Fantasy Dungeons & dragons movie discussion

[SomeOldGuy]

Basically they will either try and adapt the 80s cartoon, or try and make it clever by actually having people playing the game but actually having the game itself take place via the characters in an LOTR style setting. And have random interludes where the flick stops and we go back to the actual nerds playing, etc.

Already done in a couple of fun indy flicks,The Gamers and Dorkness Rising. Very "inside baseball" though, not something that would appeal to a GA.

 

[marcvader]

The 80's cartoon, maybe. Problem there is that the rights to the original characters created for the cartoon are owned by Disney, while the rights to the name Dungeons & Dragons (as well as the game itself) are owned by Hasbro. And this movie is being made by Warner Brothers, not Disney. So unless this is going to be a WB/Disney team up, and no information has been released to suggest that it will be, it won't be based on the cartoon. D&D.i suppose WB could buy the rights from Disney, but again we haven't heard anything to indicate that to be the case. At least not yet.

As for your suggestion that the movie will be about kids playing D&D, and the events in the movie will be us watching the story unfold in their collective imaginations? Marvel Studios actually rejected that idea for the cartoon back in the 1980's, because the audience wouldn't get invested in the characters if they didn't feel that the characters were in real jeopardy. That's why the cartoon is about six kids trapped in a magical world of Dungeons and Dragons rather than six kids sitting around playing D&D. So I doubt that they will go that route for the same reason.

And WB has already said that the movie will be set in The Forgotten Realms (there's a link to the article above). Which means, unless they scrap that plan in the future, a live action adaptation of the cartoon is out of the question.

Fingers crossed

 

[Thundarr]

Feel free to argue until you're blue in the face but it's a wasted effort. I'd love to see almost anything from Appendix N before FR (Amber, Dying Earth, Lieber, etc) but it isn't happening so why dwell on it? The intent is to push D&D, not the stuff that inspired it.



Or, y'know, they could come up with something cool and original, especially if they play to D&D's gonzo strengths and don't just try and ape Tolkein. The movie is a long way away, I think it's too soon to start calling it "generic and uninspired"..

Also story tellers have been borrowing from other story tellers for years, decades, even centuries. Sean Cunningham borrowed from. John Carpenter to make Friday The 13th. John Carpenter borrowed from Alfred Hitchcock to make Halloween. Tolkien borrowed from Norse mythology when he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings. Heck, the politicians who wrote the Christian Holy Bible in 300 AD borrowed liberally from pre-Christian faiths. The immaculate conception? The story of Hercules. Turning water into wine? The story of Dionysus. The list goes on and on.

So while D&D has its roots in many other stories, myths, and legends, that doesn't make the stories produced through the game, and the companies many, many novels, any less interesting or worth being told.

 

[Thundarr]

Fingers crossed

Hey, I happen to love the cartoon. And I would love to see a live action adaptation of it be made sometime. All I'm saying is that the most likely people to make that D&D movie is Disney, and the movie in question is being made by Warner Brothers.

 

[Thundarr]

Already done in a couple of fun indy flicks,The Gamers and Dorkness Rising. Very "inside baseball" though, not something that would appeal to a GA.

I saw that on You Tube. As a gamer myself, I found it entertaining. But you're right, the GA probably wouldn't like it as much.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Fingers crossed

I think a live action take on the animated series could be pretty cool but I'd be afraid they'd lean too far towards the watered-down, 'young adult' feel that's been stinking up cinema in the last several years.

 

[marcvader]

Hey, I happen to love the cartoon. And I would love to see a live action adaptation of it be made sometime. All I'm saying is that the most likely people to make that D&D movie is Disney, and the movie in question is being made by Warner Brothers.

I loved the cartoon too but I was 10. The last thing I want to see is a live action fantasy film with kids starring in it, not my thing anymore.

 

[Victarion]

Forgotten Realms?

Send Drizzt to Luskan and use The Pirate King as the source material.

 

[Destructus86]

If they do one it would need to be on the same epic level as Lord of the Rings. No half-assing it this time.

 

[Thundarr]

Forgotten Realms?

Send Drizzt to Luskan and use The Pirate King as the source material.

Too late into the series. Start with Homeland. Or at the very least Sojourn, to give it the "human element".

 

[Thundarr]

I loved the cartoon too but I was 10. The last thing I want to see is a live action fantasy film with kids starring in it, not my thing anymore.

