I'm not sure how anyone could possibly top the supreme achievement that is the 2000 film starring Jeremy Irons and Blue Lips, but there is a new D&D film coming...
QuoteThe upcoming Warner Bros motion picture will be based on a script by David Leslie Johnson (Wrath of the Titans) and produced by Roy Lee (The Lego Movie, How To Train Your Dragon) with the involvement of Hasbro chief executive Brian Goldner and chief content officer Stephen Davis. It will take place in the popular D&D campaign setting of the Forgotten Realms.
Well at least it will not be based on
Dragonlance.
More info here (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/dungeons-dragons-legal-settlement-paves-812674).
(Apologies if this is posted in the wrong forum. Feel free to move if necessary.)
Is it live action, or animated? It doesn't say.
I had assumed that it was live action. But you're right, the article doesn't say whether it is or not.
If it's animated, I think it could be well done. Live action, I dunno. Warner Bros. record for live action stuff has been hit or miss, mostly miss in my opinion.
Still, the FR setting is pretty generic as Fantasy goes, so the most important question is: Which characters will they be using?
Meh, I've always had a laugh with the DnD movies.
They're really cheesy and pretty awful, but it's nice to see the DnD references in the movies.
Quote from: Christopher Brady;846324Is it live action, or animated?
Most action/fantasy movies these days are a hybid... often leaning toward animation with a few actors tossed in to avoid Uncanny Valley.
I've never seen the previous ones, not even tempted. Did I miss much?
Quote from: Simlasa;846332I've never seen the previous ones, not even tempted. Did I miss much?
If you have a few drinks beforehand the first one can be hilarious. (You'll need to keep drinking throughout it, however.)
I haven't seen the two 'sequels'. In fact, I didn't know they even existed until now.
Quote from: Christopher Brady;846329Still, the FR setting is pretty generic as Fantasy goes, so the most important question is: Which characters will they be using?
I predict Drizzt. Salvatore's novels sell very well, so there'll be something of a built-in audience for it.
It's really too bad. A film based on Erevis Cale would be pretty cool. (But he's too 'dark' for standard FR.)
Quote from: Akrasia;846333If you have a few drinks beforehand the first one can be hilarious. (You'll need to keep drinking throughout it, however.)
I haven't seen the two 'sequels'. In fact, I didn't know they even existed until now.
I heard that the second film was actually pretty good, in a Made For Video kind of way.
Another vote for Drizz't, especially if they plan a series of adventures. Would be nice to see the appearance of Artemis Entreri eventually.
Well, I hope the dungeon crawl is in the forefront. I want to see listening at doors and spiking doors and breaking doors down and some crazy irrational monsters that couldn't possibly living in that little hole.
Quote from: Akrasia;846334I predict Drizzt. Salvatore's novels sell very well, so there'll be something of a built-in audience for it.
The hard part part will be to find a way to say his name out loud in a way that doesn't sound stupid.
Quote from: Baulderstone;846349The hard part part will be to find a way to say his name out loud in a way that doesn't sound stupid.
My friends and I were pronouncing it incorrectly for years.
I honestly feel like Drizzt will go over like a lead brick in today's market.
I actually predict brand new characters, focusing on either Waterdeep or some new location.
I hope they cast Ed Greenwood as Elminster and write in several sex scenes, but then switch him out for a body double.
Quote from: Christopher Brady;846337I heard that the second film was actually pretty good, in a Made For Video kind of way.
Actually, with the exception of the return of old blue lips, the second film was better than the first. At the very least, it showcased a D&D party in action as a team rather than a main character & some comic relief companions like the first film.
(http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/8/85249/3810047-4257240587-ibfHt.gif)
Unfortunately, it still has Courtney Solomon attached to it.
I guess it can't be worse than the third so-called movie.
Just in time for 7th Edition.
JG
Quote from: Baulderstone;846349The hard part part will be to find a way to say his name out loud in a way that doesn't sound stupid.
