Why 5E may be the last edition of D&D

[FrogReaver]

We may should be happy that there isn’t a successful D&d movie. The moment there is the whole franchise likely immediately starts revolving about that cash cow. Right now d&d keeps its independence because it consistently makes money while not making enough for the high ups in the company to really pay attention to it. That all changes with a successful movie.

 

[Morrus]

We may should be happy that there isn’t a successful D&d movie. The moment there is the whole franchise likely immediately starts revolving about that cash cow. Right now d&d keeps its independence because it consistently makes money while not making enough for the high ups in the company to really pay attention to it. That all changes with a successful movie.

I don't think anything you just said is true.

 

[Charlaquin]

I'd say rather that demonstrates that people want that sort of thing.

Except that every other Pirate movie has been a flop, save a few of the better adaptations of Treasure Island, demonstrating the opposite. Pirates of the Carribian is the exception that proves the rule.

I wouldn't say that Time Bandits is the best example, though it is solid, and comedy is definitely the way to go: Guardians of the Galaxy is a solid recent example, another example of something that, while an adaptation, was not an adaptation no something most comics fans were even familiar with let alone the general public.

But by the time Guardians of the Galaxy came out, Marvel Studios had already earned the general public’s trust. There’s no way it would have been as successful if it had come out before Avengers, and Avengers had that benefit of being based on a preexisting property that the general public would like to be into but doesn’t have the time to. That, on top of riding the success of Iron Man, which was another Pirates of the Carribian success story. It likewise was in a genre that performed poorly at box offices (bar Spider Man), and was saved by a risky (at the time) choice of lead actor who turned out to be exactly who the role needed, the creative freedom to let him make those risky choices, a top-notch script, and a phenomenal advertising campaign.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love it if the D&D movie is a similar against-all-odds success story like Iron Man and Pirates. But the nature of against-all-odds success stories is that, well, the odds are all against them. It’s going to be very hard to convince Studios to roll those dice, especially after previous D&D movies have been so critically and commercially panned. And even if they do, it very well might not pay off.

 

[Parmandur]

Except that every other Pirate movie has been a flop, save a few of the better adaptations of Treasure Island, demonstrating the opposite. Pirates of the Carribian is the exception that proves the rule.


But by the time Guardians of the Galaxy came out, Marvel Studios had already earned the general public’s trust. There’s no way it would have been as successful if it had come out before Avengers, and Avengers had that benefit of being based on a preexisting property that the general public would like to be into but doesn’t have the time to. That, on top of riding the success of Iron Man, which was another Pirates of the Carribian success story. It likewise was in a genre that performed poorly at box offices (bar Spider Man), and was saved by a risky (at the time) choice of lead actor who turned out to be exactly who the role needed, the creative freedom to let him make those risky choices, a top-notch script, and a phenomenal advertising campaign.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love it if the D&D movie is a similar against-all-odds success story like Iron Man and Pirates. But the nature of against-all-odds success stories is that, well, the odds are all against them. It’s going to be very hard to convince Studios to roll those dice, especially after previous D&D movies have been so critically and commercially panned. And even if they do, it very well might not pay off.

PotC isn't really a "pirate movie" though, it's a high fantasy movie with a (very) loosely 18th century setting.

I'm not saying the D&D movie is a sure thing: but it is not a priori impossible just because it hasn't been done so far.

 

[Charlaquin]

PotC isn't really a "pirate movie" though, it's a high fantasy movie with a (very) loosely 18th century setting.

Depends how you define pirate movie, I guess. It certainly reads as a pirate movie to casual viewers, particularly based just on the original trailer.

I'm not saying the D&D movie is a sure thing: but it is not a priori impossible just because it hasn't been done so far.

Oh, for sure! I definitely think it could be successful if they make the right choices. But it’ll be a big risk any way you slice it, and I do think going campy with it would give it a better chance than trying to chase the tail of LotR or GoT.

 

[Parmandur]

Depends how you define pirate movie, I guess. It certainly reads as a pirate movie to casual viewers, particularly based just on the original trailer.


