D&D Movie/TV D&D Movie Moves Forward With Deal With Former Marvel Exec Jeremy Latcham

[Parmandur]

The FR has no "famous" characters in the real world.

If characters are included, it's because they are interesting and cool in their own right (see: Xanathar), not because some obsessive geeks have heard of them.

Well, some of the novels do sell extremely well. But, yeah.

 

[Traycor]

The FR has no "famous" characters in the real world.

If characters are included, it's because they are interesting and cool in their own right (see: Xanathar), not because some obsessive geeks have heard of them.

While I agree, studio executives will always want established/known characters among the fanbase. It helps them check boxes, and it sounds good to investors. Unless the producer/directors are able to push back, there will be at least one "known" character in the film. Specifically one they can promote in trailers and such.

Those characters are part of the reason studios buy the rights to properties like D&D instead of just producing their own original fantasy movie.

 

[Bohandas]

There's another movie, albeit an older one, that can serve as a pseudo template for at least part of a DnD movie....actually a series of movies.....Indiana Jones

When Raiders of the Lost Ark came out I was in my early teens and boy did Harrison Ford making his way through the temple look familiar to this young dungeons and dragons player

He wasn't in armor and he didn't fight monsters, really, but the dungeon exploration was fantastic

Big Trouble In Little China would also work well as a template. It's got sort of a comedic version of the same tone and it does have a couple of monsters (including a beholder knockoff). Also, Lo Pan has the general traits of a ravenloft darklord: evil, magic powers, wields great influence over an area but is trapped there, object of his desire perpetually just out of his grasp

Lo Pan: My problem is this place. This place is my tomb. I'm buried here. A young man, a king, a warrior, is entombed in this old man's crippled body. And all I need is a woman, Mr Burton, a special kind of woman with dragon-green eyes, to make me whole and young again, so that I may rule the universe from beyond the grave.
Wang: Ch'ing-ti. The God of the East.
Jack: Who, him? This guy?
Lo Pan: No, not me, Mr Burton. My demon. The god I must appease in order to regain my heart, my blood. A girl with green eyes to satisfy Ch'ing-ti, a girl brave enough to embrace the naked blade. When I find her, I will marry her.
Wang: Never!
Lo Pan: Ch'ing-ti will be happy and my curse lifted.
Jack: You can rule the universe from beyond the grave.
Lo Pan: Indeed!
Jack: Or check into a psycho ward, whichever comes first...What? I'm supposed to buy this ****? 2,000 years and he can't find a broad to fit the bill? Come on, Dave, you must be doin' somethin' seriously wrong.
Lo Pan: There have been others, to be sure. There are always others, are there not? You seem to be one who knows the difficulties between men and women, how seldom it works out. And yet we all keep trying, like fools.

 

[Bohandas]

Precisely. There's no gain in even acknowledging Elminster etc. A character like him could literally never carry a movie by himself (he's not interesting or conflicted or trying to fit, just incredibly powerful and kinda smug), and wouldn't fit into any team movie (he's more an "I cast one spell and win" guy than a team player),

He could fit in if it was an epic fate-of-the-multiverse type movie where for some reason he had to team up with his equivalents from other crystal spheres (ie. Mordenkainen, Raistlin Majere, etc.)

 

[Traycor]

Well, some of the novels do sell extremely well. But, yeah.

You could argue that both Drizzt and Minsc/Boo are pretty famous. Both have had comic book lines, multiple video games, board games, and novels. And that doesn't include any actual RPG products they have appeared or featured in. If those characters aren't included in the film, they will most definitely appear in sequels if the first film does well.

It wouldn't be surprising if they showed up in BG3, and there was that awful trailer for the new Drizzt game coming up. Even Elminster doesn't have nearly the exposure of these two (he's mainly in just RPG products and novels). They're the most bankable D&D characters Wizards has.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Which limits the potential threat level to "too trivial to call in the real heroes". It a problem with the superhero genre in general, and the best solution is for high powered superheroes like Superman, Captain Marvel, and Elminster to not exist in the setting. "Spiderman is a second rate hero who can be trusted with important stuff" is a running joke with the character, it's not something you want to inflict on your potential heroes of a D&D movie.

Well, if they want to build a series the way Marvel did with the MCU, starting with lesser known characters, or characters no longer in their prime for popularity, obviously works when done right. That is even assuming the main characters of the movie are not brand-new to whichever world they decide to use.

Oh, and for everyone wanting a movie about modern people being pulled into the past/alternate fantasy world. Be careful what you wish for or it could turn out as bad as the 2nd and 3rd In the Name of the King movies. lol

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Iron Man wasn't well known before his movie came out. This is true for many MCU heroes. This could apply to D&D characters, as there are around 15 million D&D players in the US. I don't know how many of them would understand an Elminster or Minsc and Boo reference, but I think it would be rewarding if they put it in.

 

[Traycor]

Iron Man wasn't well known before his movie came out. This is true for many MCU heroes. This could apply to D&D characters, as there are around 15 million D&D players in the US. I don't know how many of them would understand an Elminster or Minsc and Boo reference, but I think it would be rewarding if they put it in.

Marvel picked Iron Man because the rights to most of their known characters were gone. They had to put up the rights to their remaining characters as collateral to even get the funding. To this day, the Hollywood trades write articles full of awe and wonder that Marvel was able to launch their franchise with a character that was so little known.

The reason? It was a crazy gamble. Movie studios don't take gambles like that.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Marvel picked Iron Man because the rights to most of their known characters were gone. They had to put up the rights to their remaining characters as collateral to even get the funding. To this day, the Hollywood trades write articles full of awe and wonder that Marvel was able to launch their franchise with a character that was so little known.

The reason? It was a crazy gamble. Movie studios don't take gambles like that.

Also, without Robert Downey Jr it would have been mediocre or even a failure. Stan Lee may have given birth to the Marvel comics universe, but Robert is the father of the MCU.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

A movie about Drizzt or Elminster should be in the next phase. The first movie has to be for people who know nothing about D&D mythology. It shouldn't be too violent, but parents can go to cinema with +7y children. Fun, but not a stupid comedy. Maybe with a conflict of hate-love and unresoluted sexual tension between a metrosexual half-ef ranger and a tomboy half-orc shaman.

And the expectations shouldn't be too high.