D&D Movie Takes Cues From GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Thank god.

OK - here's my alternative pitch: A mix of live action and animation. Get the Critical Role people (or equivalent voice talent) to provide the voices for the animated part and then cut back to the live action when they start to have some (scripted, but humorous) discussion of options. So animation for the gritty stuff, live action for the humor. When Mercer starts talking we know we're heading back into the adventure.

For example. The movie starts with animation. Our heroes are in the midst of an epic battle. But then one of them gets a bad roll and one character starts discussing how they always get a bad roll right at a critical moment. Record scratch as we leap back to reality to find the players seated around a comfortable table where they talk about the situation and decide how the bad roll is going to be handled. Mercer narrates the resolution and we switch back to the animated part and on with the story.

One of the players probably has to have some issue that's causing them distress that can get resolved during the movie (divorce, cancer, I dunno something suitably weighty, perhaps paralleling a quest in the adventure) - but where D&D allows them to escape, cope, feel better for a little while. For maximum pathos have this be their final adventure before they succumb to cancer - their character makes an epic sacrifice for the team. Guaranteed Oscar fodder!

Some clever writer could have a field day with that concept - I'm thinking Charlie Kaufmann

Anyway - that to me would be a D&D movie.

Mournblade94 said:

I just don't see how this in light of game of thrones and lotr would actually entice anyone to see the movie.

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In light of "Game of Thrones" and "Lord of the Rings" just what would entice people out of their homes to watch "Generic Fantasy Movie #43"? If you've got a hook, it's crazy not to use it.

Ryujin said:

And that's great for the tiny portion of the overall population who play RPGs. It does little for the rest of the world, who make or break a movie franchise. If you want to see more D&D movies you have to pull in the rest of the movie-going public, not just the tiny portion who already "get it."

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No one had heard of Game of Thrones before season 1 of the TV series, and now its a bigger sensation than LotR. At least DnD does have an established fan base and a degree of name recognition to work from. Which is why Dragonlance is a good place to start - it ties directly into the Dragon part of the product identity and by focusing on the dragons with developed personalities gives it a different flavour to the other two.

Tonguez said:

No one had heard of Game of Thrones before season 1 of the TV series, and now its a bigger sensation than LotR. At least DnD does have an established fan base and a degree of name recognition to work from. Which is why Dragonlance is a good place to start - it ties directly into the Dragon part of the product identity and by focusing on the dragons with developed personalities gives it a different flavour to the other two.

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The problem, as I see it, is that the 'name recognition' in question is generally negative, when you speak with the uninitiated. "Game of Thrones" gives the cable audience what they want, but can't get from broadcast television; blood, violence, and nudity. What will a D&D movie give them presuming that it's the Hollywood norm of PG, to hit the widest possible audience?

Ryujin said:

The problem, as I see it, is that the 'name recognition' in question is generally negative, when you speak with the uninitiated. "Game of Thrones" gives the cable audience what they want, but can't get from broadcast television; blood, violence, and nudity. What will a D&D movie give them presuming that it's the Hollywood norm of PG, to hit the widest possible audience?

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I think the World of Warcraft movie is going to land with a similar thud as Gods of Egypt. And a generic DnD movie would do the same IMHO.

robus said:

I think the World of Warcraft movie is going to land with a similar thud as Gods of Egypt. And a generic DnD movie would do the same IMHO.

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I tend to agree. That's why I think that a D&D movie would have to use what D&D is, to play to its strengths.

robus said:

I think the World of Warcraft movie is going to land with a similar thud as Gods of Egypt. And a generic DnD movie would do the same IMHO.

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Warcraft might do better than Gods.
Gods has two really steep hurdles standing in its way (other than just not being very good anyways):
1) Obviously bad CGI. You can see it right there in the trailers/adds.
2) It's a bunch of white guys playing Egyptians/Egyptian gods. The guy that plays Jamie Lanister on GoT , playing Horus? Gerrard Butler as Set? Geoffrey Rush as Ra? Right.... And then they turn into metallic transformer-esque animals. ???
OK, their fantasy Egyptians, surely. But that still wont sell.

Ryujin said:

In light of "Game of Thrones" and "Lord of the Rings" just what would entice people out of their homes to watch "Generic Fantasy Movie #43"? .

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It being late Jan/Feb (maybe early March), it's not sh**** weather, I'm bored & it's at the local dollar theatre?
It helps if I have a free ticket credit from seeing the stuff that came out in Oct-Dec. My Regal rewards always expire right before the god stuff starts coming out.

ccs said:

Warcraft might do better than Gods.
Gods has two really steep hurdles standing in its way (other than just not being very good anyways):
1) Obviously bad CGI. You can see it right there in the trailers/adds.
2) It's a bunch of white guys playing Egyptians/Egyptian gods. The guy that plays Jamie Lanister on GoT , playing Horus? Gerrard Butler as Set? Geoffrey Rush as Ra? Right.... And then they turn into metallic transformer-esque animals. ???
OK, their fantasy Egyptians, surely. But that still wont sell.

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Given that people are becoming more aware of things like "white-washing", that could certainly be a strike against it. So could the previous two shots at Greek mythology, that fell pretty flat ("300: Rise of an Empire" and "Immortals"). "World of Warcraft" has the video gaming community behind it, which is certainly a bigger push that the RPG community. Less bookie stigma too. I'm not sure how that's going to play out. Could be huge. Could be "Jupiter Ascending."