D&D Movie/TV Chris Pine To Star In D&D Movie

The long, slow process towards a modern take on D&D movies took a large step forward with the announcement of a huge star signed to the project. Considering that filming is set to start soon a cascade of announcements should be revealed in initiative order imminently. Filming begins in Q1 2021.

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley will be directing the film which features "an ensemble cast and take a subversive approach to the game."

Chris Pine In Talks To Star In ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ For eOne And Paramount; Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley Direct

Chris Pine To Star In 'Dungeons & Dragons'

deadline.com

Chris Pine has closed a deal to star in Dungeons & Dragons, the live action film based on Hasbro’s massively popular role-playing game from Wizards of the Coast. Hasbro/eOne and Paramount are jointly producing and financing, with eOne distributing in the UK and Canada, and Paramount the rest of the world.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

They didn't cast the same star. Chris Pratt was in GotG; they're casting Chris Pine, who was in Wonder Woman and the JJ Star Trek movies.

We are approaching the Chris Event Horizon, after which, all actors will be named "Chris."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

BTW, all these references to Guardians of the Galaxy reminds me what great D&D movies they are. Hey, wait a minute...did Marvel just pull a fast one?

PS - And Thor Ragnarok was gonzo Greyhawk if I ever saw it...

I think an awful lot of current American film and TV screenwriters grew up playing D&D. It's quite common to spot "D&Disms" in modern stuff. Have you seen Frozen2? Notice how The Mandalorian is structured?

 

[tardigrade]

I assume "subversive" means they're going to try to subvert "typical" LotR-y fantasy expectations in terms of characters and/or setting, so (if the latter) something like Eberron, Dark Sun, Planescape or Spelljammer rather than FR, Greyhawk, or Dragonlance.

I'm aware it has pretty much zero chance of happening but I'd love to see a Dark Sun film - and opening centuries after most of the weirder fantasy races are extinct because the BBEG won (sort of) sounds like subverting expectations to me...

(Edit: also cannibal hobbits, although I suspect that would be an immediate lawsuit...)

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Mmm, just a few too many lasers and spaceships and aliens. Greyhawk would dial it back a tad

Barrier Peaks says hi.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That sentiment does exist however, and may not even be shared by Sword.

There was a time where fantasy, science-fiction, pulp-action novels, and basically everything that wasn’t historical, allegorical, or highly intellectualised was frowned upon by the literary establishments and considered on the same level as Harlequin novels as « disposable » or « mundane ». To a certain extent, it still is.

That isn’t an opinion I share, but it is a fact I acknowledge.

The purpose of most stories is to entertain. So long as it succeeds in that it is good. It does not need to have any deeper meaning. And it doesn't matter how deep and meaningful a story is, if it's not entertaining it's bad.

 

[Azzy]

The history of art tells us only one thing with any real clarity. The critics and judges are more often hidebound idiots than people of any real insight. Pretending that their moronic biases against genre fiction have any merit does you no credit.

Right, critics don't always understand great art or what the populace wants. There have been many artists and/or their work (from Van Gogh to Picasso to Monet to Mozart to Wagner to Elvis to Black Sabbath to Kate Bush to Emily Brontë, etc.) that were panned by contemporary critics, but have gone on to be greatly esteemed in hindsight.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Most people aren't heroes. But maybe they could be.

Do not underestimate the capacity for courage and sacrifice of ordinary people. Tolkien witnessed plenty of that first hand, which is why he wrote about it.

There are those who would like to convince you that the rest of humanity is just as bad as they are. Don't believe them, they are just trying to justify their own selfishness.

 

[Gradine]

Barrier Peaks says hi.

I did say that it would only dial it back a tad

 

[Ravenbrook]

And, here, you have missed much of the point of LotR!

Frodo is a hero because he takes responsibility for fixing a thing in front of him, rather than passing it off on someone else.

Or, to use an old fantasy/sci-fi trope: Frodo is the "Chosen One."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Are you conflating the two into the same person? Because while I'd be willing to believe a transporter malfunction could scramble them into one being (see "Tuvix"), you'd first have to get them into the same universe to begin with.

That can be arranged.