D&D Movie Takes Cues From GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

We already know that the new Dungeons & Dragon movie, being produced by the producer of the LEGO movie, is going to be set in the Forgotten Realms. Producer Roy Lee said, while at DICE 2016, that it will have a tone akin to Guardians of the Galaxy. "This new Dungeons & Dragons will be a Guardians of the Galaxy-tone movie in a Tolkien-like universe. Because when you think of all the Hobbit movies and The Lord of the Rings, they have an earnestness to them, and to see something fun, a Raiders romp inside that world, I feel is something the audience has not seen before."

​

There's more info in this article on Collider, but the pertinent facts are:

• The movie will take place entirely in the realm rather than having people transported from our world into the realm.
• The Yawning Portal will feature prominently and “it’s going to be one of people’s favorite set pieces.”
• It's an ensemble piece.
• Scriptwriter Leslie Johnson says "I believe they see Dungeons & Dragons as something that could be cultivated as a multi-universe movie where there will be spinoffs from the first movie being in Forgotten Realms and subsequent movies being in different worlds."

That last item is interesting. Different worlds? A Dragonlance or Ravenloft movie, perhaps?

 

[jinnetics]

Nice. Do go on...

 

[Jester David]

Sounds perfect to me.
Guardians of the Galaxy (or Farscape) is just the tone I want for a D&D movie.

Because the heroes of D&D aren't serious. They're sarcastic and irreverent, often as ready with a pop culture reference as a serious retort. However, the stakes are real and the villain is a genuine threat; actual action and drama happens, but the protagonists aren't overly serious.
D&D is fun. It's a game. It isn't a drama and we cannot take it seriously. LotR and Warcraft can be all serious and straight with dialogue straight from a Ren Faire, but a D&D movie should have the party walk up to Saruman and the fighter should call him out for hiding in a tower.

Or, as was said on Twitter, this is just what the John Rogers D&D comic book was like.

 

[icosahedron20]

Chris Pratt as a bumbling wizard where everything goes wrong but turns out right.

 

[GrumpyGamer]

I expect this tone to work very well. In my experience, most role playing games at some point in the campaign descend into silliness and eventually need to be pulled back in order to complete the plot - this seems to be a staple of having a bunch of people around a table having fun. This same spirit should be part of the movie.

I think we should get a chance to see how this works with the Minsc and Boo in Ravenloft comic.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

All sounding good. An irreverent but earnest tone sounds a lot like The Gamers movies, which is no bad thing by my book.

The Yawning Portal means Waterdeep on screen, and perhaps Undermountain as well.

 

[Acr0ssTh3P0nd]

Scriptwriter Leslie Johnson says "I believe they see Dungeons & Dragons as something that could be cultivated as a multi-universe movie where there will be spinoffs from the first movie being in Forgotten Realms and subsequent movies being in different worlds."


YES. YES YES YES.

When they announced the movie, I said they should do that. Start in the FR, move out to do different universes after 3-4 FR films with different tones for each. Dark Sun for the actually-serious, gritty, small-struggle big-world film, Eberron for the "Airships! Robots! Lightning rails!" movie, Planescape for the weird, slightly-trippy "a thousand dimensions" movie...


My god. This could actually be good.

 

[Mortellan]

Quite interesting. Hope it works out. Can't do much better than Undermountain for dungeons in FR. Now, I won't buy the spin-off tease until I see movie #1.

 

[Marius Delphus]

Michael Fassbender might make a good Strahd....

 

[callinostros]

Didn't they try (and fail miserably) with adding humor (of which GotG was full of) with Marlon Wayans/Snails?

 

[Marius Delphus]

Yes, they did. But there's a difference between a determined effort to make one character "the comic relief" and a determined effort to write wryly self-aware characters into inherently ridiculous but still serious situations that they can quip about but still act seriously toward. Not that GOTG was high art. But the screenwriting was orders of magnitude better.

 

[ninjayeti]

Funny, Guardians director James Gunn just posted a lengthy Facebook rant on how Hollywood sees a successful film like Guardians (and now Deadpool) and everyone thinks if they can just copy that magic formula their own movie will be a success. And now we hear the D&D movie is going to copy the magic formula from Guardians....

