The thing I’ve always thought about this movie is it shouldn’t be in the FR. No matter what they do there, it’s just going to feel like a generic fantasy movie, with some bits of fan service that will go over the heads of people who don’t play D&D. Like if elminster or drizzt makes a cameo, that’s not going to mean anything to anyone else. And the story is just going to be some unlikely band of heroes stopping an ancient evil from rising in a medieval-Europe adjacent setting. Which has been done a thousand times before.
But if they put it in eberron or dark sun, heck, maybe even krynn, it could be different enough to catch people’s attention. Then put out out a setting book or boxed set around the same time as the movie. That might get non-gamers interested.
If we see in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves many of the aspects referenced in the survey, such as the locations, factions, races, classes, monsters and spells, i will be more than happy!
I can't hold much weight on this. I'm not a director, actor, share holder or producer. Dungeons and Dragons on television and film hasn't a good record, although its noted, Book of Vile Darkness at least used elements of D&D that players could related to, i.e stuffing a corpse in a bag of holding, and evil guys being evil and not just "pretend evil".
I first heard about this when Joe Manganiello announced he wanted to make a movie, I have no idea how involved he is with this movie, if at all. I don't think he is. It would have been cool had he been, as he has solid experience of story telling, and an understanding of the geek culture. I enjoyed watching him in Pee Wee Big Holiday, which is pretty cool.
Yet the studio companies obviously were told the D&D was resurfacing stronger, and series like Stranger Things obviously had people excited. So who knows, most the directors and actors I heard in the movie, don't have any ties that I can reference to making a strong movie, yet usually in movies thats not needed. As Star Wars proved with Daisy Ridley, a fresh face, is a welcomed face. Even in a strong intellectual property likes Star Wars or in this case Dungeons and Dragons. I am still pretty doubtful of the actors selected, I am cringing at Hugh Grant being cast, and playing the "British Knight" or "British Bad Guy".
And my intuition is telling me that I am not going to like this movie, be reluctant to watch it, likely finally watch it, and probably enjoy it for the two hours, and that'll be that. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Just ticking things of my list to do. Hell, time would be better spent, doing voluntary work or contributing to society in so way or form.
I feel that the target audience is going to be missed, they'll probably aim at movie goers like Dad and two children, single parents and teenagers.
Currently the bulk of movie goers sit between animated kids film, horror movies and comic adaptation blockbusters. You can check box office numbers on that. So it would make sense to lean on these numbers rather than go for the traditional "we need a target audience".
The movie doesn't need to be 18 or even 15. Of course its going to make less sense with out blood thats probably one huge hurdle, but there are thousands of stories to tell in the D&D universe without spilling a drop of blood. Plus thats what "directors cut" is for, right?
Thats just it, Dungeons & Dragons, was the foot of thousands of novels, movies and games culminated. It should wear its crown with pride and still act like an wise elder able to dish some wisdom and knowledge (inspiration to new and old game masters)
If I had to write a script for the movie, I would simply use the intellectual property and truely amazing character of Xanathar. The movie starts with four adventurers, super trope and likely famous actors, who have reached the depths of a dungeon, (lets just say its the yawning portal, just the audience wouldn't be aware of this at all, perhaps the decor would show it for easter eggs) the adventures stumble into a room, and given a few lines, very heroic, very hopefully, in the depths lurks something, one adventurer in disintegrated, one turned to stone, a reflection in a gold plate shows what to be a holder, one ray shoots out and paralyzes the thief who drops a bag of treasure scattering gold coins over the ground. The fighter looms forward. Out floats Xanathar, except its not a full grown beholder, its a baby Xanathar looking crazy mean and angry, and victorious, one last yellow beam shoots across the screen hitting the warrior, fear wrecks his face and drops to his knees, he screams, picks him self up and runs, runs to tell the story. Cue opening rock music, and credits.
Next scene, twenty years later (or something, do the math) Minsc, fighting scoundrels in Baldurs Gate. He swings his sword around kicking scoundrels ass. Stacking lines like "Butt kicking for goodness", "Feel the backhand of justice", and finally "When the going gets tough, someone hold my rodent!" Boo shows his face towards the end of the skirmish, he meets up with Delina in the tavern. Pulling out the next piece of the clue, or first piece of the clue to their adventure, which basically leads them up to the story. To this end as long as its done right, you could use Netherese, Cult of The Dragon, Drow, a new cult of Githyanki. I'm sure someone at WotC could actually get writing something.