I've always pronounced it the same as the first syllable of my name.
No idea how its supposed to be pronounced.
I'm honestly kinda sad they arent basing it on the D&D cartoon. Great premise, great villain, and lotsa built in nostalgia for people who dont even play the game.
Repeat after me: direct ... to ... video.
Quote from: Ravenswing;846392Repeat after me: direct ... to ... video.
Well, they might as well offer the lead to Adam Sandler and torpedo this thing completely.
Quote from: Ravenswing;846392Repeat after me: direct ... to ... video.
The article specifically says its for the theatres
Heh. The Jeremy Irons D&D movie is what I thought of when I read the title of the other thread about why some people feel a need to apologize for AD&D.... :-)
Quote from: Akrasia;846321More info here (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/dungeons-dragons-legal-settlement-paves-812674).
99% sure it's going to be crap. I'd be overjoyed at being proven wrong, though.
Quote from: Akrasia;846334I predict Drizzt. Salvatore's novels sell very well, so there'll be something of a built-in audience for it.
Bastards should've shot for a Crystal Shard trilogy movie, probably.
Quote from: Akrasia;846334It's really too bad. A film based on Erevis Cale would be pretty cool. (But he's too 'dark' for standard FR.)
Jason Statham is Erevis Cale in my mind. And the halfling cleric sidekick does not exist. It's awesome up here.
Quote from: TristramEvans;846388I'm honestly kinda sad they arent basing it on the D&D cartoon. Great premise, great villain, and lotsa built in nostalgia for people who dont even play the game.
Fun fact: when the D&D cartoon aired here it was called
Caverna do Dragão ("The Dragon's Cave") and not everyone, not even among gamers, made the D&D connection! (The opening sequence got cut. "Dungeons & Dragons" only appeared in rare, brief flashbacks to the park ride).
Quote from: Saplatt;846361I hope they cast Ed Greenwood as Elminster and write in several sex scenes, but then switch him out for a body double.
I would pay a shitload of money to see HBO's Forgotten Realms miniseries. They'd cast some up-and-coming 20-something heartthrob as Elminster and have him sex up every wizard (male
and female
and undefined) in the Realms.
Quote from: flyerfan1991;846393Well, they might as well offer the lead to Adam Sandler and torpedo this thing completely.
They're probably thinking Sandler would class it up too much.
jg
If Solomon is still attatched to it. That means it is not an official D&D movie. He has the rights in perpetum as of last check and has been stonewalling WOTC for the last 15 years. Which also means that the movie will be likely set in Solomons campaign world as the first and 3rd were. Dont expect this one to fare any better if thats all true. It is why there has not been any actual D&D movies other than the 2nd one so far. And I have no idea how they pulled that off.
Quote from: Omega;846416If Solomon is still attatched to it.
He's not, hence the article linked by the OP.
"...with the involvement of Hasbro chief executive Brian Goldner and chief content officer Stephen Davis."
The people who brought us Hasbro's Battleship. Boy is this gonna be a stinker.
Quote from: TristramEvans;846436He's not, hence the article linked by the OP.
According to Variety:
QuoteDavid Leslie Johnson ("The Conjuring 2") has already written the screenplay set in the "D&D" fantasy world of Forgotten Realms. Hasbro's Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis, Sweetpea Entertainment's Courtney Solomon and Allan Zeman, and Roy Lee ("The Lego Movie") are producing the high-priority project.
Here's the link: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/dungeons-dragons-movie-in-works-at-warner-bros-as-lawsuit-ends-1201555394/ (http://variety.com/2015/film/news/dungeons-dragons-movie-in-works-at-warner-bros-as-lawsuit-ends-1201555394/)
Quote from: flyerfan1991;846464According to Variety:
Here's the link: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/dungeons-dragons-movie-in-works-at-warner-bros-as-lawsuit-ends-1201555394/ (http://variety.com/2015/film/news/dungeons-dragons-movie-in-works-at-warner-bros-as-lawsuit-ends-1201555394/)
OTOH, that could be anything from 'heavily involved' to 'token credit and payment as part of the settlement.'
