This pains me a little to say, but I do not see the D&D movie tanking. We are two weeks out and there is no review embargo. Sure, the regular shills are piling on their praise, but private citizens who went to early screenings are as well.

Normies do not care about the OGL. Most women would drink Chris Pine's bath water. This is the best time to release a movie, almost two months after a SB and before the weather gets nice for most of the country.

I'm not saying it will be the blockbuster of the year, but it will not be a flop.

Quote from: FingerRod on March 17, 2023, 07:42:28 PM
This pains me a little to say, but I do not see the D&D movie tanking. We are two weeks out and there is no review embargo. Sure, the regular shills are piling on their praise, but private citizens who went to early screenings are as well.

Normies do not care about the OGL. Most women would drink Chris Pine's bath water. This is the best time to release a movie, almost two months after a SB and before the weather gets nice for most of the country.

I'm not saying it will be the blockbuster of the year, but it will not be a flop.

If the figures I can find are correct the budget was US 151 Million, plus marketing, lets say 50% that's US 75.5 Million = US 226.5 Million total so it needs to make about US 453 Million to break even.

Super Mario Bros. Hits theaters just 5 days after, which has more brand recognition and broad appeal?

They are predicting a total gross between US 400-450 Million so that's a break even at best.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls563001127/

Paramont and WotC are shilling the movie like theres no tomorrow.

Quote from: GeekyBugle on March 17, 2023, 08:38:35 PM

Quote from: FingerRod on March 17, 2023, 07:42:28 PM
This pains me a little to say, but I do not see the D&D movie tanking. We are two weeks out and there is no review embargo. Sure, the regular shills are piling on their praise, but private citizens who went to early screenings are as well.

Normies do not care about the OGL. Most women would drink Chris Pine's bath water. This is the best time to release a movie, almost two months after a SB and before the weather gets nice for most of the country.

I'm not saying it will be the blockbuster of the year, but it will not be a flop.

If the figures I can find are correct the budget was US 151 Million, plus marketing, lets say 50% that's US 75.5 Million = US 226.5 Million total so it needs to make about US 453 Million to break even.

Super Mario Bros. Hits theaters just 5 days after, which has more brand recognition and broad appeal?

They are predicting a total gross between US 400-450 Million so that's a break even at best.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls563001127/

I am not sure Mario and D&D is the same audience. Air also releases 5 days later. Probably also not the same audience. But point taken that it will be more crowded than I first thought.

Let's assume they spend half of the budget again on marketing and half of box office sales goes to them. What about merchandise generated by the movie? It is all over retailers already. Owlbears, d20s that turn into dragons, etc.

I also think this movie will do well in Europe and Asia.

Lastly, break even at the box office (even without the other factors) is not a flop. To have a Lightyear-like tank, it would have to end up around 160 million.

Quote from: FingerRod on March 19, 2023, 09:47:16 AM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on March 17, 2023, 08:38:35 PM

Quote from: FingerRod on March 17, 2023, 07:42:28 PM
This pains me a little to say, but I do not see the D&D movie tanking. We are two weeks out and there is no review embargo. Sure, the regular shills are piling on their praise, but private citizens who went to early screenings are as well.

Normies do not care about the OGL. Most women would drink Chris Pine's bath water. This is the best time to release a movie, almost two months after a SB and before the weather gets nice for most of the country.

I'm not saying it will be the blockbuster of the year, but it will not be a flop.

If the figures I can find are correct the budget was US 151 Million, plus marketing, lets say 50% that's US 75.5 Million = US 226.5 Million total so it needs to make about US 453 Million to break even.

Super Mario Bros. Hits theaters just 5 days after, which has more brand recognition and broad appeal?

They are predicting a total gross between US 400-450 Million so that's a break even at best.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls563001127/

I am not sure Mario and D&D is the same audience. Air also releases 5 days later. Probably also not the same audience. But point taken that it will be more crowded than I first thought.

Let's assume they spend half of the budget again on marketing and half of box office sales goes to them. What about merchandise generated by the movie? It is all over retailers already. Owlbears, d20s that turn into dragons, etc.