The adventure continues, and for sake of me not knowing the whole entire Forgotten Realms Lore and Canon, you could ommit either of these three characters, or include them both, I don't think Dale Reckoning that Minsc and Xanathar perfectly line up, so what? You've had previous Xanathars, perhaps this is the new Xanathar, perhaps he was lying by his dead father body or something at the start. (How long do beholders live for exactly?) Its just the point that D&D at this point shouldn't be scared to say We Own This (of course I guess thats why the movie might just bomb, because all the license agreements, but doesn't like Hasbro makes toys already, ffs)
I'd also love to see in this (totally hopefully movie idea of mine) that a few races are included, as adventurers, joe Manganiello voices a red dragonborn who at some point strips out of his armour who admits he also made the armour. Rosario Dawson somehow manages to enter the movie, or is cast in a end of credits spoiler to the next movie, titled "Tashas Hideous Realm).
That the movie also adopts a unified version of events that parallel todays issues, tackling race, and gender equality and sexual orientation, that there is a right and wrong to living life, yet life isn't always cutter cookie material and sometimes things have to be forgiven to move on to the next challenge. I also think that they should employ some of the amazing talents who have tried to help propel D&D on social media, twitch, either as voice actors or extras, and include some original D&D artwork.
If you get it right, you can make at least three more movies which are actually different in the next ten years, and perhaps even tie into a Magic the Gathering Movie. If they get it wrong, and it bombs, you can just expect them to try another D&D movie in another ten years.
Sorry I really needed to get that off my chest. Regardless, Best of success with the promotion of the movie, and I genuinely hope that its a master piece, like Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones. *But not three hours long, plllllease* I'd rather watch two one and a half hour movies.
Honestly, the only thing about this film that I'm looking forward to is the inevitable Pitch Meeting. Making fun of plot holes and bad acting is tight!
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Personally, I think the greatest challenge for making a "Dungeons and Dragons movie" is that D&D is not a specific story, world, or characters. It's just a game system that can be used for any story. Like a set of painting tools, they don't define anything about the painting just a way of creating it. There's no way to make a D&D movie that's anything other than just a regular fantasy movie. Not that fantasy movies can't be great or anything, if done properly I think it's possible a D&D movie could be great, but that the advertising of a D&D movie doesn't really give them anything but tropes. If WotC wanted to make an excellent fantasy movie with it's own original story line, plot, and characters, possibly with a few D&D staples like beholders, that'd be great. But there's no real basis of the movie they can base the movie on to make it more or less D&D, or be more interesting to D&D players.
We as D&D players don't necessarily have much in common as far as story preferences. The fanbase of another franchise, like say CR, could make a movie that was based upon that world and story line. But the D&D community is only brought together by a love of the game system and fantasy. This means that the movie doesn't actually have anything to draw off of. They don't have anything that brings the D&D fanbase together and so can't cater to this specific audience. Rather they just need to make a good fantasy movie.
The trap with a situation like this is that they way want to use all the common tropes. Because "every D&D player knows the tropes" or whatever. But this is the opposite of what makes a good movie. We need a though-out, original plot that make a great movie, not just a bunch of "a party enters the dungeons, fights some monsters, and stops an ancient evil from rising"
This just circles to the original point but if they make what will work ie just a fantasy movie, then it's not really a D&D movie and it's wont necessarily be popular with every D&D player given that some may prefer a different plot or genre. This is an inherent issue with trying to create a movie that caters to the D&D audience.
So TL;DR, there's no such thing as a "dungeons and dragons movie", it'd just be some random fantasy movie. This makes it harder for them to cater to a specif audience other than just relying on tropes and fan service.
Edit: They already shot the movie which means the survey is likely to try to create a trailer that caters the the most possible D&D fans. The fact that they are trying to resort to this does not bode well for the movie....
Honestly, the only thing about this film that I'm looking forward to is the inevitable Pitch Meeting. Making fun of plot holes and bad acting is tight!
