D&D 5E D&D movie, take note...

[Morrus]

If you can the foreign box office Warcraft was profitable, I hear the Chinese loved it.

Why would you separate the "foreign box office"?

 

[redrick]

Yeah but people do care about the lore of other fantasy titles, see: LOTR.

D&D's biggest problem is that as a setting and a game, it's generic and obscure. That is: it's hard to tell D&D-fantasy from any other sort of general fantasy. Caster? Rogue? Fighter? None of this stuff screams "UNIQUE PROPERTY!" And the material that does is obscure. You can't make a movie successful based on "generic and obscure". LOTR is generic, but not obscure. Guardians of the Galaxy was obscure (in comparison to say, Superman or Iron Man) but not generic.

They're either going to need to make the material not generic or not obscure. The obscurity of D&D is fading, slowly but this won't be D&D's first go at a movie, it's got a history of being rather...suck.

Personally the fewer game elements the movie includes the better it will do.

Are there any other popular properties that have such a focus on, well, dungeons? There's a little bit of this in Indiana Jones, but I think the idea of sprawling, ancient underground complexes, occupied by widely varied inhabitants over the ages, is something somewhat unique to the D&D genre. Yes, there are examples of dungeons in other sources, Moria, for example, but it's not a focus the way it can be in D&D.

And, of course, the Monster Manual. D&D has mad monsters. So many different kinds. And people would read the Monster Manual even though they didn't play.

So my image of a D&D movie is gonna have a serious monster-laden dungeon crawl.

Anyway, odds are good that the movie will be garbage. Most fantasy movies are garbage. We lucked out with LotR. Less so with The Hobbit. Of course I'll go see it. Hell, if I lived in LA, or if for some reason it posts in NY, I'd try real hard to work on it.

 

[Sunseeker]

Are there any other popular properties that have such a focus on, well, dungeons?

A lot actually, if you think outside the box a little bit on what defines a "dungeon". I would argue that the vast majority of horror and slasher films rely on the "dungeon" concept. I'd go as far to say as a movie like Alien (and its sequels) align with the basic principles of an adventure group and exploring a dungeon.

There's a little bit of this in Indiana Jones, but I think the idea of sprawling, ancient underground complexes, occupied by widely varied inhabitants over the ages, is something somewhat unique to the D&D genre. Yes, there are examples of dungeons in other sources, Moria, for example, but it's not a focus the way it can be in D&D.

And honestly I wouldn't think a movie focused on dungeon crawling would really be a good "D&D movie" and would probably just read more like a fantasy horror flick.

And, of course, the Monster Manual. D&D has mad monsters. So many different kinds. And people would read the Monster Manual even though they didn't play.

D&D has a whole lot of monsters that most people, even DMs and players, don't give too scoops about. And a whole lot more that would just make for really bad movies.

So my image of a D&D movie is gonna have a serious monster-laden dungeon crawl.

Outside of a gritty horror flick, I don't see it. Tomb of Annihilation the Movie? Yeah, I can buy that. But that's a very specific sort of D&D.

Anyway, odds are good that the movie will be garbage. Most fantasy movies are garbage. We lucked out with LotR. Less so with The Hobbit. Of course I'll go see it. Hell, if I lived in LA, or if for some reason it posts in NY, I'd try real hard to work on it.

I think LOTR succeeded in large part because because the director was willing to make adjustments, cut material and tweak things to make a good movie​.

 

[redrick]

A lot actually, if you think outside the box a little bit on what defines a "dungeon". I would argue that the vast majority of horror and slasher films rely on the "dungeon" concept. I'd go as far to say as a movie like Alien (and its sequels) align with the basic principles of an adventure group and exploring a dungeon.


And honestly I wouldn't think a movie focused on dungeon crawling would really be a good "D&D movie" and would probably just read more like a fantasy horror flick.


D&D has a whole lot of monsters that most people, even DMs and players, don't give too scoops about. And a whole lot more that would just make for really bad movies.


Outside of a gritty horror flick, I don't see it. Tomb of Annihilation the Movie? Yeah, I can buy that. But that's a very specific sort of D&D.

No doubt. Alien is definitely a template for certain kinds of dungeon crawls for me. A horror D&D movie — I could get into that. Though I guess, that's what Stranger Things is.

I think LOTR succeeded in large part because because the director was willing to make adjustments, cut material and tweak things to make a good movie​.

This is definitely true, and true of any adaptation of another property. Be it book, movie, game, theme park ride. You have to be willing to move beyond the source material. Fortunately, at least in this respect, I don't know anybody who has anywhere near the reverence for the D&D "source material" that they do for LotR. Or comic books.

 

[cmad1977]

I think LOTR succeeded in large part because because the director was willing to make adjustments, cut material and tweak things to make a good movie​.

Funny to me how good LoTR was and how nauseatingly bad The Hobbit was.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bardbarian]

The only good D&D movie would be barely recognizable as a D&D movie. It would be a fantasy film that borrows some broad ideas from D&D concepts but ultimately would stand on its own even if D&D didnt exist.

 

[robus]

Why would you separate the "foreign box office"?

Because the movie companies do?

 

[guachi]

Why would you separate the "foreign box office"?

Sometimes the foreign distributor is different than the domestic (USA) distributor and money is distributed differently. Studios generally take a lower share of the gross.

The first (and only) movie based on His Dark Materials is a prime example. Good foreign earnings didn't save the movie because the studio that made the movie didn't have the foreign distribution rights and they took a bath on domestic gross.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Why would you separate the "foreign box office"?

That's just how it's typically reported. "Domestic" and "foreign" markets. For example:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=warcraft.htm
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=disney2016.htm
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dungeonsanddragons.htm

The 90% foreign that Warcraft got is very high.

 

[robus]

That's just how it's typically reported. "Domestic" and "foreign" markets. For example:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=warcraft.htm
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=disney2016.htm
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dungeonsanddragons.htm

The 90% foreign that Warcraft got is very high.

That last link is brutal. $45 million production budget, $33 million total take...