Pitch me your ulitmate D&D movie

[DM-Rocco]

I only have two suggestions for a D&D movie. First, adapt the script-idea, written by Craig Cochrane, found here: http://immortalshandbook.com/shrine3.htm

The second idea is similar to the first, in that it's an adaptation of existing materials. Namely, take Paul Kidd's Greyhawk books, White Plume Mountain, Descent Into the Depths of the Earth, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits, and make them into movies. Seriously, those books already read like feature films (unlike most other novels), and they're absolutely perfect to be made into movies.

I think the Tomb of Horrors is an excellent idea, but I have to disagree with a lot of his treatment.

He is trying to shove a 50 pound tuna down a 5 oz can.

I think he touches upon a few good ideas, like the named sample D&D 3.+ characters like Lidda and Amber, although, I guess I never thought of Amber as Evil. I also like him bringing back staples from the past like Warduke. I think that is a good idea, mixing the present and the past. I also like the use of familiar magical items like the ice sword and belts of giant strength, but I don't think you need to camera zoom in on every magic item every time something special happens. A slight glow from the weapon or item, while keeping a regular camera angle, will make it more realistic and force the watchers to see it again to notice small things like a magic item going off or aiding a character.

I think his treatment also takes away from the whole point of the module. It is not called the life and death of Acererack, it is called the Tomb of Horrors and he skips over the tomb and dumbs it down into a five minute encounter.

I think the subplots are fine, but he obviously has epic, or nearly epic, level characters fighting a Tarrasque, a demi lich and Orcus. The original module was for much lower powered characters that had to think their way through the tricks and traps and I don't think this treatment shows that so much as destroys the legacy of the Tomb of Horrors.

Now, if it was up to me, I would suggest a simple plan of a trilogy. First make The Tomb of Horrors, then the sequel, Return to the Tomb of Horrors (based on the module of the same name) and then the final installment, Horrors of the Night.

Each movie would be very basic in design

The Tomb of Horrors – a band of mismatched friends join together to save their homeland from the horrors of a deadly beast. Their only hope is a whisper in the dark that promises wealth and power should they find and defeat the ancient and fabled tomb of Horrors.

Return to the Tomb of Horrors – Evil is growing stronger in the dark places of the world and whispers of a powerful Wizard thought destroyed surface. The party of friends, retired from their now famous exploits in the first movie, are again lured to investigate the Tomb of Horrors as rumors of a dark temple creep into the realms. It is disturbing in the extreme to learn that this temple is built on the once vanquished sight of the Tomb of Horrors. The part basically follows most of the treatment for the adventure of the same name with some major side plots of evil revealed in a truly Darth Vader fashion.

Horrors of the Night – in the end of the 2nd movie, the party defeats for all time Acererack, but while they are away defeating the ancient wizard, Vecna and Venger find a way to unleash Orcus upon the world and this movie would bring about a battle of truly epic proportions as they take on the tribunal of the three most evil icons of the D&D universe.

The first part of his treatment is interesting and I like the idea of showing the bad guys and a little power primping. I think in the shadows there should be three cloaked or shadowed wizards who you really don't know anything about, but for nostalgia sake you later find out in the sequel that they are Vecna, Orcus and for those of old schoolers, Venger (but no Dungeon Master as that would be dorky). Now you have a tribunal of the most evil and vile wizards that D&D has ever known. They play no role in the first movie, but begin to show their vile nature in the sequel.

I would then have demons or imps or other agents of evil, use trickery and deceit to lure the party into the Tomb of Horrors. The main focus of the movie should be finding the Tomb and dealing with the Tomb. The party can be lured there by the promise of gold or an artifact long buried that can aid in the destruction of a great evil, like a Tarrasque for example, but I wouldn't dismiss the Tomb into a secondary role.

I would have to spend more time than I currently have to properly go over all of it. The long and the short of it is that I think he is on to something but I think he is also in desperate need of an editor. He could get all of what he wants done in a really cheesy movie or divide it over three movies, slow things down a bit to give proper characterization and develop a more secure and solid story.

Note: this is no slight to his hard work, just a simple critique.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

BTW, someone show point jonrog to this thread - as he is the only person I know here at ENWorld who has written a major motion picture (amongst many projects).

