What does D&D mean to movie goers?

[hopeless]

I could see Vin Diesel inviting them around for an impromptu game!

I'm not sure if that would count as a movie, but I suspect it could be streamed!

 

[ART!]

It feels like as popular as it is, D&D has a built in huge group of people who will at least look at the previews... and talk it up and see it if it actually looks like a decent movie. And then if it is actually decent and rotten tomatoes agrees with the word of mouth, shouldn't that give it some legs?

One of the marketing things that Marvel Studios relies on and does really well is create buzz that gets the in-the-know fans excited. Dropping some quintessential D&D-isms in a teaser trailer would be a way that this movie could do that. If there's a Beholder in the movie, tease that, for example. Show a wizard casting what could only be Magic Missile. Etcetera.

 

[Ryujin]

One of the marketing things that Marvel Studios relies on and does really well is create buzz that gets the in-the-know fans excited. Dropping some quintessential D&D-isms in a teaser trailer would be a way that this movie could do that. If there's a Beholder in the movie, tease that, for example. Show a wizard casting what could only be Magic Missile. Etcetera.

If they try to play into that then I would expect there to be a little "leveling up" at some point. It would be interesting to see how they handle it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And since then?

Avengers Endgame came out in 2019. I think we can't really count what few movies came out in 2020, my man.

 

[Undrave]

Avengers Endgame came out in 2019. I think we can't really count what few movies came out in 2020, my man.

Marvel is kind of the big exception... Everybody that tried to imitate them has kinda floundered around and gotten, at best, mild success. Marvel has their formula down pat after over a decade of working it out.

no one has come close to that well oiled machine...eacept maybe the Fast franchise and the Mission Impossible franchise?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

no one has come close to that well oiled machine...eacept maybe the Fast franchise and the Mission Impossible franchise?

Definitely both of those. They're easy to ignore if you don't seek them out, but they are almost perfect movies in that they deliver exactly what their audiences are looking for.

 

[Undrave]

Definitely both of those. They're easy to ignore if you don't seek them out, but they are almost perfect movies in that they deliver exactly what their audiences are looking for.

Marvel, Fast and M.I. have all been at this for quite a while now... But since Marvel made it big in the late 00's, heck, since Harry Potter and LOTR made it big, there's been a ton of failed franchises. Even then, LOTR and HP both tried to create another successfuly set of movies and pretty much failed their fans... and we shall not mention the other 'Star' franchise other than to say they also stumbled when trying to leverage their brand into a sucessful run of movies.

I have a hard time trusting Hollywood, who gave us five frickin' Michael Bay Transformers movie, when it comes to adapting IPs.

I'm hoping for something that can AT LEAST be as competant as Sonic the Hedgehog.

 

[Aging Bard]

There already exists a great D&D movie, It's not a great movie (far from it), but it hits every required beat for a D&D movie.

It brings a party together. It has recognizable classes: 2 barbarians, a fighter, a thief, a magic-user (perhaps even a wu jen), and a patron assigning a magical NPC to guide the party. There is a hexcrawl, city crawl, two dungeon crawls, and a fantastic finale where everything is upended. Magic items must be found and retrieved. The fate of the world is in the balance! Seriously, a picture perfect D&D one shot.

And what is this movie? Conan the Destroyer, the clearly inferior sequel to Conan the Barbarian, but absolutely the better D&D movie.

 

[Ryujin]

There already exists a great D&D movie, It's not a great movie (far from it), but it hits every required beat for a D&D movie.

It brings a party together. It has recognizable classes: 2 barbarians, a fighter, a thief, a magic-user (perhaps even a wu jen), and a patron assigning a magical NPC to guide the party. There is a hexcrawl, city crawl, two dungeon crawls, and a fantastic finale where everything is upended. Magic items must be found and retrieved. The fate of the world is in the balance! Seriously, a picture perfect D&D one shot.

And what is this movie? Conan the Destroyer, the clearly inferior sequel to Conan the Barbarian, but absolutely the better D&D movie.

The "Mythica" series does that and even adds in the tavern. It's indie budget though.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There already exists a great D&D movie, It's not a great movie (far from it), but it hits every required beat for a D&D movie.

It brings a party together. It has recognizable classes: 2 barbarians, a fighter, a thief, a magic-user (perhaps even a wu jen), and a patron assigning a magical NPC to guide the party. There is a hexcrawl, city crawl, two dungeon crawls, and a fantastic finale where everything is upended. Magic items must be found and retrieved. The fate of the world is in the balance! Seriously, a picture perfect D&D one shot.

And what is this movie? Conan the Destroyer, the clearly inferior sequel to Conan the Barbarian, but absolutely the better D&D movie.

I see you and raise you Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which has a magical sword and a great barroom brawl.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The point of the reference to Conan the Destroyer is not to suggest it is the only D&Dish movie. The point is, D&Disms like those in CtD are incompatible with very serious epic fantasy. You want to get serious, you need to cut out the familiar D&D tropes that make people smile with recognition.

 

[ccs]

Chris Pine often makes lists of over rated/paid movie stars.

I think if you leave out a couple of his movies most of them make little money.

Essentially people went to see Trek because it's trek not because it's Chris Pine in it.

He's not really an anchor type actor unlike say The Rock who can do any crap movie and it will make hundreds of millions.

They must make enough $ for the studios to consider it worth paying his asking price next time....

 

[hopeless]

Would Hawk the Slayer count too?

I have the Mythica series along with Conan the Destroyer and thoroughly agree about the Conan sequel being a fine d&d movie!

 

[Zardnaar]

They must make enough $ for the studios to consider it worth paying his asking price next time....

No idea. Someone linked his movies here once upon a time. Ignoring Trek (because he probably isn't the main reason people go to see those films) most didn't pull in that much.

But I don't think he is a super expensive actor like the old 20 million 90's club.

He has some name recognition but doesn't seem to have the star power to anchor a movie/franchise.

At least to any great extent in terms of box office. He's not a bad actor by any means.

 

[hopeless]

I still haven't watched WW84, but agree he's been good in the movies I have watched that he's been involved in.

 

[Zardnaar]

I still haven't watched WW84, but agree he's been good in the movies I have watched that he's been involved in.

Yeah they've got a decent cast skull wise.

So if the movie is bad look at the writers and directors.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The point of the reference to Conan the Destroyer is not to suggest it is the only D&Dish movie. The point is, D&Disms like those in CtD are incompatible with very serious epic fantasy. You want to get serious, you need to cut out the familiar D&D tropes that make people smile with recognition.

Again, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an extremely D&D movie, minus catacombs.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I still haven't watched WW84, but agree he's been good in the movies I have watched that he's been involved in.

All the actors are good in that. It's the script that lets that one down.

 

[Aging Bard]

The point of the reference to Conan the Destroyer is not to suggest it is the only D&Dish movie. The point is, D&Disms like those in CtD are incompatible with very serious epic fantasy. You want to get serious, you need to cut out the familiar D&D tropes that make people smile with recognition.

This is a very wise comment. I do think a "serious" D&D movie is possible, but I agree that such a movie must omit many gonzo D&D tropes.

 

[Aging Bard]

The "Mythica" series does that and even adds in the tavern. It's indie budget though.

Adding the tavern is a serious cliched plus. Hackneyed as hell.