Dragonlance Joe Manganelio is Writing the D&D Movie? And Is it DRAGONLANCE?

Actor Joe Manganelio (from True Blood, Magic Mike, and more) appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast this week, and reported that he is co-writing a movie script. While he doesn't namecheck D&D, his description sounds a lot like it, and he did recently meet up with WotC. "Last year with a playwright I went to Carnegie Mellon with, I actually made a draft of a film, and now we're talking to all the right parties. I had a two-day creative summit with the Wizards of the Coast...we had like a two-day summit about where the movie could go or TV series, products, synergy, the whole deal… Obviously, there's a spectacle. There's dragons breathing fire and lightning. But what makes a great superhero or fantasy movie is the human aspect. It's got to be about something. We root for those characters in Game of Thrones. Fellowship of the Ring was about friendship, this undying love for your friends. That's something everyone can identify with. When a movie is about something human and real emotionally people are going to want to see. Then you get some dragons breathing fire, and hey, I'm in." And to add fuel to the fire, he even tweets a photo of a DRAGONLANCE script! (thanks to darjr for the scoop)

The D&D movie is being directed by Rob Letterman (Goosebumps, Monsters vs. Aliens, Shark Tale), produced by Rob Lee (The Lego Movie, How To Train Your Dragon) and was/maybe still is being penned by David Leslie Johnson (Wrath of the Titans). Previous reports indicated that "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." and that "producers are eyeing a Vin Diesel-type for the film’s lead characters".

Of course, we also know that Vin Diesel plays D&D, as does Joe Manganiello.

So is he co-writing the D&D movie or is that something else? To add to the rumour pile, he tweeted an image of a DRAGONLANCE script (shown below). Of course, he could be playing with us. But maybe there is something in it? His name isn't that script, nor is David Leslie Johnson's. Let the speculation begin!

Manganelio at WotC in February

Manganelio tweeted this image



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[doctorbadwolf]

You could get an excellent character actress, just not a big name.

'Dragons' sounds like an easier sell than I'd've expected "9' tall blue feline humanoids with USB hair" to have been.

Yeah, seriously movies about dragons are not a tough sell, at all.

The idea that it's either cut out huge swaths, including whole main characters, or have 3 hour movies is just...frankly silly.

 

[Dausuul]

A lot of the plot elements could get cut and it wouldn't hurt the story at all. Do we really need that whole interminable dungeon crawl through Xak Tsaroth? I mean, jeez, that thing went on for-freakin'-ever. Sure, it's nice to have the Bupu subplot, it humanizes Raistlin in a way he badly needs, but that could be worked in almost anywhere.

As far as characters... well, if I were in charge, I would probably axe Riverwind and Goldmoon (does anybody really care about those two?), but all the other Heroes of the Lance would stay. There are three main character arcs: Tanis and his struggle to define who he is; Caramon and Raistlin trying to sort out their dysfunctional little family dynamic; and Tasslehoff on a quirky sort of "hero's journey" with Fizban as mentor. I think there is room to develop all three arcs over the course of three movies. Sturm and Flint would work well as confidants and foils for Tanis and Tasslehoff respectively.

All the pieces are there for a really awesome movie. If they ever do make it, of course, it'll probably be just a lot of "RAAAR LOOK AT OUR CGI DRAGONS RAAAR." But one can always hope.

 

[Patrick McGill]

A lot of the plot elements could get cut and it wouldn't hurt the story at all. Do we really need that whole interminable dungeon crawl through Xak Tsaroth? I mean, jeez, that thing went on for-freakin'-ever. Sure, it's nice to have the Bupu subplot, it humanizes Raistlin in a way he badly needs, but that could be worked in almost anywhere.

As far as characters... well, if I were in charge, I would probably axe Riverwind and Goldmoon (does anybody really care about those two?), but all the other Heroes of the Lance would stay. There are three main character arcs: Tanis and his struggle to define who he is; Caramon and Raistlin trying to sort out their dysfunctional little family dynamic; and Tasslehoff on a quirky sort of "hero's journey" with Fizban as mentor. I think there is room to develop all three arcs over the course of three movies. Sturm and Flint would work well as confidants and foils for Tanis and Tasslehoff respectively.

All the pieces are there for a really awesome movie. If they ever do make it, of course, it'll probably be just a lot of "RAAAR LOOK AT OUR CGI DRAGONS RAAAR." But one can always hope.

