How Would You Make a D&D Movie?

[dmccoy1693]

Jon Favreau directing Vin Deisel as an ass-kicking fighter and Stephen Colbert as a self-obsessed elven wizard? Sounds good.

Works for me. I'd watch that.

 

[Insight]

Use the OGL. It does not limit you to books alone. You can use it for movies too. And you can get things like armor class, hit points, magic missile, etc in there.

That's not quite how intellectual property works in the movie business. If there's ANY chance a studio might get sued for improperly using someone else's intellectual property, they will not greenlight a script.

In the most basic terms, my project uses a D&D-like game that is different enough that I doubt anyone will get antsy, but similar enough that gamers and people familiar with RPGs will recognize it as an RPG. It's a difficult balance, believe me.

 

[Kristian Serrano]

• Don't call it a D&D movie or use Dungeons & Dragons in the title anywhere.
• Don't mix horrible cell animation with horrible 3D animation and overhype it.
• Don't base it on any specific adventure modules. Most modules would translate horribly to film as they are completely different mediums, and fans of the modules will just be disappointed anyway.
• Don't base it on any specific novel; fans of the novel will just be disappointed.
• Pick a distinct setting such as FR or Eberron. Eberron has much better movie appeal, IMHO.
• Write a unique story that uses elements specific to the selected setting.
• Pick actors, a director, and a producer that have made a number of high-quality, successful films.
• Don't try to explain game mechanics through dialogue. Just let the characters do what they do.
• Don't try make it obvious that it's a D&D movie. Make it a movie of its own. Take the recent Batman films, for example. They could stand on their own as good quality movies even if you took out the Batman-specific elements.
• Edit: I almost forgot, give it a good budget so it has a leg to stand on!

 

[Transit]

I think it's a mistake that both D&D movies used the "band of mighty heroes must travel to faraway lands in order to stop the big bad evil guy before he uses the magic whatzit to enslave/destroy the entire world" plot.

Just show a group of interesting well-written D&D characters who meet in a tavern and decide to go off after some treasure that's in a dark and dangerous dungeon. Some of them live. Some of them die.

I'd rather watch a low level "dungeon crawl" adventure done well than an epic level "save the entire world" adventure done poorly.

And if the film is successful enough, there can always be sequels where the characters have become powerful enough to start "saving the entire world from the big bad evil guy."

 

[renau1g]

That doesn't mean such a movie has to include major a-list stars. Which a-list stars were in LOTR? Which major a-list stars were in Spider-Man, or The Dark Knight for that matter?

Well I guess in LOTR, if you don't consider Ian McKellan to be A-list... maybe that's me...

 

[Festivus]

Write a good story first. Then adapt it to D&D. Do NOT try to turn a generic adventure into a good movie because it will not work. D&D adventures do not follow the same principles of storytelling that a movie does.

What you could do is raid memorable areas from grat D&D games and insert them into the movie (a la Pirates of the Caribbean) but have a sore that is cohesive and has good movie flow to it.

That and a crew that understands things like white dragons don't breathe fire.

 

[renau1g]

You need to avoid the D&D relations... you could have beholders or mind flayers, but you can't have D&D in the title and actually get people to go...

Unfortunately, I must agree that Eberron is the best setting for a movie as FR or Greyhawk are too similar to LoTR.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Something like a chain of great 1e adventures, with all of the arcane weirdness, curious charm and frequent danger that might imply.

(answer is in part courtesy of that thread floating around atm.)

I would love to see that.

 

[rowport]

You need to avoid the D&D relations... you could have beholders or mind flayers, but you can't have D&D in the title and actually get people to go...

Unfortunately, I must agree that Eberron is the best setting for a movie as FR or Greyhawk are too similar to LoTR.

I see what you mean on both of your points, but actually think that the first may be able to counter the second. Adding a lot of the D&D specific IP would differentiate it from a LOTR film, especially the Far Realm oddities like Illithids or Abeloths. You could even use Drow, although I think you might have to make them less-elf and more-dark monster. I picture this kind of D&D movie being a really dark action flick, fighting off the incursion of otherworldy oddness. Sort of less-LOTR and more-Underworld/Blade 2. Now that I think about it, there are stylistic elements like this in both Hellboy 2 and Chronicles of Riddick.

(Not that I think an Eberron-setting film would be a bad answer.)

 

[Family]

Step 1: Buy rights to Wheel of Time
Step 2: Brand it Dungeons and Dragons: the Wheel of Time
Step 3: Hire Jackson
Step 4: Sink cash into it
Step 5: Make more money than the Joker burned