The key element is to get people who respect the source material. This is why the recent comic movies are so much better than they used to be - the directors nowadays cut their teeth on comic books, and respect them as an story telling form all their own.

 

[Roman]

Storyline: Definately definately should be "Lady Despina's Virtue" posted in story hour by Sepulchrave. Its brilliant, brilliantly written, the characters are super. Best storyhour I have read. Should definately be either published or made into a movie. The storyline is crucial, I think even the most important.
Writer: Well preferably would be Sepulchrave himself, since he is the DM who runs that campaign.

Lady Despina's Virtue and its successor Story Hour threads are probably the best fantasy stories I have ever read bar none. It would be great if WotC could do something with them in the future. Perhaps a book would be in order. A film, however, probably requires a less sprawling storyline. I suppose it may be possible to narrow it down sufficiently to make a movie out of it, but to preserve the magic of the story in that situation could prove very difficult. Then again, Sepulchrave is an excellent writer and if anyone could pull it off, it would be him.

 

[Klaus]

BTW, someone show point jonrog to this thread - as he is the only person I know here at ENWorld who has written a major motion picture (amongst many projects).

The key element is to get people who respect the source material. This is why the recent comic movies are so much better than they used to be - the directors nowadays cut their teeth on comic books, and respect them as an story telling form all their own.

JonRog wrote The Core, Transformers and is now writing DC Comics' Blue Beetle (soon to leave for two unnanounced projects).

 

[Herobizkit]

We need a movie like Willow.

Willow had just about every easily-recognizable fantasy trope you needed for a good fantasy movie. It was written in a way that anyone watching it (even non-fantasy and/or non-gamer folk) could reasonably accept that what they saw was How Things Worked in the story - from the names of the "humans" and "small folk", the various mythological creatures, magic doing what it does, and how it is possible that a rag-tag group of adventurers, each with their own personal foibles, can overcome a great evil.

If live-action was the way to go, I'd want a lower-budget company like Lion's Gate Films to pull it off. By making it less Hollywood (and having it produced using Canadian film standards), it can 'get away' with more intense violence, suggestive themes, and depravity. Let's be honest, here... we're making a movie for the adults. It should be rated no less than 14+.

If CGI, I'd want the fine folks who pulled off the Final Fantasy movies to do it.

 

[GammaPaladin]

This has probably been said, but the thread was "tl;dr".

Just do the bloody Forgotten Forge/Shadows of the Last War/Whispers of the Vampire's Blade/Grasp of the Emerald Claw cycle.

Eberron is your most interesting setting, and the property that would have the most mass appeal outside the gamer market.

I'd go for a Sin City aesthetic, personally.

 

[doghead]

Wow, this is interesting. But putting together a proposal is making my brain hurt. Fortunately, its just a little brain, so the pain is correspondingly small.

I would have to agree with Kid Charlemagne for all the reasons he mentioned. I would also steer away from incorporating "players' in any way or form. It may appeal to some, but i suspect that it would turn off many others, including probably most non-gamers.

I just had a look at the Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight. It gave me cold shivers. And not in a good way.

Anyway, back to work.

doghead
aka thotd

 

[Engilbrand]

