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There is currently a lawsuit going on between Hasbro and Sweetpea entertainment over the rights, as Sweetpea may no longer legally have rights to the property, since made for syfy movies may not count as theatrical releases
At any rate, even if they don't own the specific rights to DnD, the rights situation is complicated, since Sweetpea never had the rights to the settings, specific characters etc. Just the generic DnD stuff.
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I don't think a Drizzt movie would work. Reading the novels plays it out in the theatre of the mind, but a movie is all about visuals. I think Drizzt would look too unusual for a wide audience to relate or connect to, and if the audience doesn't relate they won't care. You could take the stories from the Drizzt novels, and adapt the elements into a movie while changing the characters to more human like elves (or even outright humans) for a D&D Game of Thrones feel, but then you'd antagonize the gamer/novel fans.
If there's a primary protagonist, they'd need to be human, or look (mostly) human visually. Otherwise you can write off most of the non-gamer audience.
After Guardians of the Galaxy, I have to disagree - the most relatable character in the film is a talking raccoon.
And I don't mean that in a bad way; Rocket is amazing.
Honestly, I'd approve of a movie with Drizz't as the hero, just for having the cajones to make the lead a dude with jet black skin. Drizz't doesn't interest me, but neither did Wolverine, Iron Man or Captain America. Getting a good actor (Idris Elba? who'd be a good fit? I've never read any of the Drizz't novels) involved can change things completely.
I don't think Hasbro would go for a not-white-dude lead, though. Too risky according to conventional wisdom.
Eberron's goofy, because it's a high magic world populated with low level chumps who can't actually make of any of the magitech stuff. I think everyone who built all the airships and whatnot is dead so that there aren't any high level NPCs around? IIRC, the only non-evil thing in the setting that's over level 5 was a L20 awakened tree druid, or something weird like that. Just sort of, "huh, okay." Man, it's been over a decade since I looked at Eberron.
Seriously, there are FAR better fantasy books than the Drizzt books to make movies from if you have the opportunity. Kushiel's dart? :-)
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Well then, do Elfshadow. It has it all, and is magnitudes better than Salvatore's books. Or Azure bonds.
Eberron's goofy, because it's a high magic world populated with low level chumps who can't actually make of any of the magitech stuff. I think everyone who built all the airships and whatnot is dead so that there aren't any high level NPCs around? IIRC, the only non-evil thing in the setting that's over level 5 was a L20 awakened tree druid, or something weird like that. Just sort of, "huh, okay." Man, it's been over a decade since I looked at Eberron.
That's not really true. Airships are still being made, and the trains maintained. The only real issues are as follows.
1. It is illegal to create new warforged. That said it is believed that at least one underground creation forge is still being used.
2. The destruction of Cyre took out the heart of the lightning rail system. The present dangers of the Mournland prevents the reconnection of those severed lines. so they operate without that central connection.
Is there supposed to be some sort infrastructure in place that allows L5 or lower casters to cast the 6th level+ spells required to actually build the airships, trains, etc? IIRC, those are powered through binding powerful elementals (that can actually get loose and start trashing things if the conveyance takes sufficient damages).
That's more along the lines of what I meant - these things are getting built, but, IIRC, the casters you'd need to actually make them are conspicuously and deliberately absent.
Well then, do Elfshadow. It has it all, and is magnitudes better than Salvatore's books. Or Azure bonds.Other than the fanbase/name recognition.
I don't think I've read a D&D book since Dragonlance came out and I've heard on Drizz't. Elfshadow doesn't ring any bells.
I had to Google it. I recognized Elfshadow the moment I saw the cover, but yeah. I've read it before and I didn't recognize the name.
I vaguely recall its sequel Elfsong being good, and that I liked Arilyn and Danilo as characters, but I remember very little about them.
Eberron's goofy, because it's a high magic world populated with low level chumps who can't actually make of any of the magitech stuff. I think everyone who built all the airships and whatnot is dead so that there aren't any high level NPCs around? IIRC, the only non-evil thing in the setting that's over level 5 was a L20 awakened tree druid, or something weird like that. Just sort of, "huh, okay." Man, it's been over a decade since I looked at Eberron.
