D&D Movie/TV Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith Join D&D Movie

From Comic Book Movies -- "Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar) and Justice Smith (Detective Pikachu) have joined Wonder Woman 1984's Chris Pine in Paramount and eOne's upcoming big-budget board game adaptation, Dungeons & Dragons..."

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Michelle Rodriguez And Justice Smith Join Chris Pine In Fantasy Adaptation

Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar) and Justice Smith (Detective Pikachu) have joined Wonder Woman 1984's Chris Pine in Paramount and eOne's upcoming big-budget board game adaptation, Dungeons & Dragons...

www.comicbookmovie.com

We learned in December about Chris Pine's involvement, along with directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.

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...

www.enworld.org

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If you want to go for the Pompous Epic approach, like Lord of the Rings or Dragonlance, then you might start with a 10 minute info dump, but not for a GotG-style action adventure.

Lord of the Rings at least made their info-dump short and filled with interesting imagery. You see the original ring-bearers with the legend explained over them, and then cut to the Last Alliance.

You want a bad info-dump, don't leave for the kitchen or bathroom when you start The Dark Crystal. Endless narration over ... a gelfling fishing. A truly horrible opening, especially since so many of the terms are unique to that world, so audiences have to pay close attention with no visual aids to latch onto.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sure, it's well done. So is the opening crawl to Star Wars. But it sets a tone that is different to the one the D&D movie is supposed to be aiming for. And I doubt anyone could make "how Eberron is different from GenericFantasyland" as interesting as "The Last Alliance of Elves and Men".

Dude getting sword. Another person grabbing wand. Someone else putting on armor.

And then they rob a train.

Pretty sure audiences would realize what's up at that point.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I actually though Elizabeth Olsen was considerably better in WandaVision than she had been previously. But I suspect that is acting opposite Bettany. The difference between a good actor and a great actor is a good actor makes every scene they are in better, a great actor makes every actor near them into a good actor.

She also has material to work with. She's had, what, a dozen lines in the Avengers movies previously? And most of those have been angry or crying.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Dude getting sword. Another person grabbing wand. Someone else putting on armor.

And then they rob a train.

Pretty sure audiences would realize what's up at that point.

Nope, completely baffled. Audience came to see a D&D movie and instead they got Bright 2.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think she's being given better material to work with in WandaVision - more to do. She's definitely rising to the occasion.

True.

Some actors need the right director, too. I've seen Natlie Portman be pretty lackluster in some things, and then she's gone and won Oscars for other things.

Nah, Natalie Portman is awful in everything I have seen her in, including the things she won Oscars for.

Halie Berry is another Oscar winner who can't act for toffees. Oscar =/= talent.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Nope, completely baffled. Audience came to see a D&D movie and instead they got Bright 2.

Hopefully the non-terrible writing would make it clear it wasn't part of the Bright franchise.

 

[Scribe]

Got a lot of acting coaches on this forum I see.

If the story is good, I don't see how any of these actors would be an issue.

I do think (despite not personally being a fan) Eberron would be a good idea to differentiate from the Tolkien roots or GoT association in pop culture.

Just begs the question, do people think Forgotten Realms first and last when they think about D&D?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Okay buddy.

Legend

A young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from both destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves.

www.metacritic.com

And having seen it twice I very much agree with that score.

Critics are often wrong.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yeah this is a real issue, because audiences don't always respond to good actors. There's a pretty good correlation, but we often see pretty terrible actors pretty hugely celebrated. Which I think is totally fine but it's calling to see someone talking about "good acting" when it's definitely not happening from a certain actor, and what they actually means is "I'm enjoying their work". Like, I don't think anyone is saying, say, Keanu Reeves is the greatest acting-actor ever - we celebrate him because he's charming, good enough, has great physicality, and god versatility and so on. But you see other actors who are even worse actually getting called "good at acting".

A good recent example would be WandaVision, where to be frank, Paul Bettany is acting at level several stages up from Elizabeth Olsen, in terms of conveying real raw and complex emotion, humanity, and depth (even with pretty ordinary writing - it's not bad but also not amazing).

Yet if you look at it being discussed, people praise them together and often praise her acting. And her acting is just not special in any way. It's not anything elevated, she doesn't convey anything raw or complex - it's pretty basic stuff.

And it doesn't make her a bad person that she can't match Bettany - he's 18 years older, much seriously trained in acting, and has done serious acting roles vastly more than her (I'm not saying action movies etc. aren't serious, but I am saying stage acting in general is a wholly more serious thing than Mary Kate & Ashley or the like). Nor does it make her miscast. You don't actually need amazing acting from her, though Bettany being so far ahead does seem a bit troubling at times. And also she seems pretty damn cool in interviews and as a person.

But it does make my opinion of the audience steeply drop when you see whole bunch of people Emperor's New Clothes-ing Olsen's performance. Even that's almost too kind actually - it's not even that they all know and are saying that out of fear of standing out (though there is a bit of that I daresay), it's that plus a lot of them literally couldn't tell good acting from a hole in the ground but are only too pleased to say how great certain people's acting is.

Sorry, thank you for coming to my TED talk.


I agree but there is a threshold below which the actors are so bad they drag the material down with them. The 2000 movie had that on top of crappy material, with the male lead particularly (Marlon Wayans is Laurence Olivier next to that guy).

All of the actors cast so far are extremely pro though so no issue yet.

Oof. Never mind. I won’t get in an argument about movies with someone whose POV on acting is this...absolutely terrible on every level.

Lol I’ll stick to talking to you about games, then!

 

[ART!]

I wouldn't especially want a D&D movie set in Eberron, but including one or more warforged would be a way to distinguish it from LOTR, GoT, et al - but not so many steam/magic powered machiney things that it completely throws off the classic fantasy vibe.