Where are all the fantasy movies?

[Swoop109]

Where'd you hear this? Kane's long been overdue for some serious licensing attention. Then again, since he's a villain (even the term "antihero" is probably too mild), we're talking huge potential to muck it up.

Found the site that mentions Kane.

http://www.reeltonicfilms.com

Click on the "Projects" line and you'll see some of the films that they have in development. Hit the Kane image and you'll get all the current info.

 

[Swoop109]

i thought a recent Beowulf came out a couple years ago with Chris Lambert

Other then the name that film had NOTHING to do with Beowulf.

 

[nikolai]

With the massive success of Jackson's LOTR films (and, heck, even Harry Potter), I had assumed that we'd start seeing more fantasy films get produced. But all I'm seeing is a lot of "sprawling ancvient/medieval battle" pics: King Arthur, Troy, Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven...

Where's Elric? Swords of Lankhmar? Heck, even Eye of the World?

I think some of it may be due to a delay in writing, commissioning and making films. The "sprawling ancvient/medieval battle" pics we're seeing now aren't a result of LOTR, they're a result of Gladiator. That gives us some idea of the delay. I also think there's a lot of kids "fantasy" films coming out - Narnia and HDM particularly - that's the Harry Potter effect. The last big S&S films (strict definition) were the Scorpion King and Dungeons & Dragons, I think we had more S&S in the '80s boom than we do now.

Hopefully things will change though. I don't think we'll see Swords of Lankhmar, those of us who love it really love it, but it's a minority taste - that's why we're getting Eragon. Conan is being worked on and Elric, and there may also be more low budget S&S - stuff like D&D II and III. So something is happening...

Elric Link:

http://www.multiverse.org/postt1751.html

 

[diaglo]

Other then the name that film had NOTHING to do with Beowulf.

i say the same thing about the LotR.

 

[Captain Tagon]

i say the same thing about the LotR.

Except Peter Jackson didn't do LotR in space.

 

[sniffles]

My apologies for not being clear. I *meant* that I think many companies are looking for good *fantasy* novels to base films on.

Hadn't someone even purchased rights for a Dragonlance, or Dark Elf trilogy movie? And I've heard that even Jack Chalker's Well World novels were even optioned. I think most of those expired though.

There's lots of good fantasy, and even more bad fantasy, to base movies on. Hopefully a few of these are based on good ones I suspect that those who purchase film rights etc. are looking for something which is *not* Tolkien derived, in order to avoid mimmicking the LOTR films too closely...but that does limit the range of choices to a degree.

Banshee

A good many books are optioned for film rights but never make it beyond that stage. I wonder how many of the items on that list are in "development hell"?

I think another drawback to many fantasy novels is that they are part of series. Yes, LOTR is a series too, but Peter Jackson got very, very lucky in finding a studio executive who was willing to green-light multiple films. That isn't likely to happen again. How many readers would be happy with a filmization of Robert Jordan's never-ending series that only included material from the first book, or tried to squash *all* the books into one two-hour film?

BTW, to whomever stated that LOTR isn't S&S - erm... elves, dwarves, orcs, wizards, magic, big battles - if that ain't S&S, I don't know what is.

 

[buzz]

BTW, to whomever stated that LOTR isn't S&S - erm... elves, dwarves, orcs, wizards, magic, big battles - if that ain't S&S, I don't know what is.

Careful! You'll incur the wrath of Captain Tagon.

 

[buzz]

I think some of it may be due to a delay in writing, commissioning and making films. The "sprawling ancvient/medieval battle" pics we're seeing now aren't a result of LOTR, they're a result of Gladiator. That gives us some idea of the delay.

This seems a valid point. Still, seeing as FotR came out four years ago, I figured we'd be seeing more knock-offs by now. I mean, the original Star Wars films all came out within three years of each other, and there were countless movies and TV shows trying to cash in almost immediately.

Granted, SW is a special case. It's just weird. Hollywood seems to have gotten the point with superhero films; there's hardly a comic title that hasn't been optioned for an upcoming film.

 

[buzz]

I think another drawback to many fantasy novels is that they are part of series.

I dunno. I'd think your average exec would be glad to know that there's built-in sequel potential. 30+ years of backstory didn't put anyone off doing Spider-Man or X-men.

 

[Desdichado]

BTW, to whomever stated that LOTR isn't S&S - erm... elves, dwarves, orcs, wizards, magic, big battles - if that ain't S&S, I don't know what is.

You're right! You don't know what sword and sorcery is!