D&D storylines for a movie?

If you were a Hollywood producer and gig had access to D&D’s entire catalogue of novels and adventures since 1974, and you had to pick one novel (or novel series) or adventure (or adventure path) to get the movie treatment...

... what do you pick?

I'd maybe go for something obscure but high-quality. Perhaps a third-party adventure. Like Kevin Kulp's "Of Sound Mind."

I feel like you sort of have to lean into the 'dungeons' and the 'dragons' part of the name, so what adventures have the most of those, other than Dragonlance which already had its shot?

Honestly, R.A. Salvatore's The Crystal Shard hits a lot of the right beats. Big melee, evil wizard, a dragon, a sorta dungeon in the crystal towers. Lots of franchise opportunity.

Just make sure to handle the drow deftly so you don't get accused of racism.

An option would be a (action+) gothic horror story in Ravenloft for a public who needs to know nothing about the demiplane of the dread. Also it is a good place for supernatural romance, but now this is a old-fashion genre, isn't it?

* For an action-live movie they would need a really good story. I guess the best option would the best-seller books, Dragonlance and FR. Red Steel/Savage Coast is perfect for a "Pirates of the Caribbean Sea" but the key is a good story and charismatic characters. Birthright is perfect for a "Game of Thrones" but it would need a masterwork as script. And a idea could be about explaining what killing the evil lord is easier than after ruling the kingdom as a good leader and not as a toxic boss.

It is curious. Jakandor is perfect because they are only humans. Maybe it only needs a good story as "Romeo and Juliet".

* To try and test my suggestion is cartoon and CGI series. Spelljammer is perfect to sell toys of action-figures and vehicles. And I would add the "scarlet sphere", the closest one to the crimson sphere of Athas (Dark Sun), where some refugees escaped from the genocide cleansing wars.

Kara-tur is perfect for a manganime serie. Maybe WotC onlys needs to publish a SRD with oriental races and classes (ninja, sohei, samurai, martial adepts) and third parties would publish their own manganime setting.

* Other idea is a RPG liveplay show as Critical Role but a videogame engine. Public would listen actors' voices and would watch the characters as an asymmetric e-sport. Dark Sun could a source of inspiration to create skins for a videogame, for example Fortnite.

* With Capcom I would suggest a crossover videogame "Capcom vs d20", with the famous videogames characters (and from some forgotten title, for example Captain Comando or Battle Circuit) and from the tower of the doom and shadow over mystara, but also from d20 Future (Star*drive and Star frontiers) and Gamma World.

* An idea to tell a story would be about how the clerics want to control the mana source "to help the people" and the arcane spellcasters reject that control. A conflict between divine and arcane spellcasters because clerics say they want to protect you, but you have to obey their rules for your own good, and wizards and sorcerers are feared and envied by the masses because they have a superior power. They arcane spellcasters says their power is for talent and hard work and they don't want to use to hurt others, but many people don't believe nor trust them.

Other idea for a story is some gods create "favored souls", divine version of sorcerers (spontaneous spellcasters) and psionic ardents (as clerics but with psi-points) without control by the clerics (and this creates conflicts) to teach some (painful) lessons for the high-priests, noble houses and the masses: The good intentions isn't justification to want to control all. The best father isn't overprotective but teaches to fence to fend for himself. We can't avoid always the suffering but we have to learn to face it. The pleasure and fun are only ashes when you face suffering, old age and death, that doesn't mind but to have left a positive legacy, a better future for the future generations. The worst mistake is allowing others to decide for you when they don't worry about suffering the consequences if they are wrong. To stop evil we can't forget the respect of the human dignity or we will become fanatic monsters. We need the right balance between self-criticism and faith in oneself, both are necessary but too much may hurt you. Don't worry so much about to be the number one because you will not get true respect but the tallest poppy over the rest is the first they want to cut.

I would like to see them hone in on forgotten realms lore since that's part of the IP they're building up.

I hope they don't have ass it.

A story set around Baldur's gate could be quite appealing and may draw a small amount of nostalgia from thise who remember the computer games.

Waterdeep also has an interesting history with masked lords and subterfuge.

Lastly one of the main events of faerun such as the spellplague could be interesting.

Generic fantasy works for a home game where you add your own touches, but not for a movie. That's how we got the last atrocity.

a group of teens (and a scrappy younger brother) head to the new amusement park and riding the roller coaster find themselves trapped in a strange magical world where they must survive the machinations of the deranged Dungeon Master and his son the half-demonic Venger as they search for a way home.

What’s wrong with the Baldurs Gate storyline?

One of the larger issues with using dnd stuff is that DnD has always been derivative. So much of it is based on other fantasy works.

Which makes it somewhat problematic in trying to present a new story that is a DnD story.

I honestly don't care which one it is, as long as they actually make a good movie this time. I'm fine with it being set in the Forgotten Realms, more people will be familiar than that than some of the other campaign settings (plus if the movie isn't any good, I won't be pulling my hair out screaming "NO!!! Look what they DID to the Lady of Pain!!!") However, if they pick Michael Bay as a director, that's a deal-breaker.

For a three-movie series I'd do Dragonlance. Action, adventure, romance (Riverwind / Goldmoon, Tanis / Laurana, and Caramon / Tika), sacrifice (Sturm), sex (Kitiara / Tanis), betrayal (Raistlin), good villains (Verminaard, Kitiara), it has it all.

And for the PC side, there are strong female leads - first Goldmoon and then Laurana as the Golden General - and Sturm & the Knights of Solamnia should, as Ergothians, be black.

I think they should tell individual stories with a set of movies that explore a different individual hero and how they became a hero and then after a few movies bring them all together into a single movie. So each individual has their own chance to shine and show growth as an adventurer before they team together to avenge some great wrong.

So start with some B-list adventures, things that are good stories but don't have super high expectations from people that have been reading about them for years. So no Elminister or Drizzt. Then there should be a big, over-arching story only hinted at in various movies with only vague foreshadowing for several movies. Maybe have Sonaht the all-powerful seeking out the Gloves of Boundlessness that will give him a super-powerful wish to wipe out half of all life.

Just spit-balling here of course. As long as it's original.

Hmm. None of the books are worth a movie. Maybe a HBO miniseries. But for a movie 2.5 hours long. I6 ravenloft as I ran in 84. Note the bad guy was winning but I had PDS to West Berlin and wrap up the adventure. So a certain villain would win and close with him popping a beer and watching the new adventures jumping off a roof. This would be after the end credits.