D&D Movie/TV Chris Pine is making $11.5 million for D&D movie

[Paul Farquhar]

Obviously I can't know the thoughts of the moviegoers, but I suspect they weren't going to see 'a Chris Evans film' and more 'this looks interesting, and it has a bunch of people I've heard of involved so is probably legit'.

Well, that was my thought process. I can't speak for anybody else.

Knives Out had a whole bunch of recognisable names associated with it, it wasn't a "Chris Evens Vehicle". Which was a good thing, since in a "Star Vehicle" movie the star is expected to play minor variations on the same character. Which Chris Evens did not. Dwayne Johnson is the current example of "the star is the franchise", but it's an idea that goes all the way back to Errol Flynn and beyond.

The thing is, it's not enough for a movie to be good. People need to hear that it's good. And for that it needs word of mouth. And to generate word of mouth you need a hook that will get people through the doors in the first place. Being the next film in the franchise is the most effective hook, but "D&D movie" is badly tainted in that regard. So having a bunch of recognisable names in the cast (but not so big that the movie becomes all about them) is the best strategy for D&D. Justice Smith is the name I have been seeing everywhere recently.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The fun fact is if the production makes mistakes and this causes a lot of parodies then inderectly D&D will get a lot of free promotion. If they can be sold to be "Game of Thrones" then to be "Monty Pyton+Flintstones". Even the no-geek audence can have a lot of fun watching the ammont of wrong choises by the players and all that unintentional humor, like the classic trope "bard + female dragon = a song dragon is born nine months later".

If this movie works enough, other movie studios will dare to produce titles of fantasy, even acquiring RPG publishers for their brands if it was necessary.

Paramount wants this D&D movie to be the new Star Wars(+Jurasic Park) of the fantasy genre, and it is a very important bet for them. If they fail, Hasbro could start a new partership with other studio, and I suspect Warner and Disney have showed some winks, but these can start from zero with their own IPs. Pirates of the Dark Waters could be perfect for a Warner version of a D&D world. They could produce a videogame with a retro style, and this wouldn't need the most powerful software.

 

[humble minion]

The fun fact is if the production makes mistakes and this causes a lot of parodies then inderectly D&D will get a lot of free promotion. If they can be sold to be "Game of Thrones" then to be "Monty Pyton+Flintstones". Even the no-geek audence can have a lot of fun watching the ammont of wrong choises by the players and all that unintentional humor, like the classic trope "bard + female dragon = a song dragon is born nine months later".

If this movie works enough, other movie studios will dare to produce titles of fantasy, even acquiring RPG publishers for their brands if it was necessary.

There's a million terrible fantasy movies out there for people to laugh at. WotC (and the film studio) could very easily make another one and slap 'D&D' on it and make MST3K fodder out of it for a tiny percentage of what they're spending on this thing.

WotC badly wants D&D to be seen as an increasingly mainstream hobby for 'normal' non-geek people. They want the film to be good enough to make people want to go try out the game, not just become fodder for internet jokes. A bad film is just a bad film even if the existing D&D fanbase gets a few cringey-y laughs and memes out of it. It's not going to do what WotC wanted. And people like Chris Pine and the Bridgerton guy very much don't need a stinker on their CV at the 'up & coming leading man' stages their careers are at either.

Conversely, there's been examples of good fantasy films out there too. Lord of the Rings won a Best Picture Oscar nearly 20 years ago, after all (though Fellowship should have won it, rather than Return of the King, but i digress...). Game of Thrones was fantasy, and it was basically the biggest show on TV for years. Wheel of Time is getting good reviews, Harry Potter was enormous, the new Amazon Tolkien TV show is coming, along with dozens of other novel adaptations - fantasy as a genre has arrived, mainstream. The success or failure of a D&D film will really only impact the name recognition of D&D.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If we talk about to produce with low budget, the streaming game-play shows as Critical Rol can be perfect. Some teenages and young actors could play here to promote their profesional careers and to be known by the audence.

D&D can work like a fantasy action-comedy and not too high level of violence.

I think this movie will work for the current standar, but maybe not so good like the blockbusters from previous years. Even Sophia Liliss's character (cute action girl) can become an icon and become canon in the lore. At least better than "Warcraft", and wikipedia says this earned 439 millions in the box office.

 

[Morrus]

Knives Out had a whole bunch of recognisable names associated with it, it wasn't a "Chris Evens Vehicle".

That's literally what I said.

 

[dave2008]

Adjusted for inflation though that's a bit less than the 90's.

I don't think Chris is that big of a draw based on his name. Most of his movies don't earn that much unless they're part of a larger franchise.

My point was simply that he is one the top paid actors in the business. Which he is, and for some reason you don't seem to want to admit it.

I've said nothing about whether or not he is that big of a draw (which as far as I know is only speculation for any actor / actress).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

These days, there are no movies that are not part of a larger franchise.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I mean… I’d take that role in the movie for half of what Chris Pine is making.

 

[payn]

Today the famous actors aren't the best hook for the audence. The age of the superstarts ended. A good actor can add a lot of charisma for his character, but that is different. And Hollywood isn't the dream land any more. The people don't love it.

Actually its quite the opposite. To get on the big screen you absolutely need to be in a prestigious club of A-listers. Folks absolutely love Disney movies, hell they even love going to Warner Brothers movies (even though DC gets panned regularly.) Things have certainly changed with theatrical releases, but this idea folks dont love hollywood isn't true at all. Otherwise, they would have Ironman played by whoever instead of Downey Jr.

Those old cultural artistic stories that used to get screen time (the ones Marty cries about) have moved to the stream screen. We now have a golden age of television which offers many actors a chance to shine. In fact, they usually start here and end up in that prestigious hollywood list if they are lucky.

Hiring Pine for a cool 11 mill is telling folks that they intend for this to be a serious theatrical release. Whether or not they live up to it remains to be seen. Though, Pine will give some buzz to this and get a few non-D&D folks out to see it.

 

[bedir than]

Being the next film in the franchise is the most effective hook, but "D&D movie" is badly tainted in that regard.

The best thing for eOne about the previous D&D movies being box offices bombs almost two decades ago is that there is no cultural memory of them existing.