I think the Honest Trailer will be interesting on a self-conscious meta level possibly.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Pan’s Labyrinth was so ugly to look at and so hard to follow I checked out less than halfway through. I tried to give it a second chance once and it only reaffirmed my previous opinions. Everyone keeps saying what a genius Del Toro is and I just don’t see it. 🤷♂️ (Of course, everyone said Emeril Lagasse is a genius too and I think he’s a total hack with an annoying gimmick. And I was a professional chef for years, so I’ma take my word for it.)
I heard excellent things about Game Night however, mostly from the actors I currently work with. So I’m planning on giving it a go when it comes up on Netflix. I’ll give you a review of that after I watch it if you want.
Del Toro's awesome. Pacific Rim was such a master piece! Pan's Labyrinth was pretty darn cool. But you ever seen Shape of Water? What about Hellboy 2?! Jesus, those are all bangers of films. Even movies where he doesn't direct where he's just involved, like The Orphanage, proves he's got the Midas Touch.
But, honestly? While I love his brand of camp and fantasy, I don't know he'd be a good fit for DnD. For better or worse, modern DnD (and I prefer modern) is tied a certain brand of humor and ethos.
If any director's up to the task, it HAS to be Taika Waititi. You watch Thor Ragnarok, Our Flag Means Death, and Free Guy? That alone tells you everything you need to know.
Pan’s Labyrinth was so ugly to look at and so hard to follow I checked out less than halfway through. I tried to give it a second chance once and it only reaffirmed my previous opinions. Everyone keeps saying what a genius Del Toro is and I just don’t see it. 🤷♂️ (Of course, everyone said Emeril Lagasse is a genius too and I think he’s a total hack with an annoying gimmick. And I was a professional chef for years, so I’ma take my word for it.)
I heard excellent things about Game Night however, mostly from the actors I currently work with. So I’m planning on giving it a go when it comes up on Netflix. I’ll give you a review of that after I watch it if you want.
Del Toro's awesome. Pacific Rim was such a master piece! Pan's Labyrinth was pretty darn cool. But you ever seen Shape of Water? What about Hellboy 2?! Jesus, those are all bangers of films. Even movies where he doesn't direct where he's just involved, like The Orphanage, proves he's got the Midas Touch.
But, honestly? While I love his brand of camp and fantasy, I don't know he'd be a good fit for DnD. For better or worse, modern DnD (and I prefer modern) is tied a certain brand of humor and ethos.
If any director's up to the task, it HAS to be Taika Waititi. You watch Thor Ragnarok, Our Flag Means Death, and Free Guy? That alone tells you everything you need to know.
I can’t stand Del Toro. Pan’s Labyrinth sucked eggs and Hellboy 2 was almost unwatchable. I haven’t seen Pacific Rim because I can’t stand Del Toro. (Oh wait, that must be the Dino Vs. giant Robot! 😂😂) Hard pass. If by “Midas touch” you mean everything he touches turns to 💩, I could believe that.
But, honestly? While I love his brand of camp and fantasy, I don't know he'd be a good fit for DnD. For better or worse, modern DnD (and I prefer modern) is tied a certain brand of humor and ethos.
Guillermo would be a pretty great fit for a Curse of Strahd movie though, if we're just adding to his pile of dream projects alongside At the Mountains of Madness, Frankenstein etc
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Guillermo del Toro's skill or lack thereof as a director is irrelevant because he's not involved in this movie anyway.
Yeah, but he would have done a better job than two guys who do snarky comedy movies.
That's not a guarantee.
Track records mean something.
Ah, yes--just like Peter Jackson's track record making solid, mostly book-accurate adaptations of high fantasy films based on books by J.R.R. Tolkien predicted the quality of his Hobbit movies /s.
The simple reality is that any review of quality is based on speculation. The writer/director pair are relatively untested in the specific genera, and it could very easily be they were chosen because they have a substantial experience with D&D as a game and have spent decades writing excellent campaigns as DMs.... or it could be that they are both complete novices to the genera and it will be a complete disaster. Trying to judge them based on limited data is a bit of a futile endeavor.
What we do know--the cast looks decent enough. I am not the biggest Chris Pine fan and found him a little milquetoast in Star Trek, but Hugh Grant (though mostly known for his comedy work), is a rather versatile actor with some successful experiences in period pieces. Regé-Jean Page is likewise extremely talented, with his most famous role being a period drama. That's at least some relevant experience pointing toward at least some of the leads knowing what they are doing.