Quote from: Armchair Gamer;846466OTOH, that could be anything from 'heavily involved' to 'token credit and payment as part of the settlement.'
I doubt it's token credit, but we'll only know for sure by the quality of the final product.
Quote from: Skarg;846401Heh. The Jeremy Irons D&D movie is what I thought of when I read the title of the other thread about why some people feel a need to apologize for AD&D.... :-)
I recall reading an article about that movie, in Dragon I think, where they had a brief interview with the director. IIRC, that was his first movie. He was just a huge D&D fan who wanted to make a D&D movie and convinced people he could. The end result was he got his D&D campaign made into a film.
I wish I recalled more of the article. The director was pretty adamant that he be the one who did it, not just sell the story. I think there was a part where the producer gave him $100k to direct a small car chase scene or something and if it came out good, he'd greenlight it. The rest is history there.
Does anyone else recall that article, or am I just dreaming this up?
If the guy behind the first film ands its sequel is anywhere close to creative involvement, it isn't worth wasting money on making.
Looks like all the old ones are on Youtube... maybe one-eyed viewing while I work on some miniatures tonight.
Quote from: BedrockBrendan;846474If the guy behind the first film ands its sequel is anywhere close to creative involvement, it isn't worth wasting money on making.
he might be a producer in name only. like stan lee is an executive producer on all the marvel movies.
Quote from: Ulairi;846511he might be a producer in name only. like stan lee is an executive producer on all the marvel movies.
Maybe. I don't really know how movie production works. But after the first one, I think it would be wiser for them to just wait for him to have zero involvement at all. It isn't like we need a D&D movie right now. I think if they do do one they want to make sure it is done right.
Quote from: BedrockBrendan;846516Maybe. I don't really know how movie production works. But after the first one, I think it would be wiser for them to just wait for him to have zero involvement at all. It isn't like we need a D&D movie right now. I think if they do do one they want to make sure it is done right.
You mean gearing up by going to the local magic shop?
/shudder
Quote from: flyerfan1991;846518You mean gearing up by going to the local magic shop?
/shudder
I mean they should only do it if they get the people and resources to make a good film.
Quote from: BedrockBrendan;846519I mean they should only do it if they get the people and resources to make a good film.
I was referencing the so-called writing in the third film, where they did exactly what I described.
I want writing that is good and makes sense to people who aren't RPGers.
I saw an idea elsewhere I think could actually work. Essentially: [strike]rip off[/strike] crib inspiration from Guardians of the Galaxy (which I can totally see being someone's, say, WEG Star Wars adventure with the serial numbers filed off) and sprinkle in a bit of meta humor.
“In a world of magic and mystery, six brave adventurers stand between...”
“Errr, actually, Kurt just quit the group. He’s going back to Vampire the Masquerade.”
“What? Laaaame!”
“Ahem! Five brave adventurers stand between the realm and certain doom...”
Not that I think WB will actually make anything remotely like this, of course. I fully expect another steaming turd sandwich.
Quote from: woodsmoke;846544“In a world of magic and mystery, six brave adventurers stand between...”
“Errr, actually, Kurt just quit the group. He’s going back to Vampire the Masquerade.”
“What? Laaaame!”
“Ahem! Five brave adventurers stand between the realm and certain doom...”
That sounds a bit like The Gamers movies... which are fun.
Quote from: woodsmoke;846544“In a world of magic and mystery, six brave adventurers stand between...”
“Errr, actually, Kurt just quit the group. He’s going back to Vampire the Masquerade.”
“What? Laaaame!”
“Ahem! Five brave adventurers stand between the realm and certain doom...”
