What does D&D mean to movie goers?

[Paul Farquhar]

Like a DC superhero movie

They tend to suffer from taking themselves far too seriously - something I wouldn't expect from a D&D movie.

F&F is a much better comparison.

 

[Blue Orange]

"So it says the treasure is in the eye of the beholder. So this chest looks different to everyone, I guess? I see a brown chest with silver bands, what do you see?"

"Same thing. Maybe it means everyone can use it differently and has a different opinion about it. Or maybe it--oh, crap..."

 

[Ryujin]

When I hear Dungeons & Dragons movie, I am expecting something like a shonen anime style B-movie with a big budget. No idea if that's still justified, but that's what I assume it would be.

Cardbord cutout chracters by actors making poor performances because if the lack of direction and a brainless script, fighting generic dark lords and dragons in cheap CGI environments, while appearing to be under the delusion that it's deep and dramatic cinema.
Like a DC superhero movie or Fast & Furious.

And utterly devoid of interesting dialogue, because the translations simply won't work for the massive Chinese audience that they'll want to pull in.

 

[Neonchameleon]

The problem is twofold:

1. There are no real iconic Dungeons & Dragons characters truly recognised by everyone as other than names (generally of spells) so there's little other than the banner name
2. Almost anyone drawn in by the name D&D will be drawn in by just about any major fantasy property.

 

[aco175]

If they are not going for the whole thing and make a serious LotR style movie, I would like a more lighthearted Princess Bride type with some funny one-liners. I think movie-goers want to be entertained (Gladiator) but want to root for the underdog (Rocky) while bringing your kids and still have a few adult moments (Aladdin, Little Mermaid).

 

[Wolfram stout]

I don't know what "most people" are going to assume about a D&D Movie. I need to ask my Bro-In-Law as he is probably a pretty good test case (loves movies but is not in the gaming space at all--no TTRPG, no video games, etc.). I suspect his assumption would be a mash up of GOT, Witcher and Lord of the Rings.

So Marketing (including the official title of the movie) will be paramount. I don't worry at all the movie will be like the first D&D movie, I do worry that the Marketing will mess it up. If the marketing is as bad as for John Carter (how do you not include the word Mars in the title in some way?) it could be doomed regardless of how good it is. But I am overstating that....right?

As long as the marketing accurately conveys the tone of the movie, I think all will be good. And surely, in today's age they can't mess that up too much.....can they?

 

[hopeless]

Depends where they're planning to go with this and whether their script is any good.
Even Star Wars actually only worked because of the editing and the support helped maintain that quality into the following movies that make up the OT.

 

[payn]

That seems to me to be a false dichotomy, and that has become clear in the two decades since.



Well, if it is like an MCU movie, you market it like one.

We know that now that the Marvel brand has been built. How do you do it from scratch and for D&D?

 

[hopeless]

Ideally have them re-release the classic D&D cartoon series and maybe Thundarr the Barbarian series if they can to promote interest.
Maybe a few articles on d&d beyond to highlight it so they can have articles to point towards that as it gets gradually filtered out until they're ready to actually release the teaser trailer.
And absolutely no **** agenda for god's sake!

 

[payn]

I think everyone who follows Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings on Facebook is likely to get a lot of D&D movie ads shoved at them. Heck, if Hasbro was smart, they'd be pushing the D&D Live ads at them now.

I dont think its instantly smart at all. Did they market World of Warcraft to LotR and GoT folks? I think folks are thinking geek is in so its no fail and will find an audience. Though, folks are forgetting there have been a number of fantasy flicks in the last 20 years that were quickly forgotten. Either they were bad movies or not marketed well. D&D is no sure bet even with Pine and Grant.