Rumor? D&D movie issues resolved and a TV series in the works?

[vagabundo]

TV show with a dungeon delve of the week following the stories of a party of five to eight characters could be done well.

They could encounter all the weirdism of DND and with some good characterisation it could be a fun show.

 

[delericho]

Not much point to generic D&D I think. Make it Dragonlance or Drizzt or Ravenloft or Eberron or whatever to at least leverage a little more IP, sure.

Indeed. As I posted over on another thread, if I were doing this I would operate on the assumption that "D&D" = "Forgotten Realms", at least for now. (They could then branch out a bit later on by introducing Planescape, and then Dragonlance, Dark Sun, or whatever, but for the start, stick with the most familiar/successful setting.)

For a TV show, I think I would be inclined to base it on the Harpers, or a similar organisation. For live-action, I'd be inclined to go with an adventuring party on the edge of Myth Drannor or Undermountain. For animation, I think I might be inclined instead to go with something like "Justice League Unlimited" or "Clone Wars" - a fairly loose core cast of characters, each with their own teams around them who engage in their own missions.

 

[gweinel]

Having seen the failures of DnD films I am inclined to believe that the a prefered format of a DnD series is not a single storyline but a presentation in each episode of different stories with different cast at a different setting. I think that way can make a more compact, more coherent and more powerful stories that will encompass many styles, many heroes, many power levels and many settings. Dnd is a story with Elminster in the Dales and Drizzt in underdark but also DnD is the deserts of Dark Sun, the gothic castle of Ravenloft, the steam-punkish high fantasy setting of Eberron and the endless possibilities of colors, feelings and settings of Planescape.

 

[delericho]

Having seen the failures of DnD films I am inclined to believe that the a prefered format of a DnD series is not a single storyline but a presentation in each episode of different stories with different cast at a different setting.

That works with animation, where a relatively small cast can each cover multiple different roles. But with live action, it creates issues with keeping lots of actors available for filming their one or two episodes in the season.

 

[The Black Ranger]

That works with animation, where a relatively small cast can each cover multiple different roles. But with live action, it creates issues with keeping lots of actors available for filming their one or two episodes in the season.

It worked with shows like "The Twilight Zone" and "Tales from the Darkside".

 

[gweinel]

That works with animation, where a relatively small cast can each cover multiple different roles. But with live action, it creates issues with keeping lots of actors available for filming their one or two episodes in the season.

However, there is a great example of the above format. The excellent Black Mirror series manages to bring many different stories with different actors and actresses having only in common a dystopic and different every time black future. I can't see why it can't be done with dnd. Black Mirror as the hypothetical dnd series is not a very expensive production. It is based more on the excellent story and the bleak atmosphere. There are way too many good stories from the dnd tradition that is pity to not be exploited by the such a chance.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

With the routine of digital effects, those are no longer the expensive things (they're still not what I'd say is cheap, but they're not the things that hold up concepts anymore). Now it's size of cast, costuming, and locations.

This is true, and why fantasy stuff tends to be wildly expensive - cast, costuming, locations, as you say.

With a D&D show you'd also potentially face some really serious make-up costs and/or knock-on costs (reduced shooting time, etc.), if using humanoid races, dragonborn, tieflings, etc.

On top of all that, if you wanted actual monsters, whilst as you say CGI is far cheaper than it was, you'd still be looking at some "WHOA!"-type costs, for say, a beholder or a dragon actually involved in a fight (even in the ultra-expensive GoT, it's obvious how brief they're keeping the CGI shots).

Certain settings/setups could do things cheaper overall, of course.

However, there is a great example of the above format. The excellent Black Mirror series manages to bring many different stories with different actors and actresses having only in common a dystopic and different every time black future. I can't see why it can't be done with dnd. Black Mirror as the hypothetical dnd series is not a very expensive production. It is based more on the excellent story and the bleak atmosphere. There are way too many good stories from the dnd tradition that is pity to not be exploited by the such a chance.

It could be done, but just because someone could be done, doesn't mean it will be.

Black Mirror is an experimental and risky show from a channel which is partially publicly funded and has a mandate (for that funding) to make experimental and risky shows.

US Network television does not like experiments or risk. Pay channels are a bit more open, but I've not seen anything quite that risky.

I'm interested to know what "good stories from the D&D tradition" you're thinking of, though, which are they? I think if you went for a "dungeon horror" kind of angle, that could be cool actually. Staying away from heroism, focusing on deadly traps, backstabs, horrifying undead/monsters (Aboleth could be great and done cheaply), and so on.

 

[variant]

TV show with a dungeon delve of the week following the stories of a party of five to eight characters could be done well. They could encounter all the weirdism of DND and with some good characterisation it could be a fun show.

Except for people who play D&D, that would be very boring and repetitive.

 

[NewJeffCT]

With the routine of digital effects, those are no longer the expensive things (they're still not what I'd say is cheap, but they're not the things that hold up concepts anymore). Now it's size of cast, costuming, and locations.

Not always true, though. When people complain on the various Game of Thrones websites about the lack of direwolves and dragons on the show, the answer from the producers is that the CGI to have them on screen more often is too expensive. And, there were lengthy articles about how the showrunners had to basically beg HBO for an increased budget so they could do the Battle of the Blackwater justice on screen with the CGI wildfire explosions.

Almost all of the most expensive movies ever were so expensive because they were very heavy CGI movies.

 

[Hussar]

True but you can get shoes like warehouse 13 where virtually all the sets are CG. Or Sanctuary. So it can be done. Legend of the Seeker was mentioned and I think that's not a bad place to look.