Actually, most of the things in Eberron can be made by some groups of its inhabitants. It's the results of dragon marks enabling much greater power than the person would normally have access to (at least, in theory) and the artificer class enabling an artificer to "fake" being a higher level in order to make stuff. Beyond that, there are several devices with CLs that are, technically, too large for them, but there are a few methods in-canon - for achieving those (generally by making those bigger things out of weaker things: the limits of that are based off of PLOT DEVICEs (tm) called Schema which enable such things, but only for very, specific patterns/constructions; Manifest Zones that allow for specific and easier effects related to the plane manifesting; and a device who's name I've totally forgotten that allow very limited and specific effects within a given time frame via PLOT. (There is no explicit methods for making Schema, there are ways to make temporary Manifest Zones, and the last one has rules but are generally 'encouraged' to be GM-exclusive, but that's because it's reliant upon non-controllable, semi-'natural' effects.)
Thus it's by way of the Artificers and Dragon Marked Houses, and a few meta-devices that are tied into the history of the world.
The preponderance of folk are, in fact, too weak to make most of the super-things. But that's why the few who can are generally in positions of power, snapped up by the Houses (and governments).
Most of the things still work, though.
EDIT: to add a few pieces of clarity, and expand upon methods.
It's still a much bigger problem for a game where players are coming in thinking "I want to make an airship! How do I do it?", than it is in a movie, unless you're dumb enough to focus on a protagonist who wants make an airship.
Sure, I agree. It's just not as much of a problem in-world if you actually dig than it seems at first. :)
So goobers using artifacts built by powerful but now thoroughly gone predecessors. Gotcha. (IIRC, Dragonmarks were level dependent, so just having a dragonmark in of itself didn't grant that much power. You had to be a bad-ass for your dragonmark to do something cool.)
(Though I remember really liking the Dragonmark implementation in 4E. As in, "immediately added to my homebrew campaign"-liked. The 4E dragonmarks had an effect that was useful at all levels by making all of your abilities of appropriate types simply better, and also unlocked all rituals thematically appropriate to your dragonmark.)
I'd remembered the warforge forges, but not the ones for trains & airships.
Anyways, sorry about the derail.
Eberron most certainly could work for a D&D movie, though WotC doesn't push the setting like it used to.
So goobers using artifacts built by powerful but now thoroughly gone predecessors. Gotcha.
This... isn't correct at all. I mean, I just said there were three ways you can make things "now" in addition to the artificer PC class.
EDIT:
- Artificers
- Specific Prestige (didn't mention these before)
- Special limited-use/non-adventuring devices
- Limited natural resources/location-based limits
- Schema-based patterns (with adventures built around making more)
... are a few off the top of my head.
I had the... opposite reaction to dragon marks on 4E than you. Indeed to look that up now to see why.
EDIT: Hm, the Mark of Finding is very "meh", and Mark of Handling is somewhat limited, but decent in its category (I have never once used an actual mount in 4E). Mark of Making could be really great, if wealth isn't strictly controlled, otherwise it's exceptionally lackluster due to the rapid scaling of cost for higher-level items (and is the essence of what artificers were in 3.X, but since wealth worked a bit differently in that case...). Mark of Storm feels... overly specific, but okay, I suppose.
Mark of Scribing, on the other hand, is possibly the most needlessly awesome. On review, I really like the rest (Detection, Healing, Hospitality, Passage, Sentinel, and Shadow), including the Aberrant marks.
My supposition at my own "meh"-ness is that when I first glanced through it, I probably settled on Finding first, skimmed Handling, Making, and Storm (ones we'd used a lot in 3.5) and found them lacking for our games. Welp! Glad you fixed that for me! :)
In 3.5, I didn't like the Aberrant marks until the latter supplements, but I liked the rest immediately. While they weren't terribly potent, they allowed for anyone of a given race to have magic, regardless of their class, and gain a skill bonus. They're pretty "meh" in PF-levels of power, but pretty great in 3.5's.