I also do not think a D&D movie is impossible to make on its face. While there is no "one true story" to adapt, there are a number of things like artefacts, evil deities, etc. which are decidedly D&D, and which could easily distinguish the film from "generic fantasy with D&D branding." D&D also has the advantage of embracing the fantastical--most modern fantasy has moved toward being relatively grounded due to the success of Game of Thrones, attempting to be grounded in both its characters and its themes. D&D has, since its very beginning, been a mix of action, adventure.... and people being able to do whatever absolutely goofy thing pops into their mind. There's quite a bit of potential there to make something that is very different in tone than anything else in recent releases.
Finally, after finishing filming, Hasbro has been willing to commit more money into developing a spin-off show, indicating they are confident enough in the product to greenlight larger investments. That's not an absolute sign that the movie is good--and executives make mistakes all the time on these kinds of things--but it still provides another data point that leans more toward success than failure.
All told, am I optimistic about the movie? Not really, but nothing I have heard screams "this cannot physically be anything other than terrible." Until we have a trailer and a bit more data, I see no real cause to speculate in either direction.
Guillermo del Toro's skill or lack thereof as a director is irrelevant because he's not involved in this movie anyway.
Yeah, but he would have done a better job than two guys who do snarky comedy movies.
That's not a guarantee.
Track records mean something.
Past success is no guarantee of future results. People thought M Night Shyamalan could do no wrong, then he released The Village, The Happening, and The Last Airbender.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
As plenty of others have said, I am concerned that it is going to be a generic fantasy movie. While I agree that the movie should appeal to as wide of an audience as possible, the movie should also lean on D&D's uniqueness to make it stand out.
Although wizard is my favorite class, Viscious Mockery is one of my favorite spells. From the survey, it seems like the bard might not be able to cast magic, and Viscious Mockery was not even mentioned at all.
While Fireball may be iconic to D&D players, I think Viscious Mockery is going to stand out more among the casual crowd and newcomers. Fire magic and stopping time are good to have in a D&D movie, but it is not going to make the movie stand out. I think dealing the final blow to a boss with a "Yo Mama" joke or some creative profanity is what sets D&D apart.
What is D&D? It is a game, with a set of precise rules that define it. Are those rules going to be in a movie? Is the Wizard going to say 'I am out of spell slots."? Not a chance. This is simply going to be yet another fantasy movie with "D&D" slapped into the title.
There is nothing wrong with wizards saying "I am out of spell slots" in the middle of battle or whenever it happens. If an anime like Goblin Slayer can utilize D&D mechanics as part of its world, an official D&D movie should not have such an issue either.
I personally find spell slots to be an absolutely dumb idea, but it is an idea that strongly evokes the flavor of D&D. I think it is an important element of D&D that makes its setting stand apart from other fantasy settings. Spell slots are also an easy way to create tension and handicap the characters due to its limited nature.
As plenty of others have said, I am concerned that it is going to be a generic fantasy movie. While I agree that the movie should appeal to as wide of an audience as possible, the movie should also lean on D&D's uniqueness to make it stand out.
Although wizard is my favorite class, Viscious Mockery is one of my favorite spells. From the survey, it seems like the bard might not be able to cast magic, and Viscious Mockery was not even mentioned at all.
While Fireball may be iconic to D&D players, I think Viscious Mockery is going to stand out more among the casual crowd and newcomers. Fire magic and stopping time are good to have in a D&D movie, but it is not going to make the movie stand out. I think dealing the final blow to a boss with a "Yo Mama" joke or some creative profanity is what sets D&D apart.
What is D&D? It is a game, with a set of precise rules that define it. Are those rules going to be in a movie? Is the Wizard going to say 'I am out of spell slots."? Not a chance. This is simply going to be yet another fantasy movie with "D&D" slapped into the title.
There is nothing wrong with wizards saying "I am out of spell slots" in the middle of battle or whenever it happens. If an anime like Goblin Slayer can utilize D&D mechanics as part of its world, an official D&D movie should not have such an issue either.
