Sorry for Delay, now that the storms have passed by I'm back online.
Responses
Umbran: Hollywood is very skilled, essentially the problem is that the executives who control the purse strings are painfully averse to anything that might be even slightly controversial and wedded to a formula of elements to include in their film that aren't compatible with the WH40K setting. Regarding budgets and production values I have to say that after seeing Nightwatch they could pull off a 40K movie with the right director, Hollywood has suffered from massive budget bloat and now that the production values of some foreign outfits is catching up there are alternatives.
Rykion: Heard about both of them haven't seen any trailers though.
cignus_pfaccari: Either of your suggestions would make excellent movies. I just figured the best way to introduce the setting more broadly was with something that has some similarities to existing movies and can dump you in with limited explanation. A 'nid invasion makes a good starting point shows many of the aspects of the setting without requiring lengthy explanation and allows a broad canvas to paint the terrible scope and bleakness of the setting without delving into esoteric subjects right away. And the Space Marines can make excellent protagonists if done well, they wouldn't be like typical movie protagonists but generally the greatest complaints about most movies are how formulaic they are at least they could break out of this and show something truly different.
Joker: I agree, Nightwatch showed that outside of the bloating nausea that is Hollywood you CAN get a good movie made with a budget that would be infinitessimal by their standards. Ultimately even a small market can produce a profit if you don't have to deal with a Hollywood budget and Hollywood actors. But I think that the market could be much bigger than is commonly accepted. Before LoTR how many people thought there was any makret for fantasy movies? The market is directly attributable to the quality of the movie, a well made movie will attract people far outside the expected market. An animated movie would probably be the best bet anyway regarding how out there the setting is, and the only place you seem to be able to find that quality of animation is Japan. But it absolutely could NOT be drawn in anime style, 40K is at its core the antithesis of anime so you'd have to get them to draw in the style seen in existing 40K art which would probably be hard.
Ibram: Chronicles of Riddick had a vaguely 40k flair but the real thing done well would be so much better. Gaunt's Ghosts could be turned into several very good movies depending on how you cut it up. Eisenhorn would be great as well as would Ravenor, but it should probably come after the initial one. You want a relatively straightforward, minimal explanation introduction to the setting that people can grab hold of easily. Thus I figured something based on Warriors of Ultramar would be good. It has aspects of straightforward alien invasion movies, the enemy is very cthonic in nature and unambiguous. It allows you to showcase both the Imperial Guard and the Space Marines in their respective roles. Especially if you run the Space Marine narrative from the angle of Captain Uriel you get a picture of the inner humanity of them. Their need to protect civilians, the loss of a normal life, the mental scars their struggles inflict. And the presence of Inquisitor Kryptmann can pave the way for more movies delving into the Inquisition.