An excerpt from Gunn's post below (some of the rest is NSFW):

After every movie smashes records people here in Hollywood love to throw out the definitive reasons why the movie was a hit. I saw it happen with Guardians. It "wasn't afraid to be fun" or it "was colorful and funny" etc etc etc. And next thing I know I hear of a hundred film projects being set up "like Guardians," and I start seeing dozens of trailers exactly like the Guardians trailer with a big pop song and a bunch of quips. Ugh.
Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

https://www.facebook.com/jgunn/posts/10153162287591157

 

[Marius Delphus]

Looked at charitably, the reference to GOTG (and Raiders of the Lost Ark) could simply indicate that the filmmakers are seeking a change in tone from what's gone before, not necessarily to lift the "formula" (whatever that is) intact from another film. Gunn is (presumably) right in that the "money" in Hollywood tends to flow toward projects with something "bankable," whether that's pedigree, star power, or formula. I think he's also right to decry the notion (that is apparently in some investors' heads) that all a future film has to do is simply copy the Guardians or Deadpool "formula" (again, whatever that is) to be successful.

So filmmakers will continue to talk about their films in terms of what's gone before to make investors (and the movie-going public) feel less insecure about spending money on their movie, but hopefully, like Gunn says, they will also look to their own vision and not to rote copying of what's gone before in search of a "surefire thing."

I say we wait and see. This may just be Hollywood-ese, shorthand for the idea that a lot of fantasy films are dire and serious in tone, and that the D&D movie team is looking instead for a film that is more "wahoo" and adventurous.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Still think they will do it as an animation movie, just do not see this being done in any other format. Fantasy movie cannot be successful at the box office, they just do not appeal to the general public, unless done as an animation.

The Mermaid may be an fluke but having not seen it not sure.

 

[Tonguez]

Willow has been the best D&D movie to date and to me got the right mix of useless level 1 magicuser, irreverent humour and story intensity.

Guardians was good too

and does Multiverse mean Spelljammers!!!

 

[RangerWickett]

Hand of Evil, did you not hear of The Lord of the Rings?

The public doesn't like mediocre fantasy movies. Get Tolkien to write it, and you're good. Ask me to do it, and it'll tank.

 

[Kramodlog]

I can't wait for the Ranger, the central character, to play the mix tape his mom gave him before she died.

In D&D 2 we found out he is half-celestial.

 

[trappedslider]

Still think they will do it as an animation movie, just do not see this being done in any other format. Fantasy movie cannot be successful at the box office, they just do not appeal to the general public, unless done as an animation. .

Ummm...what would you classify LotR as? in fact here: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=liveactionfantasy.htm ;looks like a number of fantasy live action movies have been successful at the box office

 

[Xavian Starsider]

Funny, Guardians director James Gunn just posted a lengthy Facebook rant on how Hollywood sees a successful film like Guardians (and now Deadpool) and everyone thinks if they can just copy that magic formula their own movie will be a success. And now we hear the D&D movie is going to copy the magic formula from Guardians....

I understand the concern, but am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Yes, there's an obvious correlation but GOTG did not invent humorous ensemble films.

The description says they ARE trying to break the formula of fantasy films like Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. And that was Gunn's point. That you imitate GOTG by breaking the formula; not adhering to it.

That doesn't mean you have to change every part however. That path leads to madness.

But an ensemble fantasy movie with quirky surprising "heroes" and over the top action? I haven't seen this yet in the fantasy genre. How To Train Your Dragon comes closest. And the humor in that movie hit every note perfectly.

 

[Xavian Starsider]

Ummm...what would you classify LotR as? in fact here: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=liveactionfantasy.htm ;looks like a number of fantasy live action movies have been successful at the box office

Not to mention Harry Potter's 8 (soon to be 9) movies. And several Narnia. Wizard of Oz? Dragonheart? Clash of the Titans? The other Clash of the Titans? Percy Jackson? Eragon? Malificent? The Neverending Story? Yeah, there's been a few.