D&D Movie/TV D&D Movie Hit or Flop?

[Zardnaar]

I think a fair few people will see it just because it's a big light action comedy being released in (here in Australia at least) school holidays, and it's something for the kids to do. That's a market that John Wick is not in competition for. On the Other Forum i frequent (completely non-RPG related), one guy went because he had an Amazon advance screening ticket, and really enjoyed it, and another is going with a bunch of friends who are D&D players even though he's not himself. There might be a surprisingly solid word of mouth factor on this one.

True. John Wick seems to be relatively big hit.

 

[FrogReaver]

I can say this much. It’s already a winner compared to all previous d&d movie attempts. Never has there been this much buzz about a d&d movie.

Not seen the movie but that much is obvious.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I.....I....saw the Movie!

It's what I feared: fast and loose with anything D&D related and basically just a Phase Four Marvel movie type. And had way, way, way, way too much juvenile slapstick 'action'. I had to stop counting the times some character with a weapon stopped attacking with it to punch their opponent.

But, it was at least average. If you liked Quantumainia or The Eternals or Shazam, you will like this movie.

Two pretty good movies that got robbed in the movie media out of three (and also The Eternals was there; the first genuine win for the Marvel hating crowd since Thor: the Dark World) for comparison and it doesn't care about 'realism'?

Whelp, I was going to wait a week, but opening night now.

 

[Stormonu]

I do wonder if any of the money made from this will feed back into the actual production of D&D materials. Even a measly $1 mill back into making books & adventures would be nice.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I do wonder if any of the money made from this will feed back into the actual production of D&D materials. Even a measly $1 mill back into making books & adventures would be nice.

Merchandise, a comic adaptation, licensing, a bonus for executives both in Hasbro and Paramount, the cost of an email to the regular staff explaining that in this economy the company can't possibly give them a raise and that they're probably moving to a 'merit' based system that mysteriously cuts deep into future bonuses if they haven't already, paying lawyers to go after people using footage from the movie.

Literally anything but supporting the game. The whole idea like a decade ago was to not have to do much to support the IP generato... I mean game.

 

[mamba]

Are they including prerelease screenings in opening weekend figures?

yes they are

 

[Zardnaar]

yes they are

That will pump up opening weekend but increase the falloff for week two.

And it's those two weeks that matter the most.

Fir week two a good fall off is 30% bad 70%. If the numbers big enough or small enough it won't matter but we will know by week 2.

 

[OB1]

Average moviegoers don't pay much attention to week 2 numbers, so having a solid opening weekend is far more important than the week 2 drop off (as long as you aren't dropping 70%), which the preview screenings will definitely help with. If D&D can get to $5-7M in previews (reported Friday) that should lead into a solid opening (JW4 did 7M on way to 70M).

The big fight in week 2 will be against the Super Mario Bros movie, which is tracking at a $70M opening, but apparently the review embargo for that film is being lifted just 6 hours before the film opens next Wednesday (usually a sign that the film is not very good). That may not matter much given Mario brand recognition, but could allow D&D to stay competitive that week (which is spring break for much of the US).

Not much more competition until GotG3 in May, so D&D will rely on positive word of mouth through April to push it's totals towards $400M worldwide to be a success. That will largely come down to how well it plays under 25 and with women as well as how much repeat business it get's from D&D fans. I can see a situation where Mario crushes D&D on week 2, but D&D pulls back ahead in week 3.

 

[darjr]

I saw it again tonight and I liked it. Some the antics weren’t as funny second time round but I was surrounded by laughter. I think it tugged at my heart strings just as strongly as the first time.

 

[teitan]

Opening weekend was apparently a hit as it outperformed expectations. It’s made 71.5 million over the weekend. Still a long ways to go to hit that magic 400+ it needs but a positive sign.