I also think this movie will do well in Europe and Asia.

Lastly, break even at the box office (even without the other factors) is not a flop. To have a Lightyear-like tank, it would have to end up around 160 million.

I'm not saying it will flop, but it probably won't do as well as it could have had Hasbro not alienated most of it's consumer base, and then again with the MtG LotR fiasco.

Merchandise, that's usually bought by boys/men, mostly by those men who already like the IP. Now, since the rights to manufacture the merch are sold well in advance to the movie release (providing Hasbro sold them) they already got money from those, if the manufacturer has to eat the merch Hasbro doesn't give a shit (unless it's them manufacturing it).

Granted, it's not the same audience as those other movies, but Mario will suck a lot of air from it, because you can go see D&D or take the family to see Mario and HAT is PG-13.

Quote from: FingerRod on March 19, 2023, 09:47:16 AM
Lastly, break even at the box office (even without the other factors) is not a flop. To have a Lightyear-like tank, it would have to end up around 160 million.

First of all, the purpose of making movies is to make money.  If a film earns the same amount that it cost to make, market, and distribute it, you have failed to make money.  In fact, the real question is whether the film will make more than any of the other possible uses of the money.  If the company could have made more money in bonds (or in any other endeavor) than is returned by the movie, the movie lost money.  So breaking even is failure.

Secondly, Hasbro is hoping this movie will serve as the tent-pole of a larger brand-driven franchise.  Anything other than a clear success dooms that "lifestyle" brand to a very uncertain future.  What could have been a sure thing will now be a big risk, at best.  So, yeah, you don't need a Lightyear-like tank for this movie to be a flop...

Quote from: FingerRod on March 17, 2023, 07:42:28 PM
This pains me a little to say, but I do not see the D&D movie tanking. We are two weeks out and there is no review embargo. Sure, the regular shills are piling on their praise, but private citizens who went to early screenings are as well.

Normies do not care about the OGL. Most women would drink Chris Pine's bath water. This is the best time to release a movie, almost two months after a SB and before the weather gets nice for most of the country.

I'm not saying it will be the blockbuster of the year, but it will not be a flop.

I agree with you FingerRod. As much as I want it to tank it'll probably do okay. No Oscar nomina......well can't say that with the emasculated men diverse cast. Never know what the useless Oscars will consider Oscar worthy.

Quote from: Eirikrautha on March 19, 2023, 04:38:06 PM
First of all, the purpose of making movies is to make money.  If a film earns the same amount that it cost to make, market, and distribute it, you have failed to make money.  In fact, the real question is whether the film will make more than any of the other possible uses of the money.  If the company could have made more money in bonds (or in any other endeavor) than is returned by the movie, the movie lost money.  So breaking even is failure.

Secondly, Hasbro is hoping this movie will serve as the tent-pole of a larger brand-driven franchise.  Anything other than a clear success dooms that "lifestyle" brand to a very uncertain future.  What could have been a sure thing will now be a big risk, at best.  So, yeah, you don't need a Lightyear-like tank for this movie to be a flop...

That's a great point Eirikrautha. Presumably, film studios still like to see lots of ticket sales. I'm hoping the dumb&dumb movie is a box office failure.

Quote from: Eirikrautha on March 19, 2023, 04:38:06 PM

Quote from: FingerRod on March 19, 2023, 09:47:16 AM
Lastly, break even at the box office (even without the other factors) is not a flop. To have a Lightyear-like tank, it would have to end up around 160 million.

First of all, the purpose of making movies is to make money.  If a film earns the same amount that it cost to make, market, and distribute it, you have failed to make money.  In fact, the real question is whether the film will make more than any of the other possible uses of the money.  If the company could have made more money in bonds (or in any other endeavor) than is returned by the movie, the movie lost money.  So breaking even is failure.

