The D&D Movie Finds Its Director

The Dungeons & Dragons movie has found its director - Rob Letterman (Goosebumps, Monsters vs. Aliens, Shark Tale). The Warner Bros. movie, scripted by David Leslie Johnson (Wrath of the Titans), is being produced by Rob Lee (The Lego Movie, How To Train Your Dragon) and others after the longstanding legal dispute involving Sweetpea Entertainment and Hasbro was resolved. The script is based on Johnson's script Chainmail, itself based on D&D's precursor and will be taking cues, stylistically, from Guardians of the Galaxy.

There's more information on the Guardians of the Galaxy inspiration here. We know it is set in the Forgotten Realms, is an ensemble piece, and is hopefully the first in a franchise spanning multiple worlds. "This new Dungeons & Dragons will be a Guardians of the Galaxy-tone movie in a Tolkien-like universe. Because when you think of all the Hobbit movies and The Lord of the Rings, they have an earnestness to them, and to see something fun, a Raiders romp inside that world, I feel is something the audience has not seen before."

This latest info comes from Tracking Board. The other tidbit in that article is that "sources say that producers are eyeing a Vin Diesel-type for the film’s lead characters". Additionally, WotC staff has indicated occasionally that they have some involvement in the movie.

 

[BrockBallingdark]

Outside of the producer, this is the best they can do? Ugh, hopes went right in that Fantastic Four drain.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I hear Warner Brothers is re-filming scenes for Suicide Squad to make it more fun! I really worry about this "fun" stuff.

One of the main problems a lot of people seemed to have with the film was a perceived lack of “fun”, and many felt more humor and levity were needed to make it an altogether more “joyous” movie-going experience.

Well, the studio may well have taken this on board, as BMD reports that reshoots are set to get underway this week on Suicide Squad, with a view to lightening the tone considerably. Apparently they’re not planning to insert jokes left and right, and are simply “beefing up fun character moments and interactions.”

 

[Lidgar]

I really wish they would just do animation rather than live action...mixed with waaayy too much CGI...I can already picture the "romp".

Yeah, set that hope-o-meter to 2.5.

 

[Jhaelen]

My hope-o-meter is at about negative infinity - and that didn't really change with these news.

 

[dracomilan]

I guess they lack the skills to make proper descriptions, so everything turns to poor similitudes? Like the Lord of the Rings, but not really... Like Guardians, but not really... Like Vin Diesel, but not really... Like a proper Director, but not really...

Oh, I'm getting ready to get a lot of jokes from my friends.
Is 'this' the thing you do?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

With the kind of budget they likely have, they'd probably be better off doing a TV series with (mostly) young/relatively unknown (cheap) acting talent and using encounters & opponents that don't require a metric ton of CGI, at least for season 1. Shannara and The Magicians series so far have succeeded in at least LOOKING acceptable.

The cost savings could be put on the other side of the lens, with better writing, etc.

(I can dream, I can dream.)

 

[Consona]

I think property like this needs people who know it through and through.

Like Duncan Jones being a player of WarCraft for a long time, he knows the tone, the story, all those details of that world and story is written by Chris Metzen himself... Or with the GotG example, James Gunn read all those comics long time before there was any Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I don't know whether David Leslie Johnson or Rob Letterman are Forgotten Realms/DnD nerds, but if they aren't, this is gonna end up not so good, IMO. Just another average fantasy flick...

Do anybody know the story or something? Man, this film should have been written, or at least co-written, by guys who made Balgur's Gate 2 or Planescape: Torment, and not by the guy who wrote Wrath of the Titans.

 

[Nytmare]

I really wish they would just do animation rather than live action...mixed with waaayy too much CGI...I can already picture the "romp".

Oh my god, why did you remind me that that movie existed...

 

[Onslaught]

If Vin Diesel is such a D&D fans, he would probably ask for less money than he would otherwise (like in a Fast and Furious movie).

Anyway, there's probably a saying that "hope is the last one to die" (at least in Portuguese there is !)... so... there's still hope...

 

[Morrus]

If Vin Diesel is such a D&D fans, he would probably ask for less money than he would otherwise

I bet his agent would love him for that!