D&D Movie/TV D&D TV Show By John Wick Creator

From Hollywood Reporter — “Derek Kolstad, the creator and writer behind the John Wick franchise, has been tapped to pen and develop a pitch for a live-action series based on the Dungeons & Dragons universe.”

‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Series in the Works With ‘John Wick’ Writer (Exclusive)

Derek Kolstad, the creator and writer behind the John Wick franchise, has been tapped to pen and develop a pitch for a live-action series based on the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

The article doesn’t say anything more, unfortunately, other than describing what D&D is — “Affectionately referred to by fans as D&D, the game is known for its wars, treasure hunts, campaigns, camaraderie, and reversals of fortune, all in a setting that combines humans, elves, orcs and hundreds of other creatures. The game famously uses multisided dice in gameplay to further the imaginary story and is overseen by a host known as the Dungeon Master.”

 

[Demetrios1453]

Agree. The Conan novels are much less gratuitous than Game of Thones, or the James Bond novels, as @LuisCarlos17f mentions.

I wouldn't be surprised if they created a setting for the show, or went with Greyhawk. FR is a bit too high magic for a TV budget IMO.

The hero's journey is at the core of D&D.

I doubt we will see short races, unless played by short actors. Also, fully CGI party members (like Rocket Racoon), will be avoided for budget. Dragonborn would probably take too long in make-up. Elves are tired. I would rate a tiefling as most probable non-human party member.

Elves may be over-done, but we all know they are going to appear, likely as a main character(s). Not just because they are popular, but because the make-up will be fairly easily, even moreso that tieflings.

They could probably get away with a D&D dwarf by using someone who is stocky and just a little short.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

It is interesting that "John Wick" is in fact a pretty well known RPG creator; and 121 messages in there hasn't been one reference to him.

Sadly, I haven't had enough coffee (or bourbon) to come up with some funny play on words - but come on people!!

 

[MGibster]

Elves may be over-done, but we all know they are going to appear, likely as a main character(s). Not just because they are popular, but because the make-up will be fairly easily, even moreso that tieflings.

Heck, they were doing credible "elves" on Star Trek in the 1960s. I think almost any humanoid, including Tieflings and Dragonborn, would be relatively easy to do these days. In the 1990s Babylon 5, which didn't have a huge budget, had the Drazi in some episodes. Thanks to shows like Star Trek, Babylon 5, Dr. Who, makeup artist and costumers have figured out the whole human with funny foreheads thing. I think it's a bigger problem to include the small races. It might be hard to get the halfling to look right.

 

[Azzy]

I think it's a bigger problem to include the small races. It might be hard to get the halfling to look right.

And expensive. IIRC, not only did Peter Jeckson use camera tricks, but also different scale sets and props to create the illusion of the halflings' actors being smaller thant they actually are.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Heck, they were doing credible "elves" on Star Trek in the 1960s. I think almost any humanoid, including Tieflings and Dragonborn, would be relatively easy to do these days. In the 1990s Babylon 5, which didn't have a huge budget, had the Drazi in some episodes. Thanks to shows like Star Trek, Babylon 5, Dr. Who, makeup artist and costumers have figured out the whole human with funny foreheads thing. I think it's a bigger problem to include the small races. It might be hard to get the halfling to look right.

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I was thinking if they could get an actor or actors around 5 feet tall, they might be able to fudge it, but, going by the PHB height guide, even fudging it would only work for dwarves (mountain dwarves max out at 4' 8", which isn't terribly far off). Gnomes and halflings are probably out, as they both max out at under 4 feet, unless they find an even shorter version of Peter Dinklage (who is 4' 4", and who is presumably a bit burnt out on fantasy roles). Maybe if they intentionally hire taller actors for the human/elf roles, they could sneak around this a bit, but it would still be a lot of work to get a halfling or gnome right. Then again, this is TV and we obviously shouldn't expect 100% compliance for the rules, so if they find someone in the 4' - 4' 6" range to be a halfling, we shouldn't break out the pitchforks, torches, and tape measures and just go with the flow (knowing, of course, that some people will still have absolute fits about the halfling being too tall)...

 

[HomegrownHydra]

So, am I the only one who thought "Wait, the 7th Sea guy?".

It is interesting that "John Wick" is in fact a pretty well known RPG creator; and 121 messages in there hasn't been one reference to him.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Elves may be over-done, but we all know they are going to appear, likely as a main character(s). Not just because they are popular

not with everyone.

Popular in the same way Twilight vampires are popular.

, but because the make-up will be fairly easily, even moreso that tieflings.

Have you seen The Witcher? The elves looked rubbish. In the Warcraft movie, even more rubbish. They did their best to keep them out of shot, but you saw them occasionally.

They could probably get away with a D&D dwarf by using someone who is stocky and just a little short.

They did that in Witcher too. It was also rubbish.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Elves, Tieflings, Goliaths, Half-Orcs are all fairly easy with make up and some prosthetics. Dwarves you could just do without more work if you can hire actual actors of that height, but that means going back to the ol' Dinklage/Warwick Davis well (being the two best and most experienced) and they may not want to commit to that.

Halflings and gnomes are too small to achieve without CGI or a lot of forced perspective and specialised sets.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

not with everyone.

Popular in the same way Twilight vampires are popular.

Have you seen The Witcher? The elves looked rubbish. In the Warcraft movie, even more rubbish. They did their best to keep them out of shot, but you saw them occasionally.

They did that in Witcher too. It was also rubbish.

Because of their eyes? That wouldn't be an issue for a D&D adaption. And the ears would be shorter anyway.

The witcher ones look fine. What is your specific issue with them?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Because of their eyes? That wouldn't be an issue for a D&D adaption. And the ears would be shorter anyway.

The ears - you can see the joins, and without some kind of animation, very large ears look dead (consider the ears on a dog - they move and twitch).

The witcher ones look fine. What is your specific issue with them?

Two. Face and build is too human, large ears look dead. Vulcan ears are about as big as you can go without animating them.