D&D Movie/TV D&D Movie Hit or Flop?

[Eyes of Nine]

Also the PHB broke the top 100 rank on Amazon over the movie premier weekend.

It’s at 150 now.

I wonder who bought those PHBs? Absolute new RPG players? Or folks who since 1974 played D&D once or twice and then dropped it - but are open to coming back? The PHB is probably good for the latter group. For absoulte new players with no existing group to play? Hmmm...

 

[Myrdin Potter]

At the current box office numbers there is no way that the movie on a stand alone basis will be a hit. It will not cover costs plus marketing.

I don’t think it is a terrible flop, though. Decent to good reviews and was the top film the week it released. It is not binary, a film can both not be a hit and not be a flop.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

More of a flip, or perhaps a hop.

I do think a D&D movie with a stronger story, focusing less on selling D&D and trying to be a weaksauce Marvel spinoff, could still succeed. Pick a Drizzt novel or do a decent adaptation of Dragonlance. Don't make the main title D&D! Have it stand alone ... the subtitle can be "A Dungeons & Dragons Story".

 

[Oofta]

I think one aspect of all of this is that I don't think anyone thought the Mario movie would be such a monster hit.

But I also agree with @Olgar Shiverstone. Even if you didn't tell a different story, it would have been better off as Honor Among Thieves, a Dungeons and Dragons Story.

 

[mamba]

I do think a D&D movie with a stronger story, focusing less on selling D&D and trying to be a weaksauce Marvel spinoff, could still succeed. Pick a Drizzt novel or do a decent adaptation of Dragonlance. Don't make the main title D&D! Have it stand alone ... the subtitle can be "A Dungeons & Dragons Story".

I am not sure this movie focused on selling D&D. I am not sure how it is supposed to do that apart from simply being a popular movie. How do you think it tried / did this?

As to being a Marvel spinoff, that is probably not too far off, which feels like a somewhat safe approach to this. Not sure what drawing power Drizzt or Dragonlance would have (despite personally wanting a DL trilogy akin to LotR). I fear / believe not all that much and that WotC is better off establishing their brand first.

 

[Zardnaar]

At the current box office numbers there is no way that the movie on a stand alone basis will be a hit. It will not cover costs plus marketing.

I don’t think it is a terrible flop, though. Decent to good reviews and was the top film the week it released. It is not binary, a film can both not be a hit and not be a flop.

It's not gonna cover its production costs. Gonna see where it lands but most likely over 60 million in the hole just on production costs.

Looks like an outright flop. I thought it would hit its budget this week looks like it's not even going to achieve that.

 

[Beleriphon]

My opinion is it will be enough level of box-office to dare to produce a sequel. It is not a movie for D&D players but a epic fantasy+comedy for people who know nothing about D&D.

And Hasbro is going to sell a lot of Owlbear toys.

I personally hope they sell an ass load of Themberchaud plushes. I NEED a chonker dragon plush.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Chonky dragon was a highlight.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

It's not gonna cover its production costs. Gonna see where it lands but most likely over 60 million in the hole just on production costs.

Looks like an outright flop. I thought it would hit its budget this week looks like it's not even going to achieve that.

Nah not a flop just not a hit. Merch sales seem to be great

 

[Myrdin Potter]

Nah not a flop just not a hit. Merch sales seem to be great

There honestly is no way to know what the “merch” sales are.

The one moment that supposably the PHB went back into the top 100? First, the uncovered cost of the movie as a marketing expense probably is not justified by the book sales.

You can be rosy about brand value and such, but if people are not paying to go see the movie then I wonder how much of a real impact on the brand it will have?

I think it is better to separate the movie performance (roughly needs twice the cost plus marketing to cover expenses but there are all sorts of caveats to that metric) and the halo effect. Hasbro is a toy company and animated tv shows are often focused on toy sales, not recovering the production cost. However, the D&D movie is several magnitudes over the cost of a badly animated tv show.