WotC ICv2 Has A Theory That WotC Will Be Sold

[Snarf Zagyg]

All those films you mentioned can be summed up in one or two sentences.

Ooh! I like that idea!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Johnny Depp's Keith Richards impersonation gets diminishing returns.

Fast & Furious: Watch street racers become action heroes become super heroes ... FAMILY!

Mission: Impossible: Tom Cruise, thirstiest actor alive, will EARN your respect, if not your love.

Transformers: Giant robots fight it out surrounded by an incomprehensible plot and rotating cast you don't care about.

Jumanji: Freaky Friday + Breakfast Club = $$$

Avatar: I'm the king of the world!

 

[billd91]

You’re right. The only reason for using an existing work is because it’s easy to tell if there is a good story there or not. D&D movie is an empty page.

All those films you mentioned can be summed up in one or two sentences.

I really have no idea how I’d sum up a d&d movie without cringing.

Ultimately, that's because it hasn't been written yet. Would anyone have been able to sum up Pirates of the Caribbean before it was made other than the fairly vague "inspired by a theme park ride"? That doesn't really sum up the movie any more than referring to a D&D movie as "inspired by a role-playing game".

 

[TheSword]

Ultimately, that's because it hasn't been written yet. Would anyone have been able to sum up Pirates of the Caribbean before it was made other than the fairly vague "inspired by a theme park ride"? That doesn't really sum up the movie any more than referring to a D&D movie as "inspired by a role-playing game".

I could summarize a Pirates of the Caribbean film in a couple of sentences. ‘Inspired by a theme park ride’ wouldn’t be in those sentences as it’s irrelevant.

Essentially you’re saying there is no such thing as a D&D film because there is no codifying what would make a film D&D.

I think part of the problem is that D&D is derived from other films and media. It doesn’t generate new. A campaign setting maybe has more meat on the bone. But most are so broad (or neutral) that they aren’t at all distinctive.

 

[billd91]

I could summarize a Pirates of the Caribbean film in a couple of sentences. ‘Inspired by a theme park ride’ wouldn’t be in those sentences as it’s irrelevant.

But you couldn't have done so before it was written and made - the same's true of a D&D movie. If it's as well done as the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, you won't need to cringe while doing it.

 

[Oofta]

I could summarize a Pirates of the Caribbean film in a couple of sentences. ‘Inspired by a theme park ride’ wouldn’t be in those sentences as it’s irrelevant.

Essentially you’re saying there is no such thing as a D&D film because there is no codifying what would make a film D&D.

I think part of the problem is that D&D is derived from other films and media. It doesn’t generate new. A campaign setting maybe has more meat on the bone. But most are so broad (or neutral) that they aren’t at all distinctive.

There are no new stories, just variations of old stories.

 

[embee]

I could summarize a Pirates of the Caribbean film in a couple of sentences. ‘Inspired by a theme park ride’ wouldn’t be in those sentences as it’s irrelevant.

"Inspired by a theme park ride" is why there was initial trepidation over the movie. "Mission to Mars" and "The Country Bears" had previously been inspired by theme park rides, as did "The Haunted Mansion," which was released only a few months later.

I think part of the problem is that D&D is derived from other films and media. It doesn’t generate new. A campaign setting maybe has more meat on the bone. But most are so broad (or neutral) that they aren’t at all distinctive.

I disagree inasmuch as Dark Sun is completely distinctive, as is Eberron.

And where D&D is truly distinctive, is in its bestiary. Tiamat, Demogorgon, Beholders, Mind Flayers, owlbears, and mimics are some of the most recognizable D&D monsters out there.

 

[TheSword]

But you couldn't have done so before it was written and made - the same's true of a D&D movie. If it's as well done as the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, you won't need to cringe while doing it.

Yes I could summarize a Pirates of the carribean film before it is made.

Fantasy swashbuckling on the high seas, full of treachery, back stabbing, swagger and booty. The infamous Captain Jack Sparrow leads a cast of eccentric ne’er do wells in an adventure in search of a lost legend.

 

[TheSword]

"Inspired by a theme park ride" is why there was initial trepidation over the movie. "Mission to Mars" and "The Country Bears" had previously been inspired by theme park rides, as did "The Haunted Mansion," which was released only a few months later.



I disagree inasmuch as Dark Sun is completely distinctive, as is Eberron.

And where D&D is truly distinctive, is in its bestiary. Tiamat, Demogorgon, Beholders, Mind Flayers, owlbears, and mimics are some of the most recognizable D&D monsters out there.

A bestiary doesn’t make a story as any adventure writer knows.

You get the irony don’t you that the main mention of d&d creatures in modern media... the Demogorgon and Mindflayer... weren’t actually referencing the monsters!

I don’t think the d&d bestiary is worth a squat in Film terms.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

"Inspired by a theme park ride" is why there was initial trepidation over the movie. "Mission to Mars" and "The Country Bears" had previously been inspired by theme park rides, as did "The Haunted Mansion," which was released only a few months later.

Weird trivia time!

There were two prior rides called Mission to Mars at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom (Disney World), but both closed long before the movie was pitched or released.

There is a Mission: Space ride at Epcot (Disney World) that uses footage from Gary Sinise and has some of the props from Mission to Mars, but it opened after the movie.

 

[billd91]

Yes I could summarize a Pirates of the carribean film before it is made.

Fantasy swashbuckling on the high seas, full of treachery, back stabbing, swagger and booty. The infamous Captain Jack Sparrow leads a cast of eccentric ne’er do wells in an adventure in search of a lost legend.

That's virtually any pirate film and not really Pirates of the Caribbean. And the Captain Jack Sparrow bit couldn't have been written before the movie was since he was an invention of the screenplay. He was added to the ride after the movie.

My point with all of this is that there's no pertinent reason to say you can't sum up a D&D movie before it's written in a couple of sentences. You can't do that about most movies based loosely on a concept (rather than adapted from an existing story) before they're written anyway. So why be critical of a hypothetical D&D movie because of that?