So you didn't like the Harry Potter movies? Or the Narnia movies?

 

[Octoberist]

Might I add that I want to have more movies with kids in them. But there's only a few directors who can handle kid actors. like Speilberg, JJ Abrams, or Scoresese.

 

[marcvader]

Not a fan of the films, they were passable to me. I've only seen them on tv. I should say I'm not a big fan of the HP property to begin with. I did like reading the Lewis novels back in the day but didn't enjoy the films the way I thought I would. I want a straight up fantasy flick from D&D(game and books) with all the settings, creatures and characters I've always loved. As a kid playing the game my characters were always adults so I'll always gravitate towards a more adult gritty take.

 

[Thundarr]

Not a fan of the films, they were passable to me. I've only seen them on tv. I should say I'm not a big fan of the HP property to begin with. I did like reading the Lewis novels back in the day but didn't enjoy the films the way I thought I would. I want a straight up fantasy flick from D&D(game and books) with all the settings, creatures and characters I've always loved. As a kid playing the game my characters were always adults so I'll always gravitate towards a more adult gritty take.

Fair enough. My D&D characters usually start off in their late teens or early twenties, but that's because I often play humans who have very short life spans in comparison to dwarves and elves.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Not a fan of the films, they were passable to me. I've only seen them on tv. I should say I'm not a big fan of the HP property to begin with. I did like reading the Lewis novels back in the day but didn't enjoy the films the way I thought I would. I want a straight up fantasy flick from D&D(game and books) with all the settings, creatures and characters I've always loved. As a kid playing the game my characters were always adults so I'll always gravitate towards a more adult gritty take.

If I had the chance to make a D&D movie it would basically be D&D meets HEAT, with a group of adventurers coming together to rob a temple or some ancient tomb Conan-style and dealing with all the double-crosses and rivals and monsters and other hijinx that ensued.

So I agree with you on the gritty. I expect the actual movie will lean more towards high fantasy though. Actually I'm concerned they'll take it way too far in that direction but...

 

[Victarion]

Too late into the series. Start with Homeland. Or at the very least Sojourn, to give it the "human element".

I felt TPK had the strongest human element in that Salvatore showed us the fallout from Drizzt and Deudermont's war against the Hosttower of the Arcane...or against the High Captains. Its been a while, but I remember they brought down one of the two, allowing the other to take control in its absence.

Homeland would look gorgeous on screen and does steer away from unwanted comparisons to Tolkien. Crystal Shard and Streams of Silver are pretty heavily laden with LOTR references.

 

[terry78]

http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/ne...-rob-letterman-to-helm-dungeons-dragons-movie

Rob Letterman is helming.

 

[Kyle]

http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/698699-ansel-elgort-dungeons-and-dragons-movie

Elgort headlining?

I'm actually surprised this is still moving forward after 'Warcraft'.... unless that didn't bomb?

This comes off as very risky to me: D&D movie 1 - flopped, Warcraft - flopped. It doesn't seem like a really 'safe' bet...

 

[Octoberist]

If they at least get Vin Diesel, then this will be worthless. Hell, in their call sheeting for casting, it stated 'looking for Vin Diesel-type'. Just get Vin.

 

[Octoberist]

Dare I say that Elgort would've been a better choice than Liam Hemsworth in ID4: R.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I think Elgort has more charm and screen presence than Liam Hemsworth for sure.

LOTR style fantasy movies are almost impossible to get right. So good luck to all involved, they are going to need it.

 

[Octoberist]

I'll admit that I loved Goosebumps.

 

[Kyle]

Dare I say that Elgort would've been a better choice than Liam Hemsworth in ID4: R.

Ansel certainly would have brought a lot of early twenties, teenage girls to theaters. That's for sure.

His casting here worries me in that - are D&D characters young guys who look like they could be in high school? I don't know anything about it and always thought that was part of the complaints about the first film - the young leads. Just sounds like they're going back in the same route as the first one from the casting.

I'll admit that I loved Goosebumps.

Think you might be confused about the film's cast, somehow - unless there's a different reference that I don't see?

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I'll admit that I loved Goosebumps.

I liked it too and not just because I read the books as a little girl. It's a fun, charming movie and I liked the lead actor.

 

[Octoberist]

And Elgort's character's name should be Elgort.