How to crush LotR and SW Trilogies!

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I cannot imagine one what level a Dragonlance trilogy would be more appealing to a mass audience than Peter Jackson's LotR movies. CGI dragons, at this point, are not particularly magical, and I think LotR beats Dragonlance on all other bases. The classic trilogy is indeed the best DL works, but as has been said, they are fairly derivative.

 

[sniffles]

I liked the LotR trilogy, and SW was alright, but I got an idea seeing the DnD movie on the sci-fi chennel recently....

Want to really get DnD fans into the movie theatres and crush LotR and SW box office sales? I firmly believe they should make the original Dragonlance Trilogy into three movies. Deffinately have Tracy Hickman as a screen writer so the ending didn't get all fudged like -some- trilogies *cough*, or that there's not a resounding 'NOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo!' when people see the films like has been said at the end of -other- trilogies *cough cough*.

Anyway, I think that would make for an awesome series of movies. Can you imagine seeing Raistlin in the third movie (Dragons of Spring Dawning) after he dons the black robes?

I can only dream.. *sigh*

I've never read any Dragonlance, so I don't know if I'd want to see a movie based on it, but I can definitely state that the fact that it's a D&D product would not automatically get me into the theatre. There would have to be a lot more to it, like good scripting, a good director, a reputable studio, a sufficient budget, good actors, good special effects, a good story...

Like almost any other adaptation of literature, they would have to change the story to get it to the screen. Moviemakers don't make those changes we all hate just to annoy us; they make them because movies and books are two different things and one can never exactly reproduce the effects of the other (and I don't mean special fx).

I know one thing that would actually turn me away from a Dragonlance movie: having the author do the screenplay. While there are some authors who also know how to write screenplays, they are few, and generally if they're good prose writers they probably won't be good screenwriters. Screenplays are very different from novels - have you ever seen one? There's very little description, very little emotion. It's just a lot of stage direction and dialog. Not much fun to read.

Sorry to stomp on your fantasy, Kristivas, but it always makes me a little irritated when I see people saying "Wouldn't it be wonderful if my favorite books were turned into a movie and the author wrote the script". No, it probably wouldn't be wonderful. The Dragonlance movie you have in your head is far better than anything Hollywood could or would ever produce.

 

[Altalazar]

I don't think DL would outperform LotR or SW either, but DL also wouldn't have the budget or power of the studios behind it. I do think, however, that DL would surprise a lot of people in terms of its success (if done well). The DL novel line sell very well and the Chronicles were best sellers several times over. The one concern I would have is how well the Chronicles could be adopted to a screenplay. I know the novels seemed choppy at times, and that might be an issue for a screenwriter.

But I'd definitely like to see it.

You said the key word. Budget. I think it could equal or surpass those films if it had the budget and the talent behind it. It has a compelling story and interesting characters, and in the end, that is what matters alot, but you can't leave the execution out of the equation. A great story can be done very badly. To do it justice, you'd probably need to spend $300 million and get A-list talent from top to bottom.

 

[Dark Jezter]

While a Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms movie could be a cool thing to see, there ain't no way it'd make more money than Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.

 

[Altalazar]

While a Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms movie could be a cool thing to see, there ain't no way it'd make more money than Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.

You sound like a studio suit. The truth is, such things can usually never be predicted in advance. Never. N-e-v-e-r.

So it might, but to have a chance, it'd need the budget and the talent to execute it right.

 

[Umbran]

Want to really get DnD fans into the movie theatres and crush LotR and SW box office sales?

There are not enough gamers in the world to crush LotR or SW box office sales on their own. And there's nothing in DL that's so compelling to the broad audience to suggest that it'd runaway like that. As Henry notes, most of the tropes have already appeared on teh big screen recently.

Deffinately have Tracy Hickman as a screen writer

The IMDB doesn't list Hickman as having any screen writing experience, and screenwriting is a different animal than novel writing. Maybe Hickman would do a good job, or maybe he'd stink. As a first project, the odds are that he'd be mediocre. Do you want a mediocre DL movie?

 

[Aaron L]

I'd see movies based on the Twins trilogy, but not the first one. Well, of course I'd see them, but geh, I dont like the books at all.

 

[Kristivas]

Ahh well. Maybe I should write the script!!!!

It was a good thought at 3 am. Plus, the recent 3 SW movies have just sucked.

Jar-jar was lame, Maul was the saving grace of TPM.

Episode 2 seemed to ramble on, with all kinds of useless jargon mixed with a few decent fight scenes. No one had killed Jar-jar yet!!

RotS had a better chance, and it was a good movie to me, but then it got smashed.. nay.. destroyed.. in the end.

It's like you're making out with a really hot girl, and things are goin' great. Then, you round the bases for a score and BAM.. her boyfriend walks in with a Louisville Slugger with some large (and rusty) nails driven through it. So, you stand up and go.. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

I'd like to re-state that DL wouldn't 'outsell' mighty Lucas.. but it would still be a good movie, if done right.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Now, I admittedly don't make a habit of reading D&D novels, but I can't have been the only one who thought the original DL Trilogy, well, was kinda lame. It felt like a retread of LotR with D&D conventions, but written by people who just couldn't touch most of fantasy's modern greats in terms of writing quality, let alone Tolkien. And Raistlin, well, I can't stop you from thinking he's awesome, but he really felt like another Drizzt in terms of the 'I exist to speak to lonely socially challenged adolescents" quality he seems to have.

Now, take the above as a criticism from a D&D player, then apply it to mainstream audiences and reviewers. DL *would* be considered a much lamer LotR trilogy in their eyes, and would probably seriously hurt the cause of the fantasy-epic -- not to mention D&D -- in Hollywood, in much the same way that Alexander, Troy, and Kingdom of Heaven probably temporarily killed off the Gladiator/Braveheart-esque historical epic.

 

[Nebulous]

What about A Song of Ice and Fire on the big screen?

I've thought about that too, but i just don't know yet. For one, the series isn't done, and based on the 3 books currently out, it would be a VERY unsatisfying conclusion to a movie. Plus, the intracies of court politics might not convey well to the screen, but you never know. With the right director and screenwriter it's feasible. Another option would be an epic miniseries on HBO or something that could take full advantage of the adult themes and length.