I think the decision not to do novels was down to Hasbro's insistence that the movie has to tie into the current books and help shift some more of them, so it'll probably be set in the "present day" of FR 5th Edition.
Apparently there was one comment from the studio that they saw the tone of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was something they should aspire to: dramatic and serious (it's not an out-and-out comedy) but with a knowing, even slightly meta sense of humour.
Which is great if it works, but will be terrible if it doesn't.
Novels, they are printing Novels?
I've switched up to PF tales because my normal FR fix was done away with.
They released the Sundering novels and two 5 Drizzt Novels...other than that, anything they've released recently has basically been on kindle. It's like their hardcopy printing has completely died out comparatively to what it was.
PF tales is what I read now days simply because they still print books...
Either that or WotC has completely hidden their books away except for their kindle offerings.
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All I can say at this point is, I'm very curious to see what a high budget name brand D&D movie ends up looking like. If we get something on the same level as other Hasbro properties such as Battleship, G.I.Joe and Transformers, I'll be psyched.
Oh god those are my worst case scenario.
My biggest concern though is that the directors last work was Goosebumps. Which was less about adapting Goosebumps into a kid friendly horror movie, but rather a meta comedy referencing the books. I don't mind some Guardians of the Galaxy level humor but please oh god please don't let it become a portal fantasy with a group of gamers being put into the Forgotten Realms....
Noted, I never read any goosebumps books. I thought the goosbumps movie was actually relatively entertaining. I didn't think it was the greatest movie ever, nor did I think it was the worst. It was just one of those movies that you go and watch, but doesn't really stand out.
AKA...at least it is about 10X better than ANY D&D franchise movie ever made. That's a bonus.
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All I can say at this point is, I'm very curious to see what a high budget name brand D&D movie ends up looking like. If we get something on the same level as other Hasbro properties such as Battleship, G.I.Joe and Transformers, I'll be psyched.
Oh god those are my worst case scenario.
My biggest concern though is that the directors last work was Goosebumps. Which was less about adapting Goosebumps into a kid friendly horror movie, but rather a meta comedy referencing the books. I don't mind some Guardians of the Galaxy level humor but please oh god please don't let it become a portal fantasy with a group of gamers being put into the Forgotten Realms....
Come on, 6 young teenagers at an amusement park get on a roller coaster that starts going through a tunnel with the sign Yawning Portal at the entrance. They emerge to find themselves in a fantasy land being chased by 5 headed dragon that is actually a lesser deity, but for some reason can never catch them. Every 15 minutes they think they are about to go home when something happens and they have to start a new quest.
Its such a great idea it will spawn TV spinoffs, maybe even a cartoon series.
It does sound delightfully stupid.
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More stupid and less delightful, sadly. Reams of papers have been written on the influence of "prosocial messages" on it.
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The director was confirmed back in April. Since then, nothing new except that Hasbro are expecting to start shooting either late this year or the start of next, so I'd anticipate a late 2018 release.
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Yeah I think the best we can hope for it is 2018 or else 2019.
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I was hoping for more news at SDCC, but neither Hasbro nor Paramount have said anything about it so far, and with the film at least two years off that's not too surprising.
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Wonder if the box office performance of the Warcraft movie had an effect on this project?
D&D isn't big in China, so I doubt it had any sort of positive impact.
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I think the chances we'll hear something in 2017 might be great than Comic-Con 2016.
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They aren't prioritizing stuff because of CHINA, they are prioritizing it because of MARKETS. The market could be that the D&D movie makes TONS in Uraguay, for whatever reason. If that's the case, they would AIM for that market with future releases of similar scope. China is not bad, in this instance, or evil, and the companies saying "holy cow, look, there is a strong, positive market there" is logical and expected. Global film companies cannot, will not and SHOULD not just make movies "for American's" when a film makes less than $50M on an $160M budget domestically, but near ten times that amount foreign.
What (I believe) KoboldCleaver was saying is China won't be a determining factor. So, literally, zero prioritization because of China. And if there WAS, it would simply make it more likely that the film would be made. It would actually benefit you.
:)
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Well if nothing else, I'm convinced they need to bring in Minsc and Boo to help the rotten tomato score. ;)
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Not on the budget they're going to have
The indications are that this is going to be a pretty big-budgetd project, like Hasbro leveraged for BATTLESHIP (of all things) and TRANSFORMERS. Maybe not quite in those leagues (I'd be surprised if the budget went over $200 million for the first movie) but it's going to be a far cry from the tiny budget of the 2000 movie.
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I hope it's more than they spent on Transformers 5....
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I hope it's more than they spent on Transformers 5....
They haven't released a budget for THE LAST KNIGHT yet. But AGE OF EXTINCTION's budget was $210 million and DARK IS THE MOON's was $195 million, so THE LAST KNIGHT could comfortably be in the $220-250 million range. When you know the film is going to hit $1 billion no matter how awful you make it, you can afford to go to town :)
I suspect the D&D movie will be more like $130-150 million. Adjusted for inflation, the 2000 D&D movie's budget would be about $60 million today so it'll be way more than that.
I was hoping between 150-200 billion. But that's just me Wert.
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For a Transformers movie? Only if it's a HD release of the 1986 animated movie.
No I meant for the D&D movie, Wert. :p
If want only 150 billion, it's for a movie about my closet that leads to Ravenloft. :p
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Million, not billion. It's a BIG difference.