Gods no. Making it an RPG mechanics setting would be a terrible idea. Just have someone suggest the wizard drop a fireball and they reply that they have to rest before they can cast a spell that powerful again. Do not have the characters openly aware of Vancian spellcasting or other RPG mechanics.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
There was a lot of Thay and a lot of Neverwinter which interests me because I've used both of those pretty recently. Might be an issue with geography, but handwaving is a proud D&D tradition.
Gods no. Making it an RPG mechanics setting would be a terrible idea. Just have someone suggest the wizard drop a fireball and they reply that they have to rest before they can cast a spell that powerful again. Do not have the characters openly aware of Vancian spellcasting or other RPG mechanics.
While I would not say Goblin Slayer sold the idea well (spell slots sound stupid to me no matter what), it did sold the idea relatively well, or at least well enough that I did not care about it anymore until I got into D&D and have to deal with how dumb the idea is again. However, more importantly, while I did not like the idea of spell slots, it did impart a unique flavor to Goblin Slayer's magic system and setting. I think D&D stands to benefit by making itself standout rather than follow the crowd in this specific instance.
Making meta information, like dice rolls or spellslots, part of the movie is a no go for me personally. This is behavior I don’t even like at the table. A spell caster can just say that they are out of power/ exhausted or whatever without stating meta game terms.
I don’t think that it has to be a generic movie because of that. Lord of the Rings was mostly a DnD group too with classic classes like fighter, wizard, ranger etc. but still was Lord of the Rings because of the world and the quest, also the monsters had their own unique backstory, like the orcs or the ents.
For DnD it could be the companions of the hall. I know not everybody likes Drizzt but it would clearly be a recognizable DnD movie with Cathie Brie, Wulfgar and the rest. I did not understand why they didn’t go for one of the most famous stories in DnD. You could do it Avengers style. Introduce the characters in a movie or two and let them build their team and then save e.g. Ten Towns or what have you.
Iconic monsters like a white dragon would be in the mix and you could expand from there down to the south or even down into the underdark.
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The thing I’ve always thought about this movie is it shouldn’t be in the FR. No matter what they do there, it’s just going to feel like a generic fantasy movie, with some bits of fan service that will go over the heads of people who don’t play D&D. Like if elminster or drizzt makes a cameo, that’s not going to mean anything to anyone else. And the story is just going to be some unlikely band of heroes stopping an ancient evil from rising in a medieval-Europe adjacent setting. Which has been done a thousand times before.
But if they put it in eberron or dark sun, heck, maybe even krynn, it could be different enough to catch people’s attention. Then put out out a setting book or boxed set around the same time as the movie. That might get non-gamers interested.
If we see in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves many of the aspects referenced in the survey, such as the locations, factions, races, classes, monsters and spells, i will be more than happy!
I can't hold much weight on this. I'm not a director, actor, share holder or producer. Dungeons and Dragons on television and film hasn't a good record, although its noted, Book of Vile Darkness at least used elements of D&D that players could related to, i.e stuffing a corpse in a bag of holding, and evil guys being evil and not just "pretend evil".
I first heard about this when Joe Manganiello announced he wanted to make a movie, I have no idea how involved he is with this movie, if at all. I don't think he is. It would have been cool had he been, as he has solid experience of story telling, and an understanding of the geek culture. I enjoyed watching him in Pee Wee Big Holiday, which is pretty cool.
Yet the studio companies obviously were told the D&D was resurfacing stronger, and series like Stranger Things obviously had people excited. So who knows, most the directors and actors I heard in the movie, don't have any ties that I can reference to making a strong movie, yet usually in movies thats not needed. As Star Wars proved with Daisy Ridley, a fresh face, is a welcomed face. Even in a strong intellectual property likes Star Wars or in this case Dungeons and Dragons. I am still pretty doubtful of the actors selected, I am cringing at Hugh Grant being cast, and playing the "British Knight" or "British Bad Guy".
And my intuition is telling me that I am not going to like this movie, be reluctant to watch it, likely finally watch it, and probably enjoy it for the two hours, and that'll be that. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Just ticking things of my list to do. Hell, time would be better spent, doing voluntary work or contributing to society in so way or form.
I feel that the target audience is going to be missed, they'll probably aim at movie goers like Dad and two children, single parents and teenagers.
