Dungeons and Dragons Movie Rights go to trial

Umbran · Sep 16, 2014

Elven said:
Sounds like a money grab, everyone wants a chunk of the pie,

Part of me hates to be snarky but... well, duh!

Nobody here is under the impression that anyone is interested in using the D&D brand in movies for moral, ethical, or charity reasons. Of course it is about money! This is the movie industry we're talking about!

Thing is, Sweetpea is doing a lousy job of making money with the brand. Their movies have been crap. Their last one couldn't even make it to the big screen. They would be well served to hold on just long enough to get a larger settlement, and then get the heck out of the way and let someone else (hopefully, someone better driven and competent) to handle it.

Elven · Sep 16, 2014

Umbran said:
Part of me hates to be snarky but... well, duh!

Nobody here is under the impression that anyone is interested in using the D&D brand in movies for moral, ethical, or charity reasons. Of course it is about money! This is the movie industry we're talking about!

Thing is, Sweetpea is doing a lousy job of making money with the brand. Their movies have been crap. Their last one couldn't even make it to the big screen. They would be well served to hold on just long enough to get a larger settlement, and then get the heck out of the way and let someone else (hopefully, someone better driven and competent) to handle it.

Not duh!

Most of those legal participant have no plans to make a movie,
But they know who does, resistance = money,

Morrus · Sep 16, 2014

Jhaelen;6384174 As I already mentioned in a different thread said:
I don't think that's true - doesn't Esdevium distribute it in the UK? Or is that the distributor you meant?

Umbran · Sep 16, 2014

Elven said:
Most of those legal participant have no plans to make a movie,

There are four basic interested parties: Sweetpea, Warner Brothers, Hasbro, and Universal.

Warner Brothers has already paid about $5 million to Sweetpea for the rights to make a movie. So, WB wants to make a movie. Hasbro and Universal have a deal to make a movie, and gain nothing from entering in the legal battle if they don't make a movie. So, three of the four do want a movie - which kind of kills your "most have no plans" assertion.

Sweetpea's position is a little more complicated, and depends on the details of the deal with WB. But the cases where I imagine Sweetpea now doesn't care are still limited - if they sold all their future rights in an agreement so free and clear that they don't have to give money back even if the court rules against them, then Sweetpea doesn't really care any more. If the deal with WB is not free and clear, or does not cover all future movies, then Sweetpea does still need a movie made, as either that $5 million depends on a movie getting made, or their rights revert to Hasbro if they fail to make a movie.

So, three parties want to make a movie. The fourth probably does, too. The only question is who gets to do it, and how much it'll cost them.

Elven · Sep 16, 2014

Umbran said:
There are four basic interested parties: Sweetpea, Warner Brothers, Hasbro, and Universal.

Warner Brothers has already paid about $5 million to Sweetpea for the rights to make a movie. So, WB wants to make a movie. Hasbro and Universal have a deal to make a movie, and gain nothing from entering in the legal battle if they don't make a movie. So, three of the four do want a movie - which kind of kills your "most have no plans" assertion.

Sweetpea's position is a little more complicated, and depends on the details of the deal with WB. But the cases where I imagine Sweetpea now doesn't care are still limited - if they sold all their future rights in an agreement so free and clear that they don't have to give money back even if the court rules against them, then Sweetpea doesn't really care any more. If the deal with WB is not free and clear, or does not cover all future movies, then Sweetpea does still need a movie made, as either that $5 million depends on a movie getting made, or their rights revert to Hasbro if they fail to make a movie.

So, three parties want to make a movie. The fourth probably does, too. The only question is who gets to do it, and how much it'll cost them.

No, thats not how studios think or act,
To them its is just as important to stop a competitor from making money, as it is making money (its complex, but involves limited customer yearly spending, and timing issues (high earning time slots, that can be make or break a companies income)

The studios are much more cutthroat and tactical (very dirty tactics are common)

Trust me there is more than what is said going on,

its very similar to when an actor sometimes says they don't want to play a certain famous role anymore, its their justification for higher pay....

Umbran · Sep 16, 2014

Elven said:
Trust me there is more than what is said going on,

Without something more than flat assertion that you're correct, why should we trust your assessment? Give us a documented case where this sort of thing happened between two studios, and maybe we might take that as a basis.

Deset Gled · Sep 16, 2014

Umbran said:
Without something more than flat assertion that you're correct, why should we trust your assessment? Give us a documented case where this sort of thing happened between two studios, and maybe we might take that as a basis.

Documented cases?

The best documented case I have of a studio literally spending a million dollars to stop someone else from making a movie is the rarely seen Roger Corman version of Fantastic Four: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantastic_Four_(film)

There's also a good amount of documentation about the controversy surrounding Antz, A Bug's Life, and Prince of Egypt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antz#Feud_between_DreamWorks_and_Pixar

Another documented example would be Kevin Costner's discouraging major studios from distributing Tombstone in favor of his movie Wyatt Earp: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyatt_Earp_(film)#Production

Obviously, none of these cases is exactly like the one D+D faces now. But the underlying facts remain: 1. There is not a large enough market to justify multiple studios all making D+D movies. 2. Studios are not afraid to sit on IP as long as they like, and 3. Studio's can be willing to pay money to make sure no one takes IP even if they aren't currently using it. So I have to agree with Elven; just because the case is going to court know doesn't guarantee that any D+D movie will be made in the next decade.

There's an old saying that movie executives like to talk, like to plan, and like to do lunch; the one thing they don't like to do is make movies.

trappedslider · Sep 17, 2014

Elven said:
its very similar to when an actor sometimes says they don't want to play a certain famous role anymore, its their justification for higher pay....

And more than likely in a lot of cases it's due to not wanting to be typed cast and just getting bored with the role

Jhaelen · Sep 17, 2014

Morrus said:
I don't think that's true - doesn't Esdevium distribute it in the UK? Or is that the distributor you meant?

No, I was referring to Pegasus Spiele (a German publisher). Here's a link to their news article.

Maybe I misinterpreted something, but they're stating that:
"Die fünfte Edition von Dungeons & Dragons wird veröffentlicht. Als Exklusiv-Distributor in Europa hat Pegasus Spiele die ersten Exemplare des neuen Rollenspiels an die Fachhändler verschickt."

I.e. (roughly translated):

"The fifth edition of D&D has been released. As the exclusive distributor in Europe, Pegasus Spiele has sent the first copies of the new rpg to specialty retailers."

Elven · Sep 17, 2014

Umbran said:
Without something more than flat assertion that you're correct, why should we trust your assessment? Give us a documented case where this sort of thing happened between two studios, and maybe we might take that as a basis.

Okay, that ridiculous, (and maybe you need to get out more)
As with anything you read on the interwebs "Readers discretion is advised"

I have a little more understanding of law, (i have family who work in law, and copyright/contract) and an interest in the movie industry as a whole,

I could just as easy as say "prove me wrong" right?

And its a lot easier than using my limited time to scrabble around the net, just to give you proof,

I offered my insight, thats all, I didn't volunteer for interrogation,

Dungeons and Dragons Movie Rights go to trial

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