Goldmoon and her staff were the introductory McGuffin, and Riverwind's devotion to her made good reading.

I'd axe tasslehoff.

I don't mean from the text. I mean I'd take a d8 axe to him until the squeaky voice and graspy hands no longer haunts my dreams.

 

[Dausuul]

Goldmoon and her staff were the introductory McGuffin, and Riverwind's devotion to her made good reading.

Eh, I found it pretty dull, myself. But more important, their story is disconnected from absolutely everything else. Their relationship isn't tied into any of the other character dynamics of the group. Aside from delivering a couple of MacGuffins (a job which could be done by anybody), they contribute little to the plot. They are the Tom Bombadils of Dragonlance.

Tasslehoff... well, he would have to be handled carefully. He could easily become the Jar Jar Binks of Dragonlance. However, if the scriptwriters kept his kleptomania and bang-head-on-wall-stupid moments to a minimum, and played up his childlike enthusiasm and heroism instead, he could be a really appealing character.

 

[Hussar]

Yeah, seriously movies about dragons are not a tough sell, at all.

The idea that it's either cut out huge swaths, including whole main characters, or have 3 hour movies is just...frankly silly.

It would hardly be the first time. Let's not forget that the first LotR movie, the Bahkshi (sp) animated version covered the first book and a half in two hours. Dune covered a LOT of ground in 2 hours. And that's just shy of 200k words. It's only about half the length of all three Dragonlance novels. I'm quite sure there are other examples.

Again, I'm mostly playing Devil's Advocate here. I WANT a LotR treatment for Dragonlance. I'd LOVE that. But, the pragmatic part of me thinks that it's really a non-starter. There's just a lot of stuff that could be cut. As was mentioned, Goldmoon and Riverwind take up a large chunk of the first book and then, really, don't do anything of note after that. Tika, while a great character, doesn't really do anything. Laurana is obviously important to the story, but, Gilthanis?

Heck, you could axe the entire bit in Silvenesti with Lorac and not really change the story too much.

Like I said, I don't want this. But, I can totally see an "inspired by" Dragonlance movie far more easily than a LotR style retelling.

 

[wicked cool]

GOT/FOTR cave troll showed me giants can be done well and easily. ravenloft would be easy as its a village and a haunted castle. Ravenloft is a one shot and is quick and clean.

DL some are already making excuses for things to be cut. 2 characters might not add much to the story however the well/acid scene would be great drama and theres no reason to cut that whole dungeon out. If I remember correctly don't they use the well to escape . those battles would be epic. Goldmoon sets up the return of healing magic. If you cut out the funny/a memorable dungeon (isn't that where Raist starts getting power/Staff? sorry been a long time) you are going to get a crap movie like Hercules or the conan remake instead of Guardians of the Galaxy or a quality show like GOT. The animated movie of DL was awful because they cut corners on animation, story etc

 

[bmfrosty]

New interview with Joe Manganelio talking about doing a movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpa7GulACmk

Suggests that the rights have lapsed.

 

[TheNoremac42]

I think that any good D&D movie will have to be an intentional comedy.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I think that any good D&D movie will have to be an intentional comedy.

I certainly hope not. Part of what was wrong with the first Hobbit movie was the excessive comedy when compared to either the book or the LotR movies. They tried to adjust that in the 2nd and 3rd movies, but the damage was already done.

But the real problem is, and probably always will be, the shadow of all the unintentional comedy from the previous D&D movies. I really do not see a clear path to a D&D movie being a legitimate blockbuster. If they get too serious, they get compared to LotR or Game of Thrones. If they get too funny, they get compared to the old D&D movies or to that awful Your Highness movie.

 

[TheNoremac42]

I certainly hope not. Part of what was wrong with the first Hobbit movie was the excessive comedy when compared to either the book or the LotR movies. They tried to adjust that in the 2nd and 3rd movies, but the damage was already done.

But the real problem is, and probably always will be, the shadow of all the unintentional comedy from the previous D&D movies. I really do not see a clear path to a D&D movie being a legitimate blockbuster. If they get too serious, they get compared to LotR or Game of Thrones. If they get too funny, they get compared to the old D&D movies or to that awful Your Highness movie.

Honestly, some of the best D&D sessions I've had were filled with Monty Python or Hitchhiker's Guide level of shenanigans, but they also had epic moments of badassery. I suppose the trick is finding the balance between those ingredients.