D&D Movie/TV D&D Movie Hit or Flop?

[Zardnaar]

I don't worry too much if there is not an action-live sequel. An animated production could be enough if the plot is good. But the movie is about the group: Edgin, Holga, Simon, Doric, and even Xenk the paladin and Kira (Edgin's daughter).

Even if the movie had been a superhit, the sequel should be a lower budget. And it is not only for Paramount, but this is being a horrible year for all Hollywood.

Been bad for the generic crap Hollywood has been churning out.

Might be a lesson in that.

Not finished yet looks like Haunted Mansion is up next.

 

[FrogReaver]

A poll here for who all has bought any D&D movie merch might be interesting.

 

[mamba]

The whole underdark sequence was not needed.

yeah, go ahead and cut the best 15 or so minutes…

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Took my daughter to see Barbie...it was weird. It was just an odd fever dream of a movie.

No one should take kids to this movie, too much blatant adult humour and Barbieland is a pinker, surface version of the Udadrow with fewer whips, but it's lionized, it's not a good role model for children.

 

[CommodoreKong]

Commodore, you need to clarify that this statement is from the author of the article, not the CEO. The way you quoted implies the CEO, which puts the comment in a different context.

True, but we do need to be careful about stating HAT as doing well, since we don't know how many viewers per week each rank of viewership equates to, nor how many viewers are first-time or separately paying to watch the movie, which are the only definite ways to make up for the box-office loss.

That is you spinning. Robbins did not confirm that. That's commentary from the author of that article, not Robbins. To see the same quote from a different author, see here.

Robbins, who knows what the total theatrical plus non-theatrical revenue looks like, is saying a sequel remains possible now but he wants to make it for less. Which is the same thing he's saying about all the movies he listed. But he's only naming the ones he thinks have franchise potential - not actual bombs. There are some he regrets, like he names Babylon as breaking his heart. But he doesn't seem to regret Transformers, Mission Impossible, Fast and Furious, and Dungeons and Dragons. Part of what he's saying is that $100M movies were made for $200M instead due to the drastically increased costs from Covid and sudden inflation and that nobody could have done anything about that unexpected happenstance.

Compare this to the people in this very thread who claimed a sequel was never going to happen because the movie was a bomb and lost them tons of money. That is definitely not the tone Robbins is taking and again, he's the guy who knows what it made in total, including both theatrical and non-theatrical revenue. If he planned to write the movie off as some big loss, that's not the language he would be using publicly. In fact he did use that kind of "bomb" language when he talked about Babylon, and him shunting a movie I've never heard of off to streaming ("Under the Boardwalk"). He's talking like they left money on the table with these movies he didn't regret with too high a budget, some of which was out of their control due to Covid and sudden rapid inflation. Same thing pretty much all studios are doing right now in their negotiations with the WGA and SAG/AFTRA.

I also see an implication, and tell me if I am reading things into this or not, where he's kind of hinting that having three A-list actors for D&D was going overboard where perhaps they only needed two (the leads probably) and could have cast a non-A-list actor as the villain (instead of Hugh Grant). He doesn't say that, but he's kind of implying that in some of his discussion of stars, at least in my reading between the lines. I don't know what Hugh Grant was paid for the movie, but if that's what he's saying I agree they could have cast someone else for that role and probably gotten almost as much out of it.

Variety is an movie industry trade and they're interviewing the CEO of Paramount.
They are going to frame something like phrasing about the way a film did the way he wants, they obviously are going to want continued access to him and his company.

You kinda also have to read between the lines with how companies or people like this talk since they often don't talk in direct terms but try to spin things in a positive way unless something is too bad to spin. To me saying they got to figure out a way to make a sequel for less is saying they were happy with the quality of the film but it didn't make money and they got to spend less on a sequel if they ever make one.

Personally I really hope Honor Among Thieves gets a sequel because I loved it and want to see the characters again. I'm also trying to be realistic about it's chances of actually getting one, which I don't think are super high. I would love to be wrong though. I don't think his comment closes the door on a sequel but I also don't think it certainly means one is happening.

 

[MockingBird]

No one should take kids to this movie, too much blatant adult humour and Barbieland is a pinker, surface version of the Udadrow with fewer whips, but it's lionized, it's not a good role model for children.

Could not agree more

 

[nevin]

Variety is an movie industry trade and they're interviewing the CEO of Paramount.
They are going to frame something like phrasing about the way a film did the way he wants, they obviously are going to want continued access to him and his company.

You kinda also have to read between the lines with how companies or people like this talk since they often don't talk in direct terms but try to spin things in a positive way unless something is too bad to spin. To me saying they got to figure out a way to make a sequel for less is saying they were happy with the quality of the film but it didn't make money and they got to spend less on a sequel if they ever make one.

Personally I really hope Honor Among Thieves gets a sequel because I loved it and want to see the characters again. I'm also trying to be realistic about it's chances of actually getting one, which I don't think are super high. I would love to be wrong though. I don't think his comment closes the door on a sequel but I also don't think it certainly means one is happening.

as long as our two guys find some competence and actually get to do things, I'm in. If I get another movie of Laurel and Hardie adventure with the Princess of Power and Wonder Girl I'm not coming back. It was fun. I never thought I'd get a decent DND movie but the next one better have a full story and a "team" that are all equally functional. What we got doesn't deserve a sequel. But I hope they get better writers and give us that purple unicorn of a sequel that's better than the original.

 

[CommodoreKong]

as long as our two guys find some competence and actually get to do things, I'm in. If I get another movie of Laurel and Hardie adventure with the Princess of Power and Wonder Girl I'm not coming back. It was fun. I never thought I'd get a decent DND movie but the next one better have a full story and a "team" that are all equally functional. What we got doesn't deserve a sequel. But I hope they get better writers and give us that purple unicorn of a sequel that's better than the original.

I got to disagree about how you feel about the movie. I loved the characters, the world and lore was great, the humor was strong, and the tone of the movie was pretty similar to ever D&D/TTRPG I've ever played.

 

[Mistwell]

Could not agree more

Well as long as we're commenting on Barbie in this thread, which we shouldn't be as there is a thread in the Media section about that, I thought Barbie was fantastic and took my daughter to it and she loved it as well.

 

[nevin]

Lore, check, world check. view of the forgotten realms, check. Paladin...fun but WTF regardless of intent the only purpose he served was to illustrate the incompetence of our two male wanna be heroes. yuck. and the Laurel and Hardie act that they had going definitely sucked all that OMG I get to see Forgotten realms on the screen fun right out of the movie. If they had taken that naughty word out of the movie I believe it would have sold more views.