New D&D Movie To Go Ahead - Produced By Lego Movie's Roy Lee

The long dispute between Hasbro and Sweetpea Entertainment has come to and end, opening the door for a brand new Dungeons & Dragons movie! The deal between Warner Bros, Hasbro, and Sweetpea, will see a movie set in the Forgotten Realms, written by Wrath of the Titans' David Leslie Johnson, and produced by The Lego Movie's Roy Lee.

The long dispute between Hasbro and Sweetpea Entertainment has come to and end, opening the door for a brand new Dungeons & Dragons movie! The deal between Warner Bros, Hasbro, and Sweetpea, will see a movie set in the Forgotten Realms, written by Wrath of the Titans' David Leslie Johnson, and produced by The Lego Movie's Roy Lee.

Lee, who also produced How To Train Your Dragon, will be producing the film which has been written by Wrath of the Titans' David Leslie Johnson. It'll be set in the Forgotten Realms (of course). At Hasbro's end, there is involvement from Brian Goldner (Hasbro's chief executive) and Stephen Davis (chief content officer). Warner Bros' Greg Silverman said that "[D&D] is far and away the most well-known brand in fantasy, which is the genre that drives the most passionate film followings."

More details on the lawsuit and its resolution can be found here. Full press release:

Warner Bros. Pictures, Hasbro’s Allspark Pictures and Sweetpea Entertainment are moving forward on a feature film franchise based on Dungeons & Dragons, the world’s most popular role playing game. Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis, Courtney Solomon and Allan Zeman of Sweetpea Entertainment, and Roy Lee (“The LEGO Movie,” “How to Train Your Dragon”) are attached as producers.

Highlighting the priority being given to the project, Warner Bros. Pictures already has a script, written by David Leslie Johnson (“The Conjuring 2,” “Wrath of the Titans”).

“We are so excited about bringing the world of Dungeons & Dragons to life on the big screen,” said Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, Warner Bros. Pictures. “This is far and away the most well-known brand in fantasy, which is the genre that drives the most passionate film followings. D&D has endless creative possibilities, giving our filmmakers immense opportunities to delight and thrill both fans and moviegoers new to the property.”

“This is such an enormous opportunity to bring the rich fantasy setting of the Forgotten Realms to life and, together with the creative powerhouse of Warner Bros., use movies to tell the stories that have enchanted passionate D&D fans for decades,” said Stephen Davis, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer of Hasbro, Inc. “D&D is the role-playing game that started it all and now we have the opportunity to ignite a franchise for its legions of avid fans in a way never done before.”

Dungeons & Dragons first became popular in 1974, and since then has amassed millions of players and fans worldwide. The hugely popular property has also influenced numerous writers, directors, game designers, and other creative professionals throughout its four decades.

“We are thrilled that this beloved property can finally make its way to the big screen after 20 years, and that it can be realized by Warner Bros., which has been responsible for the biggest fantasy franchises over the past two decades,” said Courtney Solomon of Sweetpea Entertainment.

Today’s announcement reflects the resolution of Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast LLC’s complaint against Sweetpea Entertainment, Inc. and Sweetpea BVI, Ltd. and the counterclaims filed by Sweetpea against Hasbro in May 2013 related to the Dungeons & Dragon brand. Solomon and Zeman will be attached to produce all Warner Bros.-produced Dungeons & Dragons film and television productions. All rights for future Dungeons & Dragons productions have been unified and returned to Wizards of the Coast, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hasbro.
 

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neobolts

Explorer
This is glad news. With the movie rights at home again, we can see the proper settings brought to life, and (hopefully) a proper respect for the properties and lore. While not on the scale of Harry Potter fandom, D&D fandom cares about the source material, and if WB treats D&D with the respect that Harry Potter received, D&D is in good hands indeed!

I'd go with an original character, a plucky young hero starting out who becomes part of something bigger, getting to interact with classic FR locations and characters. If they are working from an original script, they should bring in Mearls and his team to ensure the lore is correct and bring in Greenwood/Salvatore for the novelization of the film. The film should be integrated across everything D&D: a board game, a module that runs alongside the story*, minis, etc. I'm optimistic! And how couldn't I be, the other D&D movies looked like careless cash-ins. I've never even been motivated enough to see them.

*(For example: "We have news from Waterdeep, sir. A team of heroes fought their way out their the city's labyrinthine sewers and arrived with the update at dawn." A single line about this in the film, about an offscreen element that drives the main story. This could be YOUR PARTY.)
 

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neobolts

Explorer
Forgotten Realms? Why not say "set on the Sword Coast"?

Let's hope. The most iconic locations are there. ;)

Setting a FR movie elsewhere would be like making a Lord of the Rings movie set wherever the guys on the giant elephants showed up from. Being JRRT, I'm sure the elephant guys have a massive tome of lore about them. But it doesn't make them the obvious choice for the first movie to get made.
 

halfling rogue

Explorer
Such a movie could be done and done well, but I doubt it's what Warner Brothers has in mind. That worked for The Lego Movie, because basically everyone is familiar with what' it's like to play with Legos. A film with more than the barest placement of easter-egg-level in-jokes referencing game mechanics wouldn't be funny to anyone but D&D players though. And I suspect Dungeons and Dragons is attractive to Warner Brothers precisely because they ARE looking for a generic fantasy franchise; the fact that D&D is also Planescape is also Dark Sun is also Eberron is also Ravenloft is too much to drop on the uninitiated in one go. Better for them to focus on Forgotten Realms for, say, the first three movies, then launch a spin-off series in another campaign setting.

I too, doubt that is what WB has in mind. I too think WB wants generic fantasy.

But regarding LEGO I didn't have in mind the easter eggs and in-jokes, (though How to Train Your Dragon had a few RPG mechanic jokes) for the D&D movie, but more how they integrated the real world with the 'play' world through the story.
 


halfling rogue

Explorer
Maybe I am wrong, but my personal thought is that a gimmick used in another movie by the same producer will come across as cheesy, and will not mean you don't otherwise have to hit it out of the park. The LEGO movie did hit it out of the park, that conceit aside, so we cant' say it was the gimmick that did the trick.

I don't know if it's a gimmick, I just think it was done well for LEGO. I'm not saying copycat how they did LEGO but to implement the same idea for D&D.
 

Carl H

First Post
There is literally nobody else I want involved in this movie more than I want Vin Diesel involved in this movie.

Edgar Wright is a close second.
 



Carl H

First Post
I think it would be a mistake to make this a grim gritty serious fantasy movie. I would prefer it go "the gamers" route personally. Though I don't expect that.
 

Will Doyle

Explorer
I think a good D&D movie should strike a slightly irreverent tone: serious threats and lots of action, but with snappy dialogue and plenty of laughs. "Joss Whedonesque", basically. The comics did quite a good job, I think.

Good luck for this one. You never know! :)
 

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