UPDATE: Hasbro files lawsuit - Warner Bros. to make a D&D Movie. AICN
Man in the Funny Hat
Hero
Unfortunately, Solomon's producing credits inspire only trepidation. The writer is given as, "Frank Darabont protege David Leslie Johnson" because according to IMDB he has 1 credit - producer on a Red Riding Hood short. No writing credits at all. Total unknown quantity. I say we should only fear this when paired with Solomon and his merry band of others who, though having had plenty of work, seem to have given nothing of worth or note since the first D&D movie debacle to demonstrate they've learned anything except how to make a paycheck as opposed to a good movie. The fact that WB is willing to throw money at this I think only adds momentum to the all-but-inevitable train wreck that's coming.
Safe to say that we all want a GOOD D&D movie if not a really GREAT one. The first thing you need is a really good script. The likelihood that they have such in hand is not high. The next thing is having money to do the expensive things necessary. They MIGHT have that from WB. Then you need producers and director who know what is needed to turn out a worthwhile fantasy film. There is no director attached yet it seems but the chances of good stuff coming from the crowd already involved? Low indeed, if existent at all. I'm not holding my breath.
knottyprof
First Post
Well Courtney Solomon did produce Bullet to the Head, the last Sly Stallone movie. Didn't see it and had no desire to see it but at least it made it to the big screen. Looks like a majority of the stuff he produces goes straight to DVD or streaming (Universal Soldier sequels, honestly haven't seen any of these other than the first one). So if all the stars align just right maybe, just maybe this will make it to the big screen and might almost be worth watching. My money is on the straight to DVD/Netflix or Hulu route and something I can pick up at Red Box in the next year or two and listen to my wife complain about it while watching it. And the saddest thing of all is she will probably have just cause.
That is how we get movies like the one with Jeremy Irons (not his fault), Wrath of the Dragon God, Willow, new Clash/Wrath of the Titans, and every other one-off fantasy movie that, if you squint real hard, can almost look like a D&D campaign squished into a couple hours or so, but are still, in essence, "just" movies. Even Conan the Barbarian may have covered the entire first half of a single adventurer's career, but it was still "just" a movie. LOTR is the D&D prototype, and even 12-odd hours of extended film time has to leave out some parts which fans still grumble over. Even The Hobbit is better off as two (or three) episodes.
This conversation convinces me that the roleplaying campaign is its own medium and simply can't translate to film in the way that Hollywood likes to do adaptations. Even a full-on TV show is beholden to ratings, the whims of upper management, and advertisers. Youtube video series, graphic novels, and full novelizations (ie Dragonlance) hit closer to the mark. But what you really would need to do is videorecord every session, cut out the non-game related chitchat, maybe do some cheap special effects and scans of DM handouts to go along with the dialogue, and then produce an episode a week (or however frequent the sessions are).
darjr
I crit!
I would LOVE a D&D series that covers a whole campaign. I'm thinking something like walking dead but more upbeat and less post apocalyptic. But I also wan't a decent movie, for what a movie can provide. It doesn't even have to be epic. A good story with good characters done by a good director with decent cinematography and makeup/costuming/special effects and decent acting. It could be just one short story torn out of a longer campaign.
Yes. But I just said that - you don't want to *try* to do a whole campaign in a single movie. A campaign is countless hours of play. A movie is maybe two hours. Of course they don't translate well!
However, you can make an excellent movie that depicts events that could be found *within* a D&D campaign. One adventure, not the entire campaign.
Kaodi
Hero
"Epic" is not what I want to see in a new D&D movie. They tried that; it does not seem to have worked out thus far.
Gritty should be the order of the day. Claustrophobic, dark, though not bleak. More "overgrown" .
I think Buried should be required watching for anyone making a D&D film. That film is an object lesson in doing more with less and the importance of light.
Anyway... Right now my personal choices for the make-up of the party would be a hard drinking female human fighter with a more barbarian aesthetic, a sensible male dwarven rogue/spelunker, a female elven wizard/fighter modeled on the old elf class, and a male cleric that focuses a bit more on the magic rather than the martial. Some inspirations would be Etoh for the clerc, Deedlit for the elf, Bronn (but nicer) for the dwarf, and Siege Girl/Farmer/Lady Montbarron for the fighter.
Gritty should be the order of the day. Claustrophobic, dark, though not bleak. More "overgrown" .
I think Buried should be required watching for anyone making a D&D film. That film is an object lesson in doing more with less and the importance of light.
Anyway... Right now my personal choices for the make-up of the party would be a hard drinking female human fighter with a more barbarian aesthetic, a sensible male dwarven rogue/spelunker, a female elven wizard/fighter modeled on the old elf class, and a male cleric that focuses a bit more on the magic rather than the martial. Some inspirations would be Etoh for the clerc, Deedlit for the elf, Bronn (but nicer) for the dwarf, and Siege Girl/Farmer/Lady Montbarron for the fighter.
knottyprof
First Post
I agree that any new movie should not strive for "Epic". Give us a simple straightforward story arc with relatible characters with maybe just a few suggestions (nothing heavy handed) that something larger is going on. If it is done right it leaves the door open for further sequels that people will actually want to go see. Don't try to replcate LOTR where the whole world hangs in the balance through the whole series, but something simple for a first movie. Good old fashion Orcs raze a town or two and characters have to hunt them down and exact retribution. Maybe tie in or build the finalle scene of the movie where the orcs (or goblins or whatever) were working for someone or something bigger. Story stands on its own and can lead to sequels if successful.
Well, of course, it gets more complicated.
Apparently, Hasbro has gotten into the mix, claiming that they own the rights.
http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/rig...agons-warner-bros-and-universalhasbro-tangle/
Apparently, Hasbro has gotten into the mix, claiming that they own the rights.
http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/rig...agons-warner-bros-and-universalhasbro-tangle/
Grumpy RPG Reviews
Explorer
Where did I put my rye-whiskey?
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