D&D Movie/TV D&D Movie: 'A Sigh of Relief' & Regé-Jean Page Plays A Paladin

One of the stars of the upcoming D&D movie -- Regé-Jean Page of Bridgerton fame -- spoke to Variety about the production. He also reveals he is playing a paladin!

According to Variety --

Page was immediately drawn to the project based on the film’s script, predicting that it will be a “huge sigh of relief for ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ fans everywhere,” noting that in a post-MCU world, genre storytelling has been elevated and, in his estimation, this film steps up to and continues to raise the bar.

While he hasn't played D&D, Page thinks of himself as a 'second-generation Dungeons and Drgaoner" --

“I’ve listened to a couple of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ podcasts in my time. I played a ton of JRPGs [Japanese role-playing games] and basically everything that’s come out of it,” he explains. “I played a ton of ‘Diablo’ as a teenager, so I’m used to the fact that I play a paladin — that’s just what I do, and I know what that means, to a degree. I watched my friends play ‘Baldur’s Gate,’ so I’m like a second-generation ‘Dungeons and Dragoner.”

Variety also spoke to the directors, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, about Page's role and performance in the film --

When asked if Page, who’s mostly been seen in dramas, like “Roots,” “For the People” and “Bridgerton,” will get to show off his comedy chops, Goldstein teases: “[The role] allows him to show a full spectrum of his talent.”

“He naturally exudes a sense of dignity and heroism that is fitting for the fantasy genre, and is perfect for the role we cast him in,” Daley adds, explaining what made Page a good candidate for the film’s ensemble, which features Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, Daisy Head, Jason Wong and Hugh Grant[/callout[

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Wouldn't need much to be better than the first d&d movie, well except for someone channelling Jeremy Irons of course!

Everyone needs to cosplay as Jeremy Irons' character and that weird guy with the blue tongue at the premiere of the new movie and come out ranting that they weren't in it.

 

[bedir than]

It's got a proven writer/director team, at least one of whom is a "known" massive D&D fan;

Not just a fan, but a credited writer in Rime of the Frostmaiden.

 

[Steampunkette]

I've said it before, I'll say it again: Jeremy Irons chewing scenery like a starving lunatic was the -best- part of the D&D movie.

But there's a very simple and central reason he did it: There was no context for -anything-.

Without scales, the actors and director have no clue what the heck is going on. So every time someone made a "D&D Movie" or any generic fantasy movie, actors and actresses always either undersold like crazy or chewed scenery to oversell the bombastic importance of any given detail because they had no weight against any other.

But a D&D movie set in a D&D world, with context and scale, with subjects and history, with art and identity?

The movie could be -so- much better.

 

[hopeless]

They do mention the film barely, but I thought a link to the article below would be interesting.

Bridgerton star on working with Avengers duo on new Netflix movie

 

[Steampunkette]

Also worth noting: John Frances Daly has been playing D&D weekly for years.

They've also expressed a little bit about how their D&D movie is going to be comedic: Modern Speech.

Rather than doing a bunch of melodramatic over the top speaking patterns for the different characters, they're writing it using colloquial english vernacular. They're doing this to make it more accessible to modern audiences, differentiate it from fantasy films in general, and provide the feeling of a group of people at the gaming table talking in-character and coming up with improvisations and banter with the language they know.

So that is -also- really encouraging.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Did Screenrant clarify that earlier article because if so I didn't read about that.
The latest article is now talking about Rene being a Paladin and nothing about the mistake Screenrant claimed about the original article.
So I take it that includes the entire article about it being set around Neverwinter entirely then?

Page has done a couple of interviews recently where the D&D movie was mentioned in passing. The official line is still that the Screenrant leak was false.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That ... could be one interpretation? But:

"I played a ton of ‘Diablo’ as a teenager, so I’m used to the fact that I play a paladin — that’s just what I do, and I know what that means, to a degree."

Why would being used to playing a Paladin in Diablo matter at all if he's playing a Warrior, Rogue, Sorcerer, or Monk in a D&D movie?

In Diablo "paladin" meant "heavy armour sword and board tanky guy". He could mean "his character is like a Diablo paladin", not that he is playing a literal D&D paladin.

 

[hopeless]

In Diablo "paladin" meant "heavy armour sword and board tanky guy". He could mean "his character is like a Diablo paladin", not that he is playing a literal D&D paladin.

Sounds like Knox from the MMO to me, which would be great despite they certainly won't do that!
Will be interesting once they can reveal more details properly though!

 

[Steampunkette]

In Diablo "paladin" meant "heavy armour sword and board tanky guy". He could mean "his character is like a Diablo paladin", not that he is playing a literal D&D paladin.

In Diablo, Paladin meant Holy Warrior.

The skills are all Smite, Blessed Hammer, Holy Shield, Fist of the Heavens, Fanaticism, Holy Shock, Holy Freeze, Holy Bolt, Zeal, Prayers.

If he played a paladin he saw the skill list, Paul. Knew names and meanings and values. He played a "Ton" of Diablo as a teen. You don't play a ton of diablo without learning your skill tree at the absolute -least-.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

In Diablo, Paladin meant Holy Warrior.

The skills are all Smite, Blessed Hammer, Holy Shield, Fist of the Heavens, Fanaticism, Holy Shock, Holy Freeze, Holy Bolt, Zeal, Prayers.

If he played a paladin he saw the skill list, Paul. Knew names and meanings and values. He played a "Ton" of Diablo as a teen. You don't play a ton of diablo without learning your skill tree at the absolute -least-.

I'm sure he did. Which visually meant running around in heavy armour and a shield, hitting enemies with a hammer and shooting them with bolts of light. Diablo Paladin =/= D&D paladin.

As a graduate of the London Drama Centre, I'm sure he is well versed in stage combat. It sounds to me like he is eager to show off his fighting skills.