Comparing Prestige to Paragon, I find most of Eberron's "introduction" stuff in both editions kind of "meh" - phenomenal ideas, fair-to-blech execution. The major (and stupidly awesome) exception to that is the 4E Chameleon (the 3.5 Five Nations and Faiths of Eberron classes (except the Bone Knight's and Silver Pyromancer's prerequisites), Primal Scholar, Cabinet Trickster, Recaster, and Reforged all come to mind as awesome, but they're not introductory).
ANYway, long aside over...
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@ Tacticslion -
Hey, found the artificer class.
So a 5th level artificer (which is about where non-evil NPCs capped out on Eberron) would have craft wand, craft arms & armor, brew potion, craft wondrous, scribe scroll, and counts as a 6th level wizard or cleric with full spell access for the purpose of making magic items.
Still no way in hell he's making an airship without a plot device of some sort helping him =P Hence, goobers using artifacts.
IIRC, the 3.X Dragonmarks gave you spell-like powers based on your level. Or did you have to take a feat chain to unlock each step? It was the latter, now that I'm thinking about it? The divine obedience system in Pathfinder reminds me a lot of dragonmarks, actually.
The 4E dragonmarks ditched "give you extra powers" for instead upgrading your existing powers. While not mechanically similar, I found the 4E dragonmarks extremely useful (for example, the eladrin swordmage in my 4E game took the travel-related mark, and so got an always-on range upgrade on her numerous teleportation powers. My cleric took the healing-related mark, and gained status removal as a rider on many of her healing powers. Simple but very useful stuff).
Hilariously, I never actually read the 4E Eberron book (though one of my players bought it). I simply reviewed the mechanics stuff in the desktop character creator tools, and okayed the vast majority of it for my game, incorporating some of it into the actual campaign plot (dragonmarks, artificers, warforged), and leaving some of the floor (I didn't see a way to fit in the dragonshards). The eladrin swordmage I mentioned above multi'd artificer and took one of the artificer Prestige paths, so it must've come out not that long into my game. It's been a while.
@ Hama - Paizo's a very long ways off from having that kind of capital, I suspect.
Actually, a 5th level artificer would be a 7th level caster for item creation, instead of 6th. Further, they can fake having spells for item creation purposes with UMD - so it doesn't matter what level infusions they have access to; with enough UMD, they can make it (and they can receive Aid Another and Masterwork Tools, so they can usually do that pretty easily.
Added to that they can choose the "do it for less" feats as well, and they're in a pretty solid place for crafting stuff (especially if the dreaded Thought Bottles are ever introduced into Eberron).
5th level: Artificer knowledge, artisan bonus, disable trap,
item creation, Scribe Scroll, Brew Potion, Craft Wondrous Item, Craft homunculus, bonus feat, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, retain essence, and 100 "craft" XP (having gotten 20, 40, 60, and 80 at prior levels).
8th level (see "typical" below) would have Metamagic spell trigger, Craft Wand, bonus feat as well, and 200 "craft" XP (having gotten 150 the level before).
The Eldeen Reaches note that there is a druid counselor for each village ranging from levels 1 to 7, based off of size.
Non-evil CR 14/19 HD dragon on pg 229, and the head of the Church of the Silver Flame switches from being a 3rd level cleric to being an 18th level cleric, based on whether or not she's on premises (she doesn't go out much for obvious reasons, along with the fact that she's twelve). "Typical" priest of the silver flame is noted as fourth level and lawful good - not exceptional. Similarly, House Phialarren bard Tharrashk bounty hunter.
The Gatekeepers (a neutral force for the protection of the world) is noted as having a few high-level members, and for each, several mid-level, and some initiates... the last group of whom are described as 4th level.
"Typical" Artificer of "The Twelve" is apparently an 8th level NG guy (i.e. able to do 10th CL stuff). "Typical" Warden of the wood is 6th level druid.
The best line in the Campaign Guide I can find to match the view is,
Eberron is not a world where powerful NPCs typically show up to save the day; by the time the player characters reach the middle levels, they are their own best allies.
