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Message: <blockquote data-quote="humble minion" data-source="post: 8981688" data-attributes="member: 5948">Drizzt is going to be a hard sell, unless you just introduce him in media res without going into his backstory at all.  But Drizzt's backstory is pretty much his main selling point and the shaper of his personality.Pitch guy: So, I want the next D&D movie to include Drizzt!Studio money guy: Who?PG: Drizzt!  The most famous successful D&D character ever, he's been in like 30 New York Times bestsellers!SMG: Still never heard of him.  But 30 bestsellers ...  you have my attention.  Who is this guy?PG: He's the one good member of an evil race of elves, you can tell they're evil because they're black while all the good elves are white.  But his black-skinned race rejects him for his good ways, and he has to flee black elf society and make a new home with a bunch of white-skinned blond- or red-headed kinda-Nordic people who understand goodness!SMG: ...PG: [expectant grin]SMG: ...SMG: You're high, right?Drizzt is formative for me.  14yo me reading Drizzt novels is the reason 40something year old me is posting on this website.  I grew out of the books eventually, but they still have a special place in my heart.  But the Drizzt backstory just ain't gonna fly in 2023.  Maybe you could include him as a cameo, or in a background scene as an easter egg like the cartoon characters were.  But even then, it's not without complexities.  For instance, to have anything resembling the traditional drow charcoal skin tone, you'd probably need to put an actor in something uncomfortably resembling blackface.It depends a bit on who the filmmakers think their primary target audience is.  If they're making films for long-established D&D fans, then yeah, they miiiight try to do it somehow.  If they're trying to build Edgin and Holga and co their own following, and sell to an audience that comes from outside D&D fandom and is attracted by the movie characters, then I suspect they might steer clear.</blockquote>

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