You're approached by a Hollywood exec...

[Mercurius]

...and they say, "We follow you online and love your opinions on geek stuff. We will pour tons of money into a franchise of your choice, with the caveat that it has to be something that has either never been brought to screen, or only very briefly and unsuccessfully. What do you want us to do?"

Or to put it another way, and this is riffing off the "Next Big Pop Cultural Splash" thread, if you could choose the Next Big Thing (at least in potential) - in terms of geek-related franchises - what would it be? And better yet, the same exec said you have serious say in the matter, what would like to see?

And yes, it could be something D&D related. Or it could be something like Earthsea ("very briefly and unsuccessfully"). But it can't be anything Tolkien or Star Wars/Trek or anything else that has already been done (to death).

Fire away, good folks of EN World...

(I'll leave my thoughts for a follow-up post)

 

[Len]

You're approached by a Hollywood exec...

I kick 'em in the ****s and walk on.

(Sorry, I didn't read the rest.)

 

[Parmandur]

Make The Way of Kings with a James Cameron Avatar level budget.

 

[thullgrim]

Shadowrun, Battletech, and a cartoon starring the Paizo PF1 Core Rulebook iconic. I’d mine the adventure paths for story content.

 

[Ryujin]

"The Horseclans" by Robert Adams. A simultaneously post apocalyptic and medieval world. Telepathic steppes nomads, in the American Prairies, and their telepathic sabretooth cat companions. Manufacturing centres of the eastern US turned into fiefdoms known for their excellence in the production of armour. The world is ready for Bili the Axe.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

The biggest issue with this kind of thing is that I don't know enough to give a sensible answer. I know that historically the biggest source of top quality movies in the past was the mid budget movie or even the better budgeted B Movies, not the deliberate attempts at blockbuster movies.
I do not know enough about the movie industry financials to really tell where that money has gone but I suspect it hangs around in streaming services these days.
As for what material might be the source of the "next big thing", I feel if I have heard about it, then that is not it.

 

[R_J_K75]

I kick 'em in the ****s and walk on.

That was actually along the lines of my first thought when I read the thread title

 

[Joshua Randall]

I roll to disbelieve.

 

[Spectral Anomaly]

Live action Watership Down with motion capture bunnies.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Condor Heroes Trilogy