Secondly, Hasbro is hoping this movie will serve as the tent-pole of a larger brand-driven franchise.  Anything other than a clear success dooms that "lifestyle" brand to a very uncertain future.  What could have been a sure thing will now be a big risk, at best.  So, yeah, you don't need a Lightyear-like tank for this movie to be a flop...

No shit the purpose is to make money. And no shit they have high hopes for it driving the brand.

I am saying it will not tank. I have already mentioned the reasons. You are saying it is a big risk. Why?

I think it will do a lot more than break even. It certainly won't flop. I bet their dumb fucking heist book outsells Dragonlance because of the movie. I bet they sell a shit ton of toys and collectibles. If you think differently, put ya cards on the table 

Quote from: Eirikrautha on March 19, 2023, 04:38:06 PM
First of all, the purpose of making movies is to make money.  If a film earns the same amount that it cost to make, market, and distribute it, you have failed to make money.  In fact, the real question is whether the film will make more than any of the other possible uses of the money.  If the company could have made more money in bonds (or in any other endeavor) than is returned by the movie, the movie lost money.  So breaking even is failure.

Strictly on the Hollywood side of the equation, remember that Hollywood finances do not resemble normal Terran finances as most people understand them. A loss on paper can still be a success in practice because of Hollywood accounting magic. There's a reason they keep making movies that seem to be obvious flops. They don't become world-owning frooptillionaires by not understanding that the point of what they are doing is to earn money. They just don't always do it in ways that most people really understand.

The movie is good. The heist plot is a bit pedestrian but you wind up liking the main characters. There is plenty of pathos to go along with the joking. The point of the heist follows from the motivations of the character. Some plans come up successful and some fail. And they make sense given that it is a D&D world.

This film is just simply fun. Just like the majority of our campaigns, the film will not withstand deep analysis and focuses on what is fun. The longer you have been playing this hobby the more you will enjoy the various easter eggs. But none of the easter eggs are important to understand what is going on. Nor they are gratuitous, just part of the general background of the characters existing in a D&D world.

The only bad thing I will say is in the credit where it was listed as Hasbro's D&D. While no fan of Wizards I thought that was a bit of a dick move on Hasbro's part. Incidentally, the main end credit is an enjoyable bit of animation. And there is one end credit scene.

Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Quote from: estar on March 21, 2023, 08:22:47 AM
The movie is good. The heist plot is a bit pedestrian but you wind up liking the main characters. There is plenty of pathos to go along with the joking. The point of the heist follows from the motivations of the character. Some plans come up successful and some fail. And they make sense given that it is a D&D world.

This film is just simply fun. Just like the majority of our campaigns, the film will not withstand deep analysis and focuses on what is fun. The longer you have been playing this hobby the more you will enjoy the various easter eggs. But none of the easter eggs are important to understand what is going on. Nor they are gratuitous, just part of the general background of the characters existing in a D&D world.

The only bad thing I will say is in the credit where it was listed as Hasbro's D&D. While no fan of Wizards I thought that was a bit of a dick move on Hasbro's part. Incidentally, the main end credit is an enjoyable bit of animation. And there is one end credit scene.

Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Do they "emasculate" the male characters, as the director/producer stated that they would?

Quote from: Eirikrautha on March 21, 2023, 05:14:53 PM
Do they "emasculate" the male characters, as the director/producer stated that they would?

No. Don't know what the director/producer was smoking that day. But many of the character echoes the same range of characters you find in heist films. For example, Chris Pine's Elgin is a non-violent thief who continues schemes. While Holga is the party's main fighter, Xenk the Paladin is by far the most badass both in combat and outside of combat. Xenk's deal is that is more an ally of the party than a member.

 I fail to understand why a tiny woman was cast to be the barbarian though.   I am sure they could have found a role that made more sense for her and put some hulking beast (even a female one) in the role for the barbarian. 

Quote from: oggsmash on March 23, 2023, 05:45:04 AM
I fail to understand why a tiny woman was cast to be the barbarian though.   I am sure they could have found a role that made more sense for her and put some hulking beast (even a female one) in the role for the barbarian.

Maybe she's a Halfling Barbarian?