Compare, when introducing the NPC Magewright,
Wizardry requires an innate talent and a level of discipline and willpower that few people possess. If the average commoner spent thirty years working with a spellbook, he might not even make it to 1st level as a wizard. However, magic is still a part of the world.
It also notes that most normal spells and magic items are available, as per standard.
I think that by "low level" it just means that the few who are high enough are busy with stuff, and aren't very forward or present. There are obviously uniquely Eberron items that require folk who are level 15+, hence there are folk that are level 15. They just might suck at doing anything important. Really, a high strength, while nice, doesn't do much for the average crafter. Who'd want to go adventuring anyway? (Incidentally, vessels and galleons could be made by 13th level artificers.)
There are wondrous locations with things like "eldritch machines" that are plot-devices that do X under specific circumstances (which most PCs don't want to happen, hence the adventure) that are far beyond the capacity of most PCs, but with the caveat that a GM can determine that stuff, as desired.
And, for those times when you absolutely need something done that only high-level casters or creatures can do, there's always the Dragons, Undying Court, and other Uber-powers that meddle with all sorts of stuff (though usually distantly), and who inevitably trade their stuff over time.
Anyway, that's just some observations from the ECS. :)
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Interesting. My one campaign in the setting (as a player) had left me with a rather inaccurate impression, then.
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This conversation is really making me want to run an Eberron game next.
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I think one of the keys would be to advertise it as a Forgotten Realms / Eberron / Dragonlance / Greyhawk / [insert setting here] film, not as a D&D film. Not only does D&D carry the stigma from the 80s Satanism scare and being a very "nerdy/geeky" hobby, it also now carries the stigma of the 2000 film and it's sequels.
I'm not saying to entirely avoid the D&D branding, but I think that Eberron: a D&D adventure would go over better than D&D: an Eberron adventure.
Interesting. My one campaign in the setting (as a player) had left me with a rather inaccurate impression, then.
** spoiler omitted **
It probably boils down to many GMs' interpretations of,
Eberron is not a world where powerful NPCs typically show up to save the day; by the time the player characters reach the middle levels, they are their own best allies.
That pretty much sums up the whole "the PCs are on their own" kind of mentality.
Still, continuing to poke around,
MAGIC IN THE WORLD
Magic, and reliance upon magic, shapes and defines the societies of Eberron. For thousands of years, wizards, sorcerers, clerics, artificers, adepts, and magewrights have brought their magical talents to bear to solve the problems life poses. (The artificer character class is detailed on page 29; the magewright NPC class appears on page 256.) These solutions have helped humanoid society develop and thrive on every continent—particularly on Khorvaire.
The result is a society suffused with magic. Skycoaches fly among the soaring towers of Sharn. Blacksmiths chant spells over forges to improve the way they work. Airships ferry passengers from Zilargo to Karrnath. Weavers draw threads of shadow into their fabrics. Streets are illuminated with continual flame spells, and arcane marks emblazon letters of credit and other important documents. Magic is in common use, and low-level spells are easily accessible, although high-level magic is rare and wondrous.
SPELLCASTERS
Two broad categories of spellcasters work across Eberron: professional spellcasters and elite spellcasters. Each has a widely different impact on society.Professional spellcasters include adepts, magewrights, and others who actually earn a relatively mundane living by casting spells. These working-class casters keep the wheels of industry turning—sometimes literally. Broadly, this category also includes most dragonmarked individuals; they put their inborn magical ability to economic use for their house or family. In fact, the dragonmarked houses of Khorvaire dominate the economic life of the continent through their near-absolute control over professional spellcasting. Many of the unmarked members of the houses are magewrights and adepts, and professional spellcasters who are not members of the families usually work for the guilds that the dragonmarked houses control.
Elite spellcasters include wizards, artificers, sorcerers, clerics, druids, bards, and members of other spellcasting PC classes. Elite spellcasters might sell their services, but they rarely rely on such activity as their sole occupation and source of income. Few people can afford to pay for a high-level spell, and the market for elite spellcasters is too small to support many of them through their spellcasting alone. Most elite spellcasters have other professions—they are sages, priests, advisors, or adventurers.