I always thought the original D&D movie would have been salvageable, if only they had used a framing device of Jeremy Irons as a really over-the-top DM running a game for Whalin, Wayins and the others.
Quote from: Paraguybrarian;846547I always thought the original D&D movie would have been salvageable, if only they had used a framing device of Jeremy Irons as a really over-the-top DM running a game for Whalin, Wayins and the others.
Marlan Wayans gets a lot of criticism from gamers on this movie, but honestly he was the only watchable actor in the bunch. Really the thing the movie was lacking was more of the Wayan's brothers in my opinion.. At least then it might not have sucked. It would have been funny if it was done like I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. When I rewatch, Marlon is the only one I don't cringe for.
What would be hilarious is if Uwe Boll is hired as director. Or even worse, the guys behind movies like Sharknado.
;)
Quote from: ggroy;846577What would be hilarious is if Uwe Boll is hired as director. Or even worse, the guys behind movies like Sharknado.
;)
That would be step up from Courtney Solomon.
Way back in ages past when I had the money for it. I was on board to help with funding the live action recreation of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon episode Tower of Tardos from the same crew who did the short live action piece that was packed with the cartoon series "deluxe" DVD. The preliminaries looked great and the kids they got for the roles looked the parts overall.
Unfortunately it folded due various problems.
Quote from: RunningLaser;846473I recall reading an article about that movie, in Dragon I think, where they had a brief interview with the director. IIRC, that was his first movie. He was just a huge D&D fan who wanted to make a D&D movie and convinced people he could. The end result was he got his D&D campaign made into a film.
I wish I recalled more of the article. The director was pretty adamant that he be the one who did it, not just sell the story. I think there was a part where the producer gave him $100k to direct a small car chase scene or something and if it came out good, he'd greenlight it. The rest is history there.
Does anyone else recall that article, or am I just dreaming this up?
but if i remember right whernt there all sorts of things that got in the way like being forced to use an older script then the one he had planed to use ?
Quote from: kosmos1214;846623but if i remember right whernt there all sorts of things that got in the way like being forced to use an older script then the one he had planed to use ?
Theres been all sorts of stories about what happened. What is known is that Solomon got some near iron clad in perpetum exclusive rights to make D&D movies from Williams. His rights apparently do not extend to Dragonlance.
Some of the stories about the WOTC execs interfering were being spread by White Wolf staff so take that with a grain of salt. They used the same excuse for anything they did with WOTC property that failed. "WOTC told us to!" Which, considering the totally moronic things WOTC was doing around that time. Might well be true. Right and left they were screwing up and screwing with projects. Theres a reason why Hasbro keeps them on a tight leash now.
And he certainly was not under such restrictions when he made Book of Vile Darkness.
An option for Magic: The Gathering has been sold in recent years too, but I fully expect that film to turn out better than D&D.
It'd be cool to see the movie done in the vein of the Princess Bride- there's the gaming group around the table, then focusing in on what they are actually doing in game.
Quote from: RunningLaser;846730It'd be cool to see the movie done in the vein of the Princess Bride- there's the gaming group around the table, then focusing in on what they are actually doing in game.
That would be a hoot. They would need a cool actor to serve as the narrator such as James Earl Jones or Ian McShane. :)
My first thought is here we go again. I hope I am wrong.
From a newspost over on RPGG.
QuoteIn our regular "Obligatory Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition) News" column, this weeks first news bit is only casually related to the rpg itself (yep, scraping the bottom of the barrel this time): the ongoing lawsuit between Hasbro and Sweetpea Entertainment has been settled and the planned D&D Movie will be made by Warner Bros with involvement from both Wizards of the Coast and Sweetpea. The film is going to be set in the Forgotten Realms and will be based on a script by David Leslie Johnson, based on Chainmail of all things. As part of the settlement, WotC will regain all rights to future Dungeons & Dragons productions.
Sounds like WOTC finally got D&D rights back?