So, realistically, the film can be made, and made correctly and incredibly for about 80 million, possibly as low as 60. I honestly wouldn't trust it on a bigger budget than 90, though, because it does lack international pull. And you can do EVERYTHING (trust me) for that amount. Look at the way Ryan Reynolds pulled off Deadpool for that amount (he produced it). Visually it's perfect, and doesn't lack, but approaches the IP from a loving, caring standpoint, and you end up with a fantastic film, that was made with less risk and higher profit margin, and none of the over-inflated "flashy" CG.
The best format (which they might be aiming for, I can't tell yet) is actually a little bit of Guardians of the Galaxy; i.e. funny cast of characters that are in no way tongue in cheek, in a vibrant, crazy world, adventuring their hearts out. Plenty of battles, but that's not the focus, and the battles aren't huge colossus (think the Titans movies and Hercules movies). I think those, if used as a model for this film, will spell disaster. But a team based action comedy...that's your sweet spot. Nothing campy, nothing King Arthur/Robin-Hood-esque, and staying away from looking like Order of the stick on screen. They will likely have a younger cast as well (think late teens), to aim for the younger audience, as that is Hasbro's MO. I'd be surprised if it was older.
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Million, not billion. It's a BIG difference.
So, realistically, the film can be made, and made correctly and incredibly for about 80 million, possibly as low as 60. I honestly wouldn't trust it on a bigger budget than 90, though, because it does lack international pull. And you can do EVERYTHING (trust me) for that amount.
Wow... a budget of 90M is apparently more then all the first three D&D movies COMBINED.
Soooo yeah, they could do a lot with a budget like that still be MUCH better than we've seen before.
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Fine, no billions. But even so, I would love to see a billion dollar budget for D&D. :p :)
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Yup, even adjusted for inflation it would still be bigger. But the 2000 D&D movie was massively under-budgeted for its scale and scope. Hasbro will want a lot more than that, but not so much that it risks being a failure. TRANSFORMERS is now a massive international brand which sells well in China, but D&D will have to prove itself first. Using that template, it might go as high as the first TRANSFORMERS movie: $150 million in 2007, but you could probably do it for $150 million in today's money and still get a reasonable return.
It's worth remembering that the LotR movies were only budgeted at $90 million each. Adjusted, the D&D movie would probably still have more money. I only hope they learn the lesson to use miniatures and as much live-action stuff as possible and save the CG for when it's really needed.
NEWS: Ansel Elgort, a generic young actor (he was the lead in THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, apparently), is in talks to star. Hasbor also want "a Vin Diesel type" for the film, which run through the Universal Translator comes out as meaning they want Vin Diesel.
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Wert,
Everyone wants Vin Diesel. Just like everyone wants Tyrion/Peter Dinklage.
Right now I'll settle for them bringing in someone with gravitas like say, Robert Duvall to play the king of whatever.
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Wert,
Everyone wants Vin Diesel. Just like everyone wants Tyrion/Peter Dinklage.
Right now I'll settle for them bringing in someone with gravitas like say, Robert Duvall to play the king of whatever.
Only if Gary Oldman gets to run him through in a moment of delightful betrayal!
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They should do a "Find Me Guilty" reunion with Peter Dinklage and Vin Diesel!
And make it a fantasy courtroom drama--trial by magical combat!
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Pan,
I'd be okay with Gary Oldman as the villain.
Dan,
Nah. I think they should have Peter Dinklage and Vin Diesel be two roguish (not actual ROGUES!) fellows that drink and one of them has an imaginary talking hamster.
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Hamster????
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Exactly Kahnya! :D
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D&D isn't big in China, so I doubt it had any sort of positive impact.I'm sick of people prioritizing stuff because China.
You don't ignore the largest and fastest growing market on the planet. What you're missing, is the privilege you had when that market was the American one.
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What I'm missing is live action Minsc and Boo along with some other notable non-drow NPCs for a movie in the Forgotten Realms.
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Hamster????GO FOR THE EYES!
There is a LOOP.
And I'm out of it.
:-P
I still hope they make an Azure Bonds movie someday.
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Enough about you kids and your forgettable realms, when is Blackmoor or greyhawk getting their respect???
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Sorry Mister Dangerfield, but I don't think people are ready to go through caring about characters only to see them get eaten by black hole traps.
Smilo,
I'd say you're in a loop just not this one.
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Hamster????GO FOR THE EYES!There is a LOOP.
And I'm out of it.
:-P
I still hope they make an Azure Bonds movie someday.
Baldurs Gate, look it up.
Bigger, Badder, and crazier than Azure Bonds.
But the novels stunk compared to Azure Bonds, the video games on the otherhand...
Imoen could get annoying...heya.
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Ah.... I don't really play video games. :-P
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Enough about you kids and your forgettable realms, when is Blackmoor or greyhawk getting their respect???
I think when they've sold a few more tens of millions of books/video games/gaming materials. Or the movie is a big hit and they get their expanded universe stuff and they decide to do a weird avant-garde, low-budget side movie in the universe (and I think it's way more likely we'll see DARK SUN and PLANESCAPE first).
I think the first movie and maybe a couple after will be in FORGOTTEN REALMS and then we might see something in DRAGONLANCE or EBERRON.
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Pan,
I think it's more likely now that it seems like they want to use D&D novels as source material for the movie. That's the rumor I heard.
So considering FR and Dragonlance have a goodly amount...well you do the math.
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Kal,
I think at this point Dwayne the Rock Johnson wouldn't mind but he might not be able to fit into his schedule with his TV show and movies.
They COULD just dub in Jim Cummings' voice. :)
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Mm you know I'd COULD see Travis do it. Mostly because I loved him in Fullmetal Alchemist.