D&D Movie/TV (Yet another) D&D Movie Speculation thread.

[Jester David]

Yeah, GoG is about the hard limit that I'd put for light-hearted tone. I agree that full seriousness and grimdark are off the table, but I think it'd be amiss to go too light. Gotta find a balance between drama and cheek.

Guardians of the Galaxy is good for this. As is Deadpool to some extent. Or even Ghostbusters. In each case, the movie is largely serious. If you just dubbed over the dialogue and cut just the jokes, everything would still work. There'd be moments of seriousness and drama. The stakes are real. People will die. The characters are damaged.

But the characters crack wise. They laugh at the danger and over their pain. They're able to see the absurdity in their world and laugh at it.

 

[Jester David]

^fixed this

Then just make the Drow anything but black. Glowing otherworldly ultraviolet purple/white would be my suggestion.

Yeah. Except the point is to acknowledge the racism inherent with having the drow and evil elves be dark skinned. To admit that you know it's problematic and lampshade it with a joke. So the audience is aware you know and isn't on edge waiting for the drow to appear.
People tend to be more forgiving if you acknowledge the problem rather than pretending it doesn't exist.

Because having the only non-white people be evil still applies if they're somewhat purple.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

First my general caveat on making movies...
Making a movie is really hard

Making a good movie is nearly impossible, requiring immense effort and commitment from hundreds of insanely talented people

Making a great movie requires all of that and quite a bit of good luck along the way.

So the deck is stacked against making a good D&D movie, and a great one will likely not happen.

That said, here is my formula for success.

Make the primary plot as simple to understand as possible. Item x needs to be taken to person Y on the other side of Faerun to avoid catastrophe.

Have three main characters and two side kicks.

Main characters should include one who is Aspirational, one who is Nobel, one who is Cynical. There should be romantic tension between the three of them.

One side kick is the loyal friend of a main character, the other is a bumbling fool.

Begin film near a small, sleepy, idyllic village. Epic high level battle ensues as good guys steal or protect Item X from bad guys. One survivor, a mentor character who somehow knows Main Character, escapes bad guys to take Item X to Main Character and Best Friend in sleepy town, explains they must get it to person Y, then dies or disappears.

Main Character and Best Friend hit the road, finally seeing the world they have only heard about in Bards Tales. They meet the other two main characters and the bumbling sidekick on the road, team up.

Along the way, they have many encounters and complications, eventually learning to trust each other and grow stronger, though the Best Friend sacrifices herself along the way.

Eventually they deliver item x to person y and have a final confrontation with the bad guys.

Do that, make sure along the road at some point they go through a dungeon and encounter a dragon, and you’ve got it.

I think I've seen that movie already...

 

[Nebulous]

To be honest, I'd just portray drow as having dark purplish skin (more alien that way), and just portray them as demon-worshipping elves (of which Lolth is only one of—that way you can skip the matriarchal bit unless you choose to focus on Lolth-worshippers). It's close to how they were in the original module when they first appeared.

I do like the idea of contrasting with copper elves (which I know nothing about, not being a FR fan) or some other non-Whitey-McWhitey derivation of elf.

Many shades perhaps, leaning toward a dusky gray, and CGI enhancements to make them look more alien.

 

[Dioltach]

I'd watch a Dragonlance movie that had a kender counter: for every kender killed, a counter in the corner of the screen goes up one.

On handling drow, perhaps they could be fully cloaked and masked in black, and then in a dramatic scene the heroes unmask a defeated drow ... and he's indistinguishable from a normal elf.

For the D&D aspect, you could go the route used in Futureman. A wizard appears before a gaming group (or even a single online player), convinced that they really are high-level paladins, sorcerers and barbarians. I know it's been done (well, in Futureman, for a start, but also in Galaxy Quest. Still, if handled well it could work.

 

[Henry]

I think we have our answer -- Paramount, who has the license for a D&D movie, needs to negotiate with Critical Role Entertainment to secure license for a Dungeons and Dragons movie set in Taldor'ei. I have a feeling Matt, Marisha and crew could come to an arrangement for a hunk of cash and a back-end percentage for rights to an amazing setting with very evocative and engaging characters. Then again, creative control might be an issue...

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I feel like we're all missing the mark. Maybe the time is right to film James Goldman's D&D script. Heck it had the Gary Gygax seal of approval. And years later, perhaps the world is ready for the adventures of Tom Boyman and Drobni in the fight of the Onelord against the Nightking!

 

[OB1]

I think I've seen that movie already...

You’ve probably seen that movie at least a dozen times. That’s the point. By having a story that the audience is familiar with and conditioned to enjoy, it allows the specific details of character and setting to come through and engage the viewer.

You don’t need to reinvent the classic adventure story, just tell it in a unique and interesting way.

 

[Nebulous]

deleted

 

[Nebulous]

I feel like we're all missing the mark. Maybe the time is right to film James Goldman's D&D script. Heck it had the Gary Gygax seal of approval. And years later, perhaps the world is ready for the adventures of Tom Boyman and Drobni in the fight of the Onelord against the Nightking!

Somehow I have never, ever heard of this...

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/ar...1980s-Dungeons-Dragons-Movie-Gary-Gygax-Loved