D&D Movie/TV (Yet another) D&D Movie Speculation thread.

[Pauln6]

Really... the big bad of the movie needs to be a dragon. The D&D movie absolutely needs a dungeon and dragon. And having a pitched epic battle against a dragon would be fun.

Yeah that's one of the reasons why I thought of the Age of Worms as a template. It starts off as an investigation into a cult, the Ebon Triad, at low levels, culminating in a fight with the gestalt avatar, then moves into an investigation up the food chain culminating in a fight with an undead monstrosity intended to kick off a zombie apocalypse, at mid levels, and then leads to quest for the phylactery of a dracolich, who is hoping to release his master from imprisonment, culminating in a multi-dragon finale, as there is also rivalry between the dracolich and a silver dragon.I take the point about going large in the first outing but I'm ambivalent. If you go too large, how do you top it? Plus I'm a fan of showing the characters level up after each instalment.

 

[Parmandur]

Warcraft:
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=warcraft.htm

$160 million budget. So it needed to clear $320 million to be a "success". (As most films match the production budget in advertising money.)

It made $47 million in the States. Normally, you expect Western films to make 30-40% of its gross domestically. If Warcraft were an average film, that would translate to another $68 million internationally, for a total of $115 million. Or a bomb.

As it turned out, Warcraft was HUGE internationally. In part because World of Warcraft is still massive in China and other parts of SE Asia. So it made $386 million internationally for a total of $433 million.
So it turned a profit. But was not so much of a hit that it warranted a sequel. Especially as domestic performance is still the bar for success: Hollywood hasn't yet made a movie primarily for international release.

Expect a D&D movie to do comparable domestically but not as well oversees, where the brand has less name recognition.

We can at least expect a similar budget outlay, but success or failure at the box office is difficult to predict. The Warcraft movie obviously sucked based on advertisements, overwrought and campy. A D&D movie with funny ads, Dwayne Johnson (or equivalent) and maybe some fun pop music could easily be a different story. Might not, might do worse. It's a gamble, but that's how Hollywood do.

 

[Sadras]

A D&D movie with funny ads, Dwayne Johnson (or equivalent) and maybe some fun pop music...

= nightmare

 

[Parmandur]

= nightmare

One man's nightmare is another man's night on the town, I guess?

 

[Sadras]

One man's nightmare is another man's night on the town, I guess?

That is true, I mean it might become a great kids/family movie if they take the direction of your post, but as someone who is THIRSTY for a decent (my decent) fantasy movie, that description is soul-destroying.

 

[Parmandur]

That is true, I mean it might become a great kids/family movie if they take the direction of your post, but as someone who is THIRSTY for a decent (my decent) fantasy movie, that description is soul-destroying.

Yeah, I really wouldn't hold my breath if I was you: fun entertaining toy commercial for the family is the goal for Hasbro here. It's doable, and they might pull it off, but they are going for the cinematic equivalent of Sword of Shannara, not the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

 

[guachi]

Just a note - it blew past break even and is very heavy into the profitable area right now. It had a reduced marketing budget, and is now at $213M worldwide with unusually light drop-off on a week-to-week basis.

Indeed it did have very light drip off. The weekend estimates weren't in when I posted yesterday but it looks like it will do better in its third weekend than its second weekend.

It's a great movie so I'm glad it's doing so well.

 

[guachi]

How did Warcraft do overall, it is probably the most comparable property to D&D?

Jester David already posted some numbers but I'll add that it did about 1/2 of its total gross in China and studios don't get the same cut out of foreign gross as they do out of domestic. I doubt you can expect a D&D movie to get half its gross out of China.

It's going to be difficult for a D&D movie to do well outside the US unless they pick actors that people already find appealing. Luckily, D&D is perfect for casting any actor of any ethnicity in any role.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It's going to be difficult for a D&D movie to do well outside the US unless they pick actors that people already find appealing. Luckily, D&D is perfect for casting any actor of any ethnicity in any role.

Embracing that fully:

Lucy Liu as a Norse Ranger/Barbarian type.
Idris Elba as the Halfling thief.
Wesley Snipes as the Monk
Vin Diesel as the Mage
Portia de Rossi as the Cleric
Jim Gaffigan as the Drow or Shadar-Ki Bard (depending on makeup budget)

(IMHO, all of those are negotiable except the casting of Gaffigan.)

 

[Pauln6]

Embracing that fully:Lucy Liu as a Norse Ranger/Barbarian type.Idris Elba as the Halfling thief.Wesley Snipes as the MonkVin Diesel as the Mage Portia de Rossi as the ClericJim Gaffigan as the Drow or Shadar-Ki Bard (depending on makeup budget)(IMHO, all of those are negotiable except the casting of Gaffigan.)

Iris Elba is too tall to be a halfling. Lucy Lui as a Barbarian though, yes please.