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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 7677803" data-attributes="member: 37579">It's been done because it works. The catch with a D&D movie is that D&D isn't really about anything, there's no inherent plot, no starting point to hang the story around. You have to come up with the plot wholecloth. Having people enter the world of D&D helps with that, granting an instant motivation and framework for the plot. There are really three ways to tell a D&D story: straight fantasy, playing the game, and world crossover. You can have it be a generic fantasy adventure that happens to be set in the Forgotten Realms (Lord of the Ring, Game of Thrones). You can set it around people playing the game and showing their characters (Gamer and Gamers: Dorkness Rising). Or you can have the crossover (the potential Gamers 4 and the Dungeon & Dragon cartoon). Now, the first is problematic as there's nothing that differentiates it as being inspired by a role-playing game rather than being an adaptation of a novel/video game. Except, with a novel adaptation you have a starting place. You have to start from scratch with D&D, even in the Realms. You're not creating the setting but creating the characters and heroes and plot. It's a LOT of work and there's more room for creative liberties and the writer dropping the ball. D&D is meant to be a generic fantasy world. Which is advantageous for a game, as you can work with the familiar elements of other worlds. But it's lacking for a movie, as it seems familiar and unoriginal. Even if you fill a D&D movie with waves of IP monsters (beholders, mind flayers, dragonborn) it's still more a generic fantasy movie and less a D&D movie. The second works for fan films and media aimed at the players of the game. But it's super esoteric and likely to in-jokey to have widespread appeal. Plus, there's far less drama and tension with the characters not actually being in danger. The third just works. You have instantly relatable characters and the basis for some plot: find a way home. Plus it fits the tone of the game in so many ways, with the heroes being jokey and making pop culture references. And it has the added level of being a metaphor for the game: regular people immersing themselves in a fantasy world and being a hero. It's not even beyond the bounds of canon, as the Forgotten Realms is forgotten by our world as there used to be portals connecting them, and Elminster has popped into our world from time to time.</blockquote>

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