<SNIP>
Magecraft Items: Every magewright worthy of the name knows the magecraft spell (see page 113). Truly expert coopers recite the magecraft spell over their barrels, the best blacksmiths chant it as they hammer hot iron, and the finest potters cast it while they spin their clay. The spell’s effect is simple (it provides a competence bonus on Craft checks), but its ramifications are extensive. Using magecraft, an artisan can produce fine goods in as little as three-quarters of the time normally required, and an artisan who might otherwise find masterwork goods too challenging to produce can create them by using magecraft. As a result, Khorvaire has a larger supply of high-quality goods available, while magewright artisans make their goods faster and thus earn more money for their labor.
Magic Items: Magic items are no easier to create in Eberron, but there are more spellcasters making them. The industry of the world turns on the production and sale of magic items, which are created by everyone from common adepts and magewrights to artificers and other elite casters. In general, minor magic items are easier to find and purchase in Khorvaire than described in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. This difference is reflected in some adjustments to the gp limit for smaller settlements, as shown on the following table.
Also, based on planar stuffs and the specific cosmology (which I'm not copying, as I'm uninterested in rewriting a chapter) alter the power, usefulness, and limits of magic (these three do not always directly align).
Incidentally, however, the ruler of Breland is 11th level (or 10th -he has conflicting entries and no statblock), and on pg 144 there are three NPCs noted as 12th, 9th, and 11th (one is 'evil', but not necessarily an opponent of the PCs). In Darghuun, there's a 12th-level and 13th level (as well as a 9th and an 8th) non-evils (though they may well be opponents).
You did already mention Olian (who is AWESOOOOOOMMMMEEEE~! by the way) who's a level 20 druid awakened greatpine (that means at least 'huge' but maybe 'gargantuan' or 'colossal'), and he's N and probably the highest class level I've seen to date - higher than even Vol herself, who's 16th level (and also a lich, and half-dragon) or Lord of Blades (12th level).
Part of this comes from the fact that, over-all, more of the high-level foes are talked about at length and there are (generally speaking) more potential high-level threats than high-level... uh... "goods", I guess?... and, beyond that, many of the "good" (ish) organizations are directly opposed to each other for various reasons.
On the other hand, most all of the evil organizations are also thoroughly opposed to each other (and those good organizations) and not all of the evil organizations are actively opposed to the "good" (and non-evil) organizations and so on.
You have rulers of nations that are 8th, 11th, and 13th level (and one who is 4th level who overruled by one who is 3rd/18th level).
The wikipedia article even makes weird claims about access to high level magic being "more rare" than in other settings.
And, to be clear, there are magical effects and abilities that can no longer be made anymore, but those are kind of analogous to the artifacts of any other setting (whether Netheril or Imaskar of Forgotten Realms fame, or Zagyg's god-trap or the Suloise empire of Greyhawk... except these empires are generally inhuman (giant, dragon, etc.).
In fact, the elves have, along side of dragons, among the most powerful creatures in the world at their 'aid' or 'call': ascendant councilors (a positive-energy undead deathless creature that starts at 25 hit dice and goes all the way up to 50). One reason these guys aren't covering the world with their awesome, however, is that they're almost constantly either distantly guiding the elves (allowing them autonomy, while giving guidance) or traveling the astral plane (presumably handing the various epic-level threats to Eberron that live there their own heads by sheer virtue of being that hardcore). Oh, and also because they apparently can't exist too far beyond the positive-energy-plane "Irian, the Eternal Day"-linked island.
Also, there are ancient super-powerful "demon lords" that were "sealed" by the Sacrifice of the Couatl or Binding Flame (generally implied/seeming to be the now-worshiped Silver Flame). This combines with the evil super-powered "daelkyr" (20-50 HD evil immortal aberrant totally outsider creatures that push aberrant agendas and madness... but, being insane, mostly are content to be incoherent self-interested jerks in the Underdark "Khyber").
The point is, there are plenty of high-powered Good... but they're very busy, and not very visible, and mostly distant and kind of monstrous. And what's more, many who are powerful enough to build the infrastructure that things are built on, just aren't suited to be adventurers for various reasons.