I will definitely agree with a Drizzt movie. The books have consistently been bestsellers for a long time. Homeland, Exile and Sojourn would definitely be the best places to start.
Mark Dascascos is a great martial artist and a good actor. The problem? He's too old. Drizzt is around 50 last I recall, but he's barely more than a teenager for the Drow. I think that you need a young, early 20s, skinny black actor to really do Drizzt right. It might require bringing in an unknown as nobody is springing to mind.
Other than that, I could definitely see an Eberron movie doing well. I don't know how the books are, but I do plan to read them. It would bring people in by how different it is.
Picture this from a trailer:
A beautiful young woman is running through a packed marketplace. She's obviously scared. She's carrying a bag with symbols on it. As she looks around her, she sees a lot of different people paying attention to her. Some of them are obviously Elves or Dwarves. Some of them look like monsters. She rounds a corner and slams into a 6 and a half foot tall Warforged. You see her start to crab crawl back with a surprised look on her face. When she gets up and turns around, she comes face to chest with a massive half-Orc with a snarl on his face. He grabs her, turns her around and tells her she's under arrest for stealing from the Temple of Dol-dorn and for the murder of a priest. He looks at the Warforged with a smile and a "Good job, partner."
Surprise. Eberron messes with preconceived notions. There's so much that could be done. I think that it would be cool done as a crime story. Those 2 cops happen upon the beginnings of a holy war as members of the Church of Vol attempt to destroy the Church of Dol-dorn. Warforged, Shifters, Orcs, Vampires. Eberron has the best chance at wide appeal. It would hit the fantasy crowd, the pulp crowd and could easily hit the sci-fi crowd. After doing what I put up there, it could start flashing through little clips from the movie. A Dragon landing. An Airship flying. The Lightning Rail.
While Drizzt would bring in the fantasy crowd and most of the people who have read the books, Eberron would bring in a lot of different people. Hell, throw in a love story between the half-Orc detective and a Shifter or Changeling and you'll even get a large number of women interested who wouldn't have been interested before. Make it a trilogy and it has a lot of stuff it could accomplish. Or turn that pitch into a TV series and actually make something new for a change. As much as I like the "Angst-ridden immortal/vampire detective/private eye trying to find love/his humanity", it would be nice to see a crime show done in a fantasy world.
For the record, here's a list of most of the shows that jump to mind based on what I have in quotations there- Forever Knight, Angel, Moonlight, Blood Ties, New Amsterdam. What am I missing?

 

[Klaus]

I will definitely agree with a Drizzt movie. The books have consistently been bestsellers for a long time. Homeland, Exile and Sojourn would definitely be the best places to start.
Mark Dascascos is a great martial artist and a good actor. The problem? He's too old. Drizzt is around 50 last I recall, but he's barely more than a teenager for the Drow. I think that you need a young, early 20s, skinny black actor to really do Drizzt right. It might require bringing in an unknown as nobody is springing to mind.
Other than that, I could definitely see an Eberron movie doing well. I don't know how the books are, but I do plan to read them. It would bring people in by how different it is.
Picture this from a trailer:
A beautiful young woman is running through a packed marketplace. She's obviously scared. She's carrying a bag with symbols on it. As she looks around her, she sees a lot of different people paying attention to her. Some of them are obviously Elves or Dwarves. Some of them look like monsters. She rounds a corner and slams into a 6 and a half foot tall Warforged. You see her start to crab crawl back with a surprised look on her face. When she gets up and turns around, she comes face to chest with a massive half-Orc with a snarl on his face. He grabs her, turns her around and tells her she's under arrest for stealing from the Temple of Dol-dorn and for the murder of a priest. He looks at the Warforged with a smile and a "Good job, partner."
Surprise. Eberron messes with preconceived notions. There's so much that could be done. I think that it would be cool done as a crime story. Those 2 cops happen upon the beginnings of a holy war as members of the Church of Vol attempt to destroy the Church of Dol-dorn. Warforged, Shifters, Orcs, Vampires. Eberron has the best chance at wide appeal. It would hit the fantasy crowd, the pulp crowd and could easily hit the sci-fi crowd. After doing what I put up there, it could start flashing through little clips from the movie. A Dragon landing. An Airship flying. The Lightning Rail.
While Drizzt would bring in the fantasy crowd and most of the people who have read the books, Eberron would bring in a lot of different people. Hell, throw in a love story between the half-Orc detective and a Shifter or Changeling and you'll even get a large number of women interested who wouldn't have been interested before. Make it a trilogy and it has a lot of stuff it could accomplish. Or turn that pitch into a TV series and actually make something new for a change. As much as I like the "Angst-ridden immortal/vampire detective/private eye trying to find love/his humanity", it would be nice to see a crime show done in a fantasy world.
For the record, here's a list of most of the shows that jump to mind based on what I have in quotations there- Forever Knight, Angel, Moonlight, Blood Ties, New Amsterdam. What am I missing?

I wouldn't use a black actor for Drizzt. To emphasize the non-human appearance of drow, I'd use an Asian actor with matte black make-up and purple contact lenses.

But I wouldn't use Drizzt at all. I'd go with Eberron. Less LotR-derivative and more cinematic.

 

[Traycor]

I'm curious to know if Scott Rouse still has his eye on this thread.