Mouseferatu
Hero
What are you talking about? Joe Straczynski was never an RPG writer.
He's written other TV shows, a few novels, cartoons, lots of comic books. Never an RPG. (And most of his comic book work came after B5.)
New D&D movie in the works?
What are you talking about? Joe Straczynski was never an RPG writer.
He's written other TV shows, a few novels, cartoons, lots of comic books. Never an RPG. (And most of his comic book work came after B5.)
mhacdebhandia
Explorer
I think a cartoon would be the wrong direction for any kind of D&D license. The pressures on shortform animation are towards either off-the-wall adult humour (Venture Brothers, Aqua Teen Hunger Force) or towards kids' fare (Ben 10). Not that a D&D cartoon modelled on Venture Brothers would be a bad idea at all, but I don't think anyone with the money to pay for it wants to see that produced.
I think the best option, actually, might be to wait and see if the HBO adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire succeeds, and then pitch a D&D series to a cable network as a more mainstream version.
Sadly, of course, the biggest problem facing a live-action D&D venture of any kind is the expense and difficulty of filming action sequences, especially if they contain visually-flashy magic.
I think the best option, actually, might be to wait and see if the HBO adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire succeeds, and then pitch a D&D series to a cable network as a more mainstream version.
Sadly, of course, the biggest problem facing a live-action D&D venture of any kind is the expense and difficulty of filming action sequences, especially if they contain visually-flashy magic.
doctorhook
Legend
The thing I dislike the most about the previous D&D movies (especially the one in theatres) is that it made me embarrassed about D&D. People who knew that I played D&D would check out that movie and assume that I liked it, or that the movie was D&D, or any number of other ridiculous and completely false things.
Would I like to see a cool, well-written, D&D-style fantasy film? Absolutely! Just please, please don't put D&D in the title...
Would I like to see a cool, well-written, D&D-style fantasy film? Absolutely! Just please, please don't put D&D in the title...
Whoever it was who suggested that a D&D movie be named (and modeled) after classic modules probably has the best instinct on it.
Tomb of Horrors would be quite saleable as a title...though I don't know how that module would fare on the big screen.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks would do at least as well, at least as a title.
Ditto titles like Into the Demonweb, Against the Slavers, Raid on the Temple of Elemental Evil.
And, like certain Marvel comics TV productions, you need not know who was behind it (in this case, D&D and/or WotC) until you watched all the way through the credits. In the tiny print.
However, as I hinted at with Tomb of Horrors, the question would be how closely the script should adhere to the underlying module. Too close and you might alienate non-gamers. Too far away and the gamers will cry foul, just like what happened with LotR.
Tomb of Horrors would be quite saleable as a title...though I don't know how that module would fare on the big screen.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks would do at least as well, at least as a title.
Ditto titles like Into the Demonweb, Against the Slavers, Raid on the Temple of Elemental Evil.
And, like certain Marvel comics TV productions, you need not know who was behind it (in this case, D&D and/or WotC) until you watched all the way through the credits. In the tiny print.
However, as I hinted at with Tomb of Horrors, the question would be how closely the script should adhere to the underlying module. Too close and you might alienate non-gamers. Too far away and the gamers will cry foul, just like what happened with LotR.
Mouseferatu
Hero
Eh. The portion of the fanbase that cried foul about the changes to LotR was loud, but tiny. I think that, as long as the basics were accurate, the same would be the case with any of the modules you're talking about.
They may have been few, but their volume was enough that they actually kept the production crew from making some fundamental changes. There was a huge uproar in 2000, for instance, when news broke about them filming a scene involving a wizard impaled on a stake. That scene never made it to the theaters.
And that was a project with a huge budget and lots of champions within the system.
Now consider what would happen if a small but similarly vocal group got grumpy about a D&D movie...a franchise that hasn't exactly racked up a bunch of sales.
There was a non-fantasy movie very much like this called Cube.
I can't imagine a D&D movie working well, no matter what. I could imagine it to work as a TV show, though. Something similar to the old Robin Hood (Robin of Sherwood) show back in the 80s.
There's one problem though: D&D monsters will require some pretty cool CGI effects which are expensive.
There's one problem though: D&D monsters will require some pretty cool CGI effects which are expensive.
doctorhook
Legend
Not nearly as expensive as quality actors, directors, and screenwriters, though...
Orius
Legend
Damn, I can't give rep for this comment.
That's just how unrecognizable he was!
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