A film that isn't a good story will fail. If they try to make a D&D movie into a Ghostbuster or Get Smart movie, it will fail.
If D&D wants a real shot at succeeding, it has to be a real movie. Not some jokey, action-comedy that doesn't take itself seriously. Fantasy fans don't enjoy seeing fantasy done like some jokey action-comedy.
It should take itself as seriously as movies like Conan and use an established D&D novel property if the movie is to succeed. If they don't, I see another failure like all the other D&D movies.
There have been?There's been four Terry Pratchett movies that are all well received.
There have been?
Wikipedia said:Hogfather, aired by Sky One, Christmas 2006 as TV film.
The Colour of Magic, aired by Sky One, Easter 2008 as TV film.
Going Postal, aired by Sky One, Easter 2010 as TV film.
There's been four Terry Pratchett movies that are all well received. We had, between the two of them, about a dozen years of Hercules and Xena. Never minding shows like Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously? Yeah, there's a pretty long list of successful franchises for that. I mean, even the Harry Potter movies had a fair bit of comedy in them. And, really, it's not like Conan took itself that seriously.
Oh, and The Princess Bride and Stardust would both like to have a word with you.
I'd actually go so far to say that anything that's branded as D&D needs to be pretty light hearted. Would anyone go into a D&D movie and expect Game of Thrones? Would you expect a D&D movie to be closer to Nolan's Batman or to Raimi's Spider Man? I'm thinking the latter would capture D&D much, much better.
Classic quest stuff. Heck, you could use Isle of Dread as a basis. Group of adventurers head to the fantasy island (minus the midget) and take on weird fantasy stuff like brain eating fish people. That might be too Pirates of the Caribbean though. Heck, the Baldur's Gate series had a pretty strong story and would fit nicely into Forgotten Realms. Might make a great starting place.
Honestly, even Rise of Tiamat would be a fantastic starting place. Imagine the opening scene - the party, traveling along the road on horseback, crests the rise to see a town being assaulted by a dragon and its followers. The party then gets entangled in a plot to open the gate for Tiamat and have to battle dragons and cultists along the way to seal the portal. What's wrong with that for a movie plot?
I don't think there has been any meaningful release of them in the USA. If you didn't know of their existence- as I didn't- you wouldn't know to look for the DVDs. And those DVDs may not be available here, either...My bad, only three.
But, all things considered, they were quite well done.
Hercules and Xena is what you're holding up as what you want the D&D movies to be about? Really?
Buffy took itself seriously. It was a goofy named series that played it straight. Firefly[/] also played it straight. You and I have a different view on what playing it straight is.
The movies the commenter mentioned were Ghostbusters and Get Smart. Both of those were comedies with action elements. They did not play it straight. They were parodies of their subject. Do you want a D&D parody? I don't.
D&D would be dumb as hell as not to start with novels that have a fan base outside of D&D. It wouldn't surprise me if they did. They've constantly made mistakes with their intellectual properties.
The influence of TV is understated, mostly because a movie can make so much more money. However, a successful movie has an audience of maybe 2 million people worldwide. A successful TV show (or TV movie) can match that... in one country. Popular blockbusters can clear more, but that's rare.Never heard of a successful Terry Pratchett movie. TV film? Hell no.
Xena was incredibly influential. Lucy Lawless scored a guest spot on Simpsons. There were a dozen copycat shows in the wake of that program. We could only hope D&D was a third as influential.Hercules and Xena is what you're holding up as what you want the D&D movies to be about? Really?
Buffy took itself seriously. It was a goofy named series that played it straight. Firefly[/] also played it straight. You and I have a different view on what playing it straight is.
The movies the commenter mentioned were Ghostbusters and Get Smart. Both of those were comedies with action elements. They did not play it straight. They were parodies of their subject. Do you want a D&D parody? I don't.