Currently the bulk of movie goers sit between animated kids film, horror movies and comic adaptation blockbusters. You can check box office numbers on that. So it would make sense to lean on these numbers rather than go for the traditional "we need a target audience".
The movie doesn't need to be 18 or even 15. Of course its going to make less sense with out blood thats probably one huge hurdle, but there are thousands of stories to tell in the D&D universe without spilling a drop of blood. Plus thats what "directors cut" is for, right?
Thats just it, Dungeons & Dragons, was the foot of thousands of novels, movies and games culminated. It should wear its crown with pride and still act like an wise elder able to dish some wisdom and knowledge (inspiration to new and old game masters)
If I had to write a script for the movie, I would simply use the intellectual property and truely amazing character of Xanathar. The movie starts with four adventurers, super trope and likely famous actors, who have reached the depths of a dungeon, (lets just say its the yawning portal, just the audience wouldn't be aware of this at all, perhaps the decor would show it for easter eggs) the adventures stumble into a room, and given a few lines, very heroic, very hopefully, in the depths lurks something, one adventurer in disintegrated, one turned to stone, a reflection in a gold plate shows what to be a holder, one ray shoots out and paralyzes the thief who drops a bag of treasure scattering gold coins over the ground. The fighter looms forward. Out floats Xanathar, except its not a full grown beholder, its a baby Xanathar looking crazy mean and angry, and victorious, one last yellow beam shoots across the screen hitting the warrior, fear wrecks his face and drops to his knees, he screams, picks him self up and runs, runs to tell the story. Cue opening rock music, and credits.
Next scene, twenty years later (or something, do the math) Minsc, fighting scoundrels in Baldurs Gate. He swings his sword around kicking scoundrels ass. Stacking lines like "Butt kicking for goodness", "Feel the backhand of justice", and finally "When the going gets tough, someone hold my rodent!" Boo shows his face towards the end of the skirmish, he meets up with Delina in the tavern. Pulling out the next piece of the clue, or first piece of the clue to their adventure, which basically leads them up to the story. To this end as long as its done right, you could use Netherese, Cult of The Dragon, Drow, a new cult of Githyanki. I'm sure someone at WotC could actually get writing something.
The adventure continues, and for sake of me not knowing the whole entire Forgotten Realms Lore and Canon, you could ommit either of these three characters, or include them both, I don't think Dale Reckoning that Minsc and Xanathar perfectly line up, so what? You've had previous Xanathars, perhaps this is the new Xanathar, perhaps he was lying by his dead father body or something at the start. (How long do beholders live for exactly?) Its just the point that D&D at this point shouldn't be scared to say We Own This (of course I guess thats why the movie might just bomb, because all the license agreements, but doesn't like Hasbro makes toys already, ffs)
I'd also love to see in this (totally hopefully movie idea of mine) that a few races are included, as adventurers, joe Manganiello voices a red dragonborn who at some point strips out of his armour who admits he also made the armour. Rosario Dawson somehow manages to enter the movie, or is cast in a end of credits spoiler to the next movie, titled "Tashas Hideous Realm).
That the movie also adopts a unified version of events that parallel todays issues, tackling race, and gender equality and sexual orientation, that there is a right and wrong to living life, yet life isn't always cutter cookie material and sometimes things have to be forgiven to move on to the next challenge. I also think that they should employ some of the amazing talents who have tried to help propel D&D on social media, twitch, either as voice actors or extras, and include some original D&D artwork.
If you get it right, you can make at least three more movies which are actually different in the next ten years, and perhaps even tie into a Magic the Gathering Movie. If they get it wrong, and it bombs, you can just expect them to try another D&D movie in another ten years.
Sorry I really needed to get that off my chest. Regardless, Best of success with the promotion of the movie, and I genuinely hope that its a master piece, like Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones. *But not three hours long, plllllease* I'd rather watch two one and a half hour movies.
Peace, lovingly in respect, Alex
Honestly, the only thing about this film that I'm looking forward to is the inevitable Pitch Meeting. Making fun of plot holes and bad acting is tight!
