D&D Movie/TV Could D&D/MtG tv/movies replace Superhero movies?

[billd91]

I mean Drizzt is the biggest name and I have no doubt he gets a movie and /or TV show if HAT doesn't tank, heck if things are already in motion he might get a movie or TV show even if HAT tanks (wich I doubt it will, especially since the bar for success is so much lower then the Marvel movies).

I've read several Drizzt books and, while I've liked most of them, I just don't see making any movies or TV shows about him being a good idea. For all of the obvious reasons...

 

[DEFCON 1]

For FR you have Everis Cale, Farideh/Havalar/Mehen, Elminster, The ToT Saga, I guess Tasha now (FR Immigrant or Tourist), Evermeet & Cormyr novels.

I mean Drizzt is the biggest name and I have no doubt he gets a movie and /or TV show if HAT doesn't tank, heck if things are already in motion he might get a movie or TV show even if HAT tanks (wich I doubt it will, especially since the bar for success is so much lower then the Marvel movies).

I've been playing D&D for 40 years and have no idea who Everis Cale, Farideh/Havalar/Mehen and Tasha are (other than knowing Tasha's name from the spell). These characters are meaningless to me and I'm smack dab in the middle of the audience for a D&D-branded movie. So creating a "D&D universe" with them is no different than starting with these made-up characters from Honor Among Thieves. Their existence will not lend any assistance to building this cinematic universe because they are just not known enough. Everis Cale would be like Shang-Chi-- a great addition once the world was established... but would be pointless as a foundational building block.

[Just noticed that @Ruin Explorer said the exact same thing as me, LOL.]

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I actually disagree but you're right to say it's a "late in the franchise" thing - ToH is the movie you'd make when your original PG-13 audience were "all grown up", and wanted an edgier take on related material. So you could absolutely make it R-rated (and lower-budget - but you wouldn't need a huge budget for ToH, funnily enough - it's basically single-location and indoors), just with the expectation that you're targeting a specific audience and you're not going for the same broad appeal as the "mainstream" stuff (but again, the budget would be much lower). It still would serve to build the franchise, particularly long-term.

But yeah it won't happen because we'd need to be like 10+ years into successful D&D material before it was worthwhile. The bottom is going to fall out of this whole thing before that, I'd suspect.

The young audience for D&D has been built up by Stranger Things, the irony is Netflix has already laid a lot of the ground work for this. CR as well.

Also remember the a good chunk of folks who watch Superhero movies now have never read a.comic book in their life. The MCU and DCU were built upon foundations of preexisting fandoms, and social proof expanded it to general audiences from there.

D&D/Forgotten Realms/MtG has that expensive preexisting fan base for such a foundation, easily big enough to create such a foundation, especially if it's backed by a good marketing campaign and a good movie.

I think an R rated D&D movie is coming (BG3 is at minimium R rated if a movie, maybe even NC-17), although an R Rated MtG movie is unlikely as it's really not built into the setting like The Forgotten Brothel, er I mean the Forgotten Realms.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think we're also seeing that streamed movies aren't reaching the same heights of profitability or cultural impact as the studios want their movies to have.

What exactly is a movie? How does it differ from TV? Does it differ at all, or is it just an expensive TV show?

 

[wicked cool]

no

whats happened in the last 2 years was marvel tried to sell me (i cant speak for anyone else) on the lesser super hero movies and dc has tried as well. these movies arent very good. black widow is just an ok movie and many of the shows etc are just ok.

I find what hbo is doing to the batgiel movie fascinating. Theya re seeing that these movies arent going to make real money so scrap the investment all together. Im hoping other studios see this and say ok heres 100 million but we expect X in profits and if its projected less than that then scrap it

Westerns were basically replaced by cop dramas but i would argue that those shows will be more memorable in the long run than the marvel/dc shows . i would argue that the acting in say Bonanza (first western that comes to mind) is better than any marvel or dc show on today. the 60's-70's has made some great television

noticed that a lot of these shows have 1 really good actor/actress that carries the show but the supporting casts arent as good
star wars/super heroes- moon knight-1 really good actor, Kenobi-1 good actor. kid is ok but not carrying the show. Wandavision etc good casts but not breakout casts


i love D&D/fantasy so im hoping to certain series get greelit but in the end no . netflix/hbo/amazon etc are the places to this for now

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The young audience for D&D has been built up by Stranger Things

I'm pretty sure the audience of Stranger Things consists mostly of people old enough to feel nostalgic about the 1980s. It's not a young person's show.

 

[Scribe]

For FR you have Everis Cale, Farideh/Havalar/Mehen, Elminster, The ToT Saga, I guess Tasha now (FR Immigrant or Tourist), Evermeet & Cormyr novels.

I mean Drizzt is the biggest name and I have no doubt he gets a movie and /or TV show if HAT doesn't tank, heck if things are already in motion he might get a movie or TV show even if HAT tanks (wich I doubt it will, especially since the bar for success is so much lower then the Marvel movies).

None of those at all, in any way, have the global popular appeal of the big named Hero's.

It's a completely different scale.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I'm pretty sure the audience of Stranger Things consists mostly of people old enough to feel nostalgic about the 1980s. It's not a young person's show.

You'd be every wrong about that, the 80's are huge for Millenials and Zoomers, I think to a lesser the 90s are too, hence why Friends has gotten such a huge resurgence in popularity.

 

[billd91]

I'm pretty sure the audience of Stranger Things consists mostly of people old enough to feel nostalgic about the 1980s. It's not a young person's show.

I wouldn’t be too sure about that. One survey I found right away has the younger cohort with the strongest viewership. Stranger Things viewership in the U.S. by age 2017 | Statista

With most of the protagonists being kids, lots of kids (and that includes 20-somethings) will watch it.

 

[bedir than]

Another issue is that no, D&D, will not replace an entire genre. Superhero films aren't just a single brand. They are a massive mess of brands, some very successful and others not.

Will fantasy replace superheroes? Maybe, but to do so there must be a leading brand that centers hope and fellowship - like the MCU (and it seems both Wheel and D&D) - not despair (hello DC and Game of Thrones).