D&D Movie/TV Baldurs Gate 3 Live Action Series talks at Netflix

It'd be interesting to see how a series like this could be structured, without having to focus in on the main protagonists 100% of the time. Like, you could have a Harpers arc back in the city with Jaheira and Minsc starting to investigate Absolute cultist infiltration, and Duke Ravengard and the Flaming Fist setting out to investigate in the wilds, you could give the villains more of an arc, maybe have Wyll chasing Karlach being a completely separate thread from the rest of the main cast for half a season.
I think the "Game of Thrones" model you seem to be proposing here, whilst definitely different to focusing on the main protagonists 100% of the time, is very much the wrong model for the characters and plot of BG3. I'd suggest an "ensemble road trip" deal, more akin to Shadow & Bone or the Willow TV series was a much better model. I mean, why not spend 100% of the time with the main characters? They're great characters and a lot of shows have thrived that way.

Especially as, if we did a 1-season/act model, which seems the most plausible to me, most of those other characters would be irrelevant until S3, which, given it's Netflix, we'd be lucky to get to!

Of course it's kind of a moot point because it'll be a disaster in live-action however they do it.
 

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Okay.

More infinitely creative, unrestricted by the constraints of reality for the rest of us.

And I won't even talk about how much 'live action' stuff features elements animated on a computer already.
I get that. But CGI is made to appear ‘realistic’ within the physics of the world/story telling which is not the same as animation from a visual perspective even if created similarly. I understand it is my issue and not necessarily others. But I know a lot of people who watched GoT who would never watch a glorified cartoon.
 



MarkB

Legend
I think the "Game of Thrones" model you seem to be proposing here, whilst definitely different to focusing on the main protagonists 100% of the time, is very much the wrong model for the characters and plot of BG3. I'd suggest an "ensemble road trip" deal, more akin to Shadow & Bone or the Willow TV series was a much better model. I mean, why not spend 100% of the time with the main characters? They're great characters and a lot of shows have thrived that way.
Sure, I'm just laying out some options, and plenty of shows have thrived having multiple plot threads going in different locations. Including Shadow and Bone.
Especially as, if we did a 1-season/act model, which seems the most plausible to me, most of those other characters would be irrelevant until S3, which, given it's Netflix, we'd be lucky to get to!
The Harpers were among the first to discover the Absolute cult, and following their investigation would lay the groundwork and foreshadowing for the larger plan, as well as introducing us to some of the antagonists prior to revealing their roles.

Plus, this show will presumably be called Baldur's Gate something (probably not 3) and this allows some sight of the city prior to season 3, which would probably be useful. It also allows the city's factions and lore to be introduced at a steady pace instead of cramming the exposition into one season.
 


Sure, I'm just laying out some options, and plenty of shows have thrived having multiple plot threads going in different locations. Including Shadow and Bone.
Shadow and Bone keeps the focus on the actual characters though - I can't think of any scenes which don't include them, off the top of my head. The problem BG3 would face is that the only people separate from the main party without drastic changes which would lose what makes BG3 special and likely turn into into generic fantasy blather, would be Jaheria and Minsc, who I'm just really skeptical would make good viewing, given one of them is borderline mentally subnormal (terribly nice, sure, but he couldn't think his way out of a paper bag - he's a ginger cat given human form), and the other is a semi-irrational hothead. I guess you could like, have Minthara's story be a bit different and follow her a bit, but I think there's going to be a real "Why are we wasting time with these jerks, not with the cool kids?" deal, if they do the main party right.

That's the conflict as I see it - if you cast and write the main characters as they should be, as they are in the games, the interplay between them will be a big part of the charm (as it is in Shadow and Bone, or Willow for people who liked that - I did). You'll want to hear Astarion's latest put-down, or Karlach's wonder at something or terrible joke, or Gale's slightly-off and condescending explanation, which Shadowheart responds to with dripping venom. So if you take the focus off them, and start to construct the show as a more routine fantasy deal, especially if you spend long amounts of time with frankly dull and standard characters like the Duke, or random Harpers. Also the mystery is not hugely complex - it's got like what, three layers? And whilst obviously everyone who plays the game will know it, you still want to unveil it slowly for the home audience, so you can drop the real horror-bomb on them in Act 2 (probably late Act 2) discovering what's beneath the keep. The more you do stuff like focus on the baddies or follow "investigations", the more obvious it's going to be what's going on even to a new audience.

You can certainly split up the main party into smaller groups and individuals at times of course, that's to be expected, I just think it's following entire other characters for more than short scenes or cold opens that would be questionable.

Sorry I'm not trying to be overly down, especially not on you personally, it's just Netflix screw up a lot of stuff, and this is a really particularly easy thing to destroy the magic of and turn into generic fantasy that people wonder what the fuss was about. I hope that if Larian do sell it to Netflix they retain some kind of creative control/influence.
 

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