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Personally, I think the greatest challenge for making a "Dungeons and Dragons movie" is that D&D is not a specific story, world, or characters. It's just a game system that can be used for any story. Like a set of painting tools, they don't define anything about the painting just a way of creating it. There's no way to make a D&D movie that's anything other than just a regular fantasy movie. Not that fantasy movies can't be great or anything, if done properly I think it's possible a D&D movie could be great, but that the advertising of a D&D movie doesn't really give them anything but tropes. If WotC wanted to make an excellent fantasy movie with it's own original story line, plot, and characters, possibly with a few D&D staples like beholders, that'd be great. But there's no real basis of the movie they can base the movie on to make it more or less D&D, or be more interesting to D&D players.
We as D&D players don't necessarily have much in common as far as story preferences. The fanbase of another franchise, like say CR, could make a movie that was based upon that world and story line. But the D&D community is only brought together by a love of the game system and fantasy. This means that the movie doesn't actually have anything to draw off of. They don't have anything that brings the D&D fanbase together and so can't cater to this specific audience. Rather they just need to make a good fantasy movie.
The trap with a situation like this is that they way want to use all the common tropes. Because "every D&D player knows the tropes" or whatever. But this is the opposite of what makes a good movie. We need a though-out, original plot that make a great movie, not just a bunch of "a party enters the dungeons, fights some monsters, and stops an ancient evil from rising"
This just circles to the original point but if they make what will work ie just a fantasy movie, then it's not really a D&D movie and it's wont necessarily be popular with every D&D player given that some may prefer a different plot or genre. This is an inherent issue with trying to create a movie that caters to the D&D audience.
So TL;DR, there's no such thing as a "dungeons and dragons movie", it'd just be some random fantasy movie. This makes it harder for them to cater to a specif audience other than just relying on tropes and fan service.
Edit: They already shot the movie which means the survey is likely to try to create a trailer that caters the the most possible D&D fans. The fact that they are trying to resort to this does not bode well for the movie....
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I think the Honest Trailer will be interesting on a self-conscious meta level possibly.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Del Toro's awesome. Pacific Rim was such a master piece! Pan's Labyrinth was pretty darn cool. But you ever seen Shape of Water? What about Hellboy 2?! Jesus, those are all bangers of films. Even movies where he doesn't direct where he's just involved, like The Orphanage, proves he's got the Midas Touch.
But, honestly? While I love his brand of camp and fantasy, I don't know he'd be a good fit for DnD. For better or worse, modern DnD (and I prefer modern) is tied a certain brand of humor and ethos.
If any director's up to the task, it HAS to be Taika Waititi. You watch Thor Ragnarok, Our Flag Means Death, and Free Guy? That alone tells you everything you need to know.
I can’t stand Del Toro. Pan’s Labyrinth sucked eggs and Hellboy 2 was almost unwatchable. I haven’t seen Pacific Rim because I can’t stand Del Toro. (Oh wait, that must be the Dino Vs. giant Robot! 😂😂) Hard pass. If by “Midas touch” you mean everything he touches turns to 💩, I could believe that.
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Guillermo del Toro's skill or lack thereof as a director is irrelevant because he's not involved in this movie anyway.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Guillermo would be a pretty great fit for a Curse of Strahd movie though, if we're just adding to his pile of dream projects alongside At the Mountains of Madness, Frankenstein etc
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
That's not a guarantee.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Ah, yes--just like Peter Jackson's track record making solid, mostly book-accurate adaptations of high fantasy films based on books by J.R.R. Tolkien predicted the quality of his Hobbit movies /s.
The simple reality is that any review of quality is based on speculation. The writer/director pair are relatively untested in the specific genera, and it could very easily be they were chosen because they have a substantial experience with D&D as a game and have spent decades writing excellent campaigns as DMs.... or it could be that they are both complete novices to the genera and it will be a complete disaster. Trying to judge them based on limited data is a bit of a futile endeavor.
What we do know--the cast looks decent enough. I am not the biggest Chris Pine fan and found him a little milquetoast in Star Trek, but Hugh Grant (though mostly known for his comedy work), is a rather versatile actor with some successful experiences in period pieces. Regé-Jean Page is likewise extremely talented, with his most famous role being a period drama. That's at least some relevant experience pointing toward at least some of the leads knowing what they are doing.
