D&D Movie/TV D&D Movie should follow the Deadpool model

Blue Orange · Feb 24, 2021

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold millions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of magic and religion, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of character growth and experience, for in the grim dark future there is only... "ah, man, this is the wrong franchise, we don't have the rights. Forget it..."

payn · Feb 24, 2021

Ugh, the only thing worse than Deadpool would be PG rated Deadpool...

Dausuul · Feb 24, 2021

You can have funny stuff, even quite a lot of it, in a serious movie. It makes the serious parts hit harder.

As far as tone and theme, what I want to see is fantasy-world Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones is pretty much D&D already, except with Nazis instead of orcs.

Deadpool? Nope, not interested. I was lukewarm on actual Deadpool; imitation Deadpool is a nonstarter for me.

manduck · Feb 24, 2021

So, in other words, you want to watch The Gamers.

Mort · Feb 24, 2021

manduck said:
So, in other words, you want to watch The Gamers.

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising was actually a pretty good movie. BUT it was a good, low budget, indie movie. Not sure if that could be translated into the big blockbuster Paramount is looking for here!

As for tone of this movie: This is from the guys who wrote Spiderman Homecoming and directed Game Night. Per some interviews they're going for "We want it to be fun. It's not an out and out comedy, but it is an action-fantasy movie with a lot of comedic elements and characters we hope people will really get into and enjoy watching their adventures..."

Which, if done well, could be pretty good.

Oofta · Feb 24, 2021

One of the reasons that Deadpool works for those that like it is because the other source take the material seriously. You have to establish that relatively serious baseline first.

Without that it becomes an in-joke that only gamers will understand and I don't see it working.

hopeless · Feb 24, 2021

So let's post some hypothetical ideas.
1) They go for a Gamer: Dorkness Rising story line.
Starts off with a trio of kids heading to a store that's running various rpg games, have them encounter the other two who will serve as the dm and players of the game and they eventually talk deciding to meet up the next saturday using the week to design their character and their dm keeps in contact answering questions about their campaign.

Lets say male dm running a variation of conan meets steampunk using the standard array of gods from the phb to make things simple.
The backdrop is the kingdom is recovering from a war caused by an evil warlock and the king has two heirs and things seem rosy until he suffers a stroke and is kept hidden as those assuming his responsibilities are quietly seizing power so its becoming ruled by the Wizard's Guild who have control of the cities but lack influence over the smaller settlements.
Anyway the players send him their characters and he queries parts so he can get the game ready and a new player is added at the last moment who initially seems to be deliberately upsetting the game but he gradually gets invested as the game helps them bond.
MEANWHILE their characters in the game world have met at the inn they're a little uneasy at how they get talking as some aren't supposed to be friendly but the evening is upset when guards charge in trying to arrest two of them forcing the others to intervene and although initially arrested they're freed when the village sheriff advises them to flee into the forest as the local Magistrate a member of the Wizard's Guild wants them killed but doesn't know why.
Heading into the Forest the village is set on fire by an arriving dragon and they understand something is dreadfully wrong.

Probably nothing like that but you have to start somewhere!

2) Straight action adventure movie maybe they're shipwrecked and waking up on the shore they manage to reach the nearest town only to discover some unknown force is preying on the settlements and heroes are needed to help discover whats actually going on!

Well it is a start!

What to suggest a possible plot for this?

MichaelSomething · Feb 24, 2021

If anything, the movie needs to take cues from Critical Role...

Blue Orange · Feb 24, 2021

Seriously, they've got a real tradeoff between special effects and audience focus here. Indeed, D&D's focus on flashy magic and bizarre monsters makes it even harder to film well than a low-magic fantasy like Lord of the Rings or Conan the Barbarian. If they want to make the dragons and fireballs look good, they need to make it back by selling the movie to more people, most of whom are probably not familiar with D&D. The game is a lot less niche than it was 20 years ago but tongue-in-cheek jokes about parties that meet in taverns and fire-breathing gazebos are going to fly over the heads of a general audience or even a fantasy/action movie audience.