Many of the more visible "good guys" just aren't as powerful as many in, say, Forgotten Realms.
And I think that's kind the point. Eberron was, I believe, built with Forgotten Realms in mind, and, to a point, kind of designed to be a "nega-forgotten realms" - a world without specific super-heroic NPCs waiting to help out. Instead, a slim majority of super-powered entities are only "kind of" evil, locked into struggles with themselves, absorbed into their own little petty projects (because, really, why bother?), are secretly not as powerful as they seem (as they're kind of really old and really good hucksters), are sealed away, and/or have groups specifically dedicated to thwarting their plans. (Thus, why Eberron is still extant.)
Adventures happen when that status quo is interrupted for some reason.
Anyway, I wish to be clear: Eberron has problems and setting-specific plot-holes, but they're generally more subtle than the ones it's usually pegged with. Kind of like Forgotten Realms (or Greyhawk for that matter).
And yeah, there are artifacts (and also non-artifact plot-devices) that are often beyond the abilities of adventurers to make work properly, but the rules exist for a reason: that reason is to make adventures, stories, and cool things possible.
And your story sounds amazing, and I would hear more about how that went...
Oh, also: Artificers are, like, the best. Just, the best. Both editions. That is all.
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Heh.
I don't remember if we actually knew it was a deathless until we managed to confront it - it had been manipulating us the entire campaign, though I don't actually remember the goal anymore - I think to summon Tiamat to Eberron? Anyways, all we really knew going in was that we were fighting a powerful spellcaster - probably a few levels above us. And so most of the party was readied with counterspells or disruption while our heaviest hitters went on the offensive.
And that's when we discovered that the GM had waited until the fight to actually read the deathless stat block.
And so the GM noticed that the thing had quickened blasphemy (as he swapped its spells around), and concluded that its quickened blasphemy couldn't be disrupted.
And so we went into the final battle of the campaign and lost in the first round as he hit the entire party for 1d10 minutes of paralysis, no save. (No cleric, so no freedom of movement buffs. The party was an elan psion, a shifter barbarian, a warforged ranger (me!), a warforged soulknife, and a half-elf sorceress.)
And to elaborate, after the blasphemy happened, our psion immediately teleported away to try to get help and the GM took the rest of us as prisoners instead of killing us, probably because he'd screwed up (again, didn't look at the stat block until the fight started) and we were pretty mad at him =P. The psion contacted the sorcerer's House and managed to negotiate our release somehow.
And then we left the planet to seek allies/train (I think we were specifically going to Toril), and the campaign ended. It was one of those "we all like our characters, but this campaign is kind of terrible" campaigns (there had been many, many problems with that campaign), so we were just sort of done at that point.
Edit: I recall the 4E artificer having really strong party buffs that worked no matter what (as opposed to the cleric and warlord, who actually needed to land hits).
Plot sounds epic. Execution... less so. The fact that he set you up against a CR 18 with no specific preparation or way to survive the battle sounds... painful.
Yowch.
I think the artificer I used was an artificer multiclass with a rogue (mostly an artificer) with a slightly re-fluffed set of abilities: at 21st I had some kind of close blast encounter or at-will plus a rogue's (augmented) 5d8 sneak attack that was always my opener; this was especially great when our teleporter (a swordmage) gained the ability to take others with her, so we'd *pop* into a room, let loose with powerful area of effects that would buff us and debuff our foes with a surprise attack, and then mop-up/defend as our comrades charged in thereafter. Fun times. Maybe something like the war wizard (though I don't know how I got it), but I kind of thought I'd taken the rogue ability for getting to some sort of "assassin" paragon (he was a Vengeance Taker), so... I dunno!
... huh. KC might be right after all.
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Not to derail things even further, but I noticed a bit of news from last year regarding a potential merger between Dreamworks and Hasbro... while it did not mean that they specifically wanted a Dreamworks movie about D&D, but as long as we are speculating, what would that mean for each of you?
It would mean possible awesomeness.
First off, I think Thor: Ragnarok is going to be the next best D&D film.