I also do not think a D&D movie is impossible to make on its face. While there is no "one true story" to adapt, there are a number of things like artefacts, evil deities, etc. which are decidedly D&D, and which could easily distinguish the film from "generic fantasy with D&D branding." D&D also has the advantage of embracing the fantastical--most modern fantasy has moved toward being relatively grounded due to the success of Game of Thrones, attempting to be grounded in both its characters and its themes. D&D has, since its very beginning, been a mix of action, adventure.... and people being able to do whatever absolutely goofy thing pops into their mind. There's quite a bit of potential there to make something that is very different in tone than anything else in recent releases.
Finally, after finishing filming, Hasbro has been willing to commit more money into developing a spin-off show, indicating they are confident enough in the product to greenlight larger investments. That's not an absolute sign that the movie is good--and executives make mistakes all the time on these kinds of things--but it still provides another data point that leans more toward success than failure.
All told, am I optimistic about the movie? Not really, but nothing I have heard screams "this cannot physically be anything other than terrible." Until we have a trailer and a bit more data, I see no real cause to speculate in either direction.
Past success is no guarantee of future results. People thought M Night Shyamalan could do no wrong, then he released The Village, The Happening, and The Last Airbender.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
As plenty of others have said, I am concerned that it is going to be a generic fantasy movie. While I agree that the movie should appeal to as wide of an audience as possible, the movie should also lean on D&D's uniqueness to make it stand out.
Although wizard is my favorite class, Viscious Mockery is one of my favorite spells. From the survey, it seems like the bard might not be able to cast magic, and Viscious Mockery was not even mentioned at all.
While Fireball may be iconic to D&D players, I think Viscious Mockery is going to stand out more among the casual crowd and newcomers. Fire magic and stopping time are good to have in a D&D movie, but it is not going to make the movie stand out. I think dealing the final blow to a boss with a "Yo Mama" joke or some creative profanity is what sets D&D apart.
There is nothing wrong with wizards saying "I am out of spell slots" in the middle of battle or whenever it happens. If an anime like Goblin Slayer can utilize D&D mechanics as part of its world, an official D&D movie should not have such an issue either.
I personally find spell slots to be an absolutely dumb idea, but it is an idea that strongly evokes the flavor of D&D. I think it is an important element of D&D that makes its setting stand apart from other fantasy settings. Spell slots are also an easy way to create tension and handicap the characters due to its limited nature.
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Gods no. Making it an RPG mechanics setting would be a terrible idea. Just have someone suggest the wizard drop a fireball and they reply that they have to rest before they can cast a spell that powerful again. Do not have the characters openly aware of Vancian spellcasting or other RPG mechanics.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Best D&D movie was that episode of Voltron, you know the one I'm talking about.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Well, if nothing else I can focus on Sophia Lillis and pretend I'm watching a strange spinoff of IT.
There was a lot of Thay and a lot of Neverwinter which interests me because I've used both of those pretty recently. Might be an issue with geography, but handwaving is a proud D&D tradition.
While I would not say Goblin Slayer sold the idea well (spell slots sound stupid to me no matter what), it did sold the idea relatively well, or at least well enough that I did not care about it anymore until I got into D&D and have to deal with how dumb the idea is again. However, more importantly, while I did not like the idea of spell slots, it did impart a unique flavor to Goblin Slayer's magic system and setting. I think D&D stands to benefit by making itself standout rather than follow the crowd in this specific instance.
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D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
Making meta information, like dice rolls or spellslots, part of the movie is a no go for me personally. This is behavior I don’t even like at the table. A spell caster can just say that they are out of power/ exhausted or whatever without stating meta game terms.
I don’t think that it has to be a generic movie because of that. Lord of the Rings was mostly a DnD group too with classic classes like fighter, wizard, ranger etc. but still was Lord of the Rings because of the world and the quest, also the monsters had their own unique backstory, like the orcs or the ents.
For DnD it could be the companions of the hall. I know not everybody likes Drizzt but it would clearly be a recognizable DnD movie with Cathie Brie, Wulfgar and the rest. I did not understand why they didn’t go for one of the most famous stories in DnD. You could do it Avengers style. Introduce the characters in a movie or two and let them build their team and then save e.g. Ten Towns or what have you.
Iconic monsters like a white dragon would be in the mix and you could expand from there down to the south or even down into the underdark.