Oh, for sure! I definitely think it could be successful if they make the right choices. But it’ll be a big risk any way you slice it, and I do think going campy with it would give it a better chance than trying to chase the tail of LotR or GoT.

The main thing I recall from the advertisements were zombies created by Aztec magic. The subsequent movies got more and more fantasy, and frankly D&D-ish: all they needed was for Jack Sparrow to crash on an island with Dino's and tigermen.

 

[Satyrn]

I don't think they're wedded to the Sword Coast or even the Realms for a movie. Their target audience for a big budget Hollywood movie isn't primarily D&D players, its the public that likes big budget action fantasy movies, that has no idea what the "Forgotten Realms" are. They know that no matter what setting it takes place in, D&D players will see it, or at least care more about the quality of the film than where it is set (except for the most unreasonable anti-Realmsians, who are probably a small minority of keyboard warriors).

Their focus will be, and should be, to create a great fantasy movie and franchise that uses the great wealth of D&D material (monsters, worlds, stories, etc).

As for why WotC likes the Sword Coast, if we try to look at it without bias, it is a pretty complete region that is great for D&D.

I would guess that the movie gets set in the Forgotten Realms, and the Sword Coast specifically for a very simple reason. Those are both awesomely evocative names that scream fantasy and adventure.

 

[Dausuul]

The nice thing is that D&D can tell almost any story.

The D&D rules can be hacked and homebrewed and kitbashed to tell almost any story. But they may be unrecognizable by the time you get done adapting them.

The D&D brand, which is what matters for a movie, locks you into a multi-species band of adventurers on a heroic quest in a pseudo-medieval world, fighting monsters which must include at least one dragon. That is a very confining formula. The risk of looking to the public like a crappy Peter Jackson knock-off--and, in fact, of being a crappy Peter Jackson knock-off--is extremely high.

That's why I agree with those who say comedy is an essential element. The smartest thing they could do would be to bring on Rich Burlew as a creative consultant. Edited to add: I'm not saying they should make OotS into a movie, though I do think it would make a kick-ass TV cartoon. And they certainly shouldn't be cracking jokes about the quirks of the rules. But Burlew is a master at taking the cliches of Tolkien-derived fantasy and breathing new life into them, as well as balancing serious character-driven drama with jokes. And he also knows the challenges that the D&D rules present to a storyteller, and how to navigate them.

 

[schnee]

I'd say rather that demonstrates that people want that sort of thing.

People wanting them is never the issue. It's the studios' ability to execute that's the problem.

Look at the reviews for Mary Poppins. It's obvious the whole cast and crew wanted it to be 'right'. They loved doing it. It didn't work.

I wouldn't say that Time Bandits is the best example, though it is solid, and comedy is definitely the way to go: Guardians of the Galaxy is a solid recent example, another example of something that, while an adaptation, was not an adaptation no something most comics fans were even familiar with let alone the general public.

That's a really good point. I could see the tone of Guardians working (especially the way they handled the ensemble). Maybe James Gunn will be a bit cheaper to hire now?

Thinking about it more, maybe Thor Ragnarok is an even better example. That one had all the Kirby cosmic weirdness and techno-funky stuff mixed with high fantasy, mixed with buddy movie chemistry.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Wizards and Hasbro won't dare leave the Sword Coast region of Faerun, more than likely. To me, the War of the Lance story would be one of the best to turn into films. Unfortunately, they tried that with the horrific animated movie ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825245/ ) 10 years ago. So I don't see them attempting that. They may get someone to write a script just for the movie, and not take anything from previous novels or adventures. I am pretty certain they will set it within the Sword Coast region of Faerun, or maybe even somewhere in Nentir Vale. I doubt they will go the direction of the old movies and use generic no-name world.

Of course, I could be completely wrong, but WotC seems to have a bigger hard on for Sword Coast than Paizo does for Varisia within the Sword Coast.

I really don’t think anyone but us deep nerds remembers the existence of the DL cartoon. It’s existence won’t impact any decision making, at all.

At most, they’ll use it as a lame excuse for not leaving the sword coast.