Dudes with hammers, swords, and axes. Giants. Magic. Illusions. Trolls.
If the next D&D film gets critiqued as a Thor rip-off then that's what I'm hoping to see.
Characters like Sif, Brothers Three, Enchantress, Loki, fire giants, trolls, and Starlord. People flying around, crazy action. Maybe a Sharn that looks like Asgard and jungles of Xendrik looking like King Kong's skull island.
Start as heroes with full super-hero magic items and power - then try to sell the zero-to-hero backstory in the later movies.
A bunch of SCA re-enactors running around in the woods killing orcs isn't going to cut it.
Save the mission-impossible dungeon crawling for the TV series.
Thor meets Guardians of the Galaxy meets King Kong meets Hellboy.
With Tiamat instead of Fin Fang Foom and Venger instead of Ronin.
Whatever they do, I hope it's something that does it's own thing, and stands out as a different animal from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit and Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and Narnia and Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars and comic book superhero franchises: I've burned out a bit on Epic Trilogies, overloaded on the Obtrusive CGI, grown exhausted with interminable film lengths, become jaded with the overblown budgets for the sake of succeeding only through brute force of money and with the inevitable merchandising, and so on.
Fantasy films could really use something different right now.
For example, I'm cheering for the "Dwarves of Demrel" film Kickstarter project, and hoping to see it funded and made: from what I've seen in the trailer, it looks like the "Dwarves..." project's film-makers are aiming for something a little more back-to-basics, intimate and character-driven, which feels like a welcome breath of fresh air to me compared to what's been done by big fantasy film-makers.
Similarly, I feel that films like "Alien" and "The Thing" managed to inject atmosphere, storytelling, and focus into 1980's Science Fiction, which was otherwise in danger of becoming saturated with inferior "Star Wars" and "2001: a Space Odyssey" clones while both Epic and Art Science Fiction played themselves out: "Alien" and "The Thing" went back to the drawing board and looked at what made lower-budget films work, and came back with something that worked while looking different, feeling different, and sounding different, helping them to stand out from the crowd and in turn become fondly remembered and widely imitated in the decades to come.
With so many successful examples of high fantasy and sword-and-sorcery recently, it's probably about time for someone to think outside that box and explore a new fantasy sub-genre. So, returning to the example set by "Alien" and "The Thing", sci-fi successfully and memorably dabbled into horror, and I don't think there have been many big fantasy/horror films to be compared to yet, so that's one new direction things could go in.
"2001: A Space Odyssey" and its imitators aimed toward an avant-garde art version of Sci Fi, and I suppose that avant-garde art fantasy is something that hasn't been overdone yet. What would that look like? (I've never played Planescape, but from what I've heard of it, perhaps this flavor of D&D could fit the art fantasy description nicely....)
Maybe something family-friendly hasn't been completely played out yet, and a Disney-Hasbro collaboration D&D film can do something with the characters from the 1980's D&D cartoon series?
Perhaps D&D could benefit a bit from poking a little fun at the fantasy genre by dabbling in surreal black comedy. What would happen if someone could get Terry "Time Bandits" Gilliam (Monty Python, "Brazil", "Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen", and others) to help produce a "Spelljammer" adaptation?
The popularity of film genres tends to run in cycles... what are some non-fantasy film genres that have been neglected lately and haven't been explored yet by the major fantasy film franchises?
In any case, I think a D&D movie can bring us something that feels fresh and new, if it can:
* Give us a good, strong, concise story.
* Bring us characters we actually identify with, recognize, remember, and care about.
* Look and feel and sound different from all the usual Big Budget Fantasy Film Franchises and their imitators.
* Explore a subgenre of fantasy that hasn't been milked dry by fantasy films yet (i.e., explore something other than straight high fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and swashbuckling).
* Doesn't try to rely strongly on built-in audiences, merchandising, and special effects to do all the work.
Unfortunately, what the previous D&D movies gave us, and what I'm afraid that any new ones are going to give us, will simply be a lazy, bargain-basement, SyFy movie-of-the-week version of More of the Same. :(