's weird. Hollywood certianly got the clue with superheroes. I mean, Ghost Rider gets a movie, but Fafhrd doesn't?

Bonzi · May 24, 2005

buzz said:
Well, out of Kingihtfall's awesome list, these are the ones that even vaguely seem relevant to me. Including The Gamers is even a bit of a stretch.

Now look at the list and think about how many are "announced" or "in pre-production", and how many films ever make it past that stage. E.g., Watchmen was on the original list, and it's been "in production" since about 1989.

It's weird. Hollywood certianly got the clue with superheroes. I mean, Ghost Rider gets a movie, but Fafhrd doesn't?

Why didn't you include "Herbie: Fully Loaded"?

buzz · May 24, 2005

Bonzi said:
Why didn't you include "Herbie: Fully Loaded"?

Films with Lindsay Lohan involve a different kind of "fantasy" for me...

Banshee16 · May 24, 2005

Ranger REG said:
Films based on novels are not uncommon. Films based on fantasy literature are uncommon.

My apologies for not being clear. I *meant* that I think many companies are looking for good *fantasy* novels to base films on.

Hadn't someone even purchased rights for a Dragonlance, or Dark Elf trilogy movie? And I've heard that even Jack Chalker's Well World novels were even optioned. I think most of those expired though.

There's lots of good fantasy, and even more bad fantasy, to base movies on. Hopefully a few of these are based on good ones

I suspect that those who purchase film rights etc. are looking for something which is *not* Tolkien derived, in order to avoid mimmicking the LOTR films too closely...but that does limit the range of choices to a degree.

Banshee

Knightfall · May 24, 2005

Banshee16 said:
Also, apparently someone purchased the rights to make the Eye of the World, the first in the Wheel of Time novels, into a movie.

I believe the rights are being used to make a TV Mini-Series, but I could be wrong. Anyone know exactly what the scoop is on WoT?

Oh, the rights to make a movie about the book I'm currently reading, "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" have also been purchased.

Looking forward to this one!

Captain Tagon · May 24, 2005

buzz said:
Well, out of Kingihtfall's awesome list, these are the ones that even vaguely seem relevant to me. Including The Gamers is even a bit of a stretch.

Now look at the list and think about how many are "announced" or "in pre-production", and how many films ever make it past that stage. E.g., Watchmen was on the original list, and it's been "in production" since about 1989.

It's weird. Hollywood certianly got the clue with superheroes. I mean, Ghost Rider gets a movie, but Fafhrd doesn't?

Because probably a ton more people know who Ghost Rider is than who Fafhrd is. Just in the nerd circles I know people are a lot clearer on comic book heroes than iconic fantasy stuff. Even the kids who play DnD.