D&D Movie/TV Chris Pine To Star In D&D Movie

The long, slow process towards a modern take on D&D movies took a large step forward with the announcement of a huge star signed to the project. Considering that filming is set to start soon a cascade of announcements should be revealed in initiative order imminently. Filming begins in Q1 2021.

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley will be directing the film which features "an ensemble cast and take a subversive approach to the game."

Chris Pine In Talks To Star In ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ For eOne And Paramount; Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley Direct

Chris Pine To Star In 'Dungeons & Dragons'

deadline.com

Chris Pine has closed a deal to star in Dungeons & Dragons, the live action film based on Hasbro’s massively popular role-playing game from Wizards of the Coast. Hasbro/eOne and Paramount are jointly producing and financing, with eOne distributing in the UK and Canada, and Paramount the rest of the world.

 

[Older Beholder]

The first thing I thought when they announced Chris Pine:

 

[TheSword]

They could do a lot worse than a remake of that, as a film. It was a good principle, trying to find a way home is a far more compelling motivation than just ‘defeat evil’.

Frodo doesnt take the quest to destroy the ring because he wants to defeat sauron (or rather it isn’t the main reason) it’s because he wants the shire to be safe and there’s no one else he can give it to. If he doesn’t destroy it, they’re going to kill him and everyone he loves.

Even that isn’t very plausible because in reality there are lots of people he could give it to but for the conceit of the possessiveness of the ring and the fact that he is supposedly ‘resistant’ to it.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

When a hobby or game or established ‘thing’ is “subverted” by a movie studio, I usually imagine a director or producer feeling like they know better than the fans.

I am thinking of crappy remakes and radical changes of tone and character to beloved stories when I say this.

I am not a pessimist in life...just as it relates to Hollywood and franchises I care about.

I want to be wrong. We shall see.

A counter example would be Chris pines own Star Trek movies...but then the tone was right and there was some love or reverence for the characters...

 

[Wolfram stout]

Here is a bit from the directors on it:

We want it to be fun," added Goldstein. "It's not an out-and-out comedy, but it is an action-fantasy movie with a lot of comedic elements and characters we hope people will really get into and enjoy watching their adventures."

This is from blastr.com (SYFY channel website): Chris Pine will roll the many-sided die to star in Dungeons & Dragons movie
I hope the quote is short enough that posting it is not a problem.

So definitely not a sweeping epic. I think their approach could work.

Regards,

 

[humble minion]

Thinking of D&D novels etc that would make a good film...

The Azure Bonds. Wild gonzo high-magic fast-paced adventure, utterly bonkers plot, interesting cast of characters, great twist. Downside, one of the main characters communicates via smells, which would be a tad hard to film...

Curse of Strahd, or some variant of the classic Strahd story. You could do this. You could totally do this. You'd need to come up with protagonists from scratch of course and you'd need to get them right, and you'd have to be careful with handling of the Vistani or you'd rightly get smacked around. Also, no dragons. But Barovia and Castle Ravenloft are great atmospheric locales, and with Strahd's history and the eternal cycle of Tatyana returning and Strahd seeking to possess her and failing in accordance with his ancient curse ... yeah, that could work.

Soldiers of Ice. Tight little story with a small, varied, interesting cast which gives you time to get to know them. Interesting bad guys and ambiguous 'monsters'. Downside - kinda localised and small in scope, i suspect they'll be wanting to show off more classic D&D tropes than this one has scope for.

 

[humble minion]

Here is a bit from the directors on it:

We want it to be fun," added Goldstein. "It's not an out-and-out comedy, but it is an action-fantasy movie with a lot of comedic elements and characters we hope people will really get into and enjoy watching their adventures."

This is from blastr.com (SYFY channel website): Chris Pine will roll the many-sided die to star in Dungeons & Dragons movie
I hope the quote is short enough that posting it is not a problem.

So definitely not a sweeping epic. I think their approach could work.

Regards,

That sounds like they're very much playing it safe, to be honest. Going the MCU/Indiana Jones/Pirates of the Caribbean/Brendan Fraser's Mummy route, big PG-rated FX adventure with quips. The prospect profoundly fails to thrill me, but the intended audience is a third of my age, so it doesn't really matter what i think.

Regardless, if they're trying to go this sort of quasi-comedic dialogue-driven thing, they absolutely must must must nail the characters. This isn't like MCU when most people have at least heard of Captain America before seeing the film, or Buffy where you've got a whole season of TV for the audience to get to know the characters. You're trying to establish all the characters from scratch (and there has to be a group of at least quasi-equal characters for it to be D&D, one hero and his sidekicks won't cut it) and tell the story at the same time, in a ~100 minute film. It's not going to be easy.

 

[Older Beholder]

I can see them cutting between a real world story of people playing the game and the game/story world much like the Princess Bride (to use a more hopeful example than Jumunji)

 

[Umbran]

Or they could not get D&D at all and think they are smarter than the people who love the game. Wouldn't be the first time, wouldn't be the last.

Wouldn't be the first time someone was classed as "They", when they were actually part of, "We," either, so...

 

[Umbran]

Even that isn’t very plausible because in reality there are lots of people he could give it to ....

And, here, you have missed much of the point of LotR!

Frodo is a hero because he takes responsibility for fixing a thing in front of him, rather than passing it off on someone else.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Here is a bit from the directors on it:

We want it to be fun," added Goldstein. "It's not an out-and-out comedy, but it is an action-fantasy movie with a lot of comedic elements and characters we hope people will really get into and enjoy watching their adventures."

This is from blastr.com (SYFY channel website): Chris Pine will roll the many-sided die to star in Dungeons & Dragons movie
I hope the quote is short enough that posting it is not a problem.

So definitely not a sweeping epic. I think their approach could work.

Regards,

Yes, and since Chris Pine is the poor man's Chris Pratt, it looks very much like they are making Guardians of the Galaxy - only not in space!

Which seems like a reasonable way to go, many D&D games are like that.