Are we ever going to see a good dungeons and dragons film? One that is set in one of the already rich campaign worlds available to film makers?
How about an animated series?
One great dungeons and dragons film will open up the hobby to so many people... Much like LOTR opening up that series for the masses. I want to live in a world where everyone knows who Drizzt is.
Unfortunately, the Nerd Accord of ought three prohibited the release of any quality D&D films, though it did make provisos for excellent "B" movies.
-Amber S.
Damn... This was intended for the Dungeons and Dragons general section, not Dungeon magazines general discussion. Sorry about that.
I'll amend my original statement: I want to live in a world where everyone knows who Kyuss is.
I'll amend my original statement: I want to live in a world where everyone knows who Kyuss is.
I don't!!!
Are we ever going to see a good dungeons and dragons film?
Nope.
One that is set in one of the already rich campaign worlds available to film makers?
Boy, I hope not.
How about an animated series?
They did that and at the time I though it was fairly cool.
One great dungeons and dragons film will open up the hobby to so many people... Much like LOTR opening up that series for the masses.
I stand corrected, LOTR was a series of good D&D films set in an incredibly rich campaign world.
I want to live in a world where everyone knows who Drizzt is.
You do. Apparently Drizzt makes up a significant portion of the drow race. There have to be thousands of the lil' guy to show up in all the places he shows up in. I for one am surprised he hasn't been added to the Rice Crispies trio yet. Snap, Crackle, Drizzt and Pop has a nice ring to it.
As for Kyuss, wasn't that a metal band?
Seriously though I agree with Amber.
GGG
I'll amend my original statement: I want to live in a world where everyone knows who Kyuss is.I don't!!!
If graphics were available on this website, I'd be posting that little rolling laughy face right now.
Just another animated series would do it for me. Unless someone is going to invest 150 Million to show me their three hour vision of "The Temple of Elemental Evil", I'd rather see Genndy Tartakovsky's (sp?) animated version of a good day of D&D.
Anyone else like his work?
Would it be the right style for D&D?
Why wouldn't you want to see a film or series about dungeons and dragons set in one of their campaign worlds? It just seems obvious to me.
I'd prefer Greyhawk myself, but I chose Drizzt as one of the most iconic characters of D&D in terms of mass market appeal. It seems to me that what needs to happen first is to break the D&D stigma, and the other films I've seen are... Well, they're bad. And, by being bad they reinforce negative stereotypes about the game in general. Releasing bad films about D&D hurts the product.
Why not Dragonlance Chronicles? Or if they want to create a new story, why not use Ebberon? Its designed to be cinematic in flavor. And don't release films called D&D... We have to trick the common people into enjoying D&D before we reveal it for what it is.
By the way, its odd you mention Temple of Elemental Evil, because I'd actually like to see a televised cartoon miniseries based on that original module. Even a Clone Wars style cartoon based on it would rock, though I was originally picturing an anime style show.
We're skeptical because we've seen it done badly so many times now. Also, the things that make the game exciting do not easily convert to good cinema.
If you take the action in D&D and speed it up to realtime, the genre you end up with is over-the-top anime. Fighters do HUGE DAMAGE in a volley of blows that would drop an army of normal folk; the bad guy feels it and the fight goes on. Wizards mow down fields of enemies with a blossom of fireballs. The heroes take damage that would stagger a god, but a few quick healing spells later and their on their feet. There's a few minutes of dialog and investigation, and then off to the next awesome fight scene. The best we could hope for from a D&D cinematic conversion would be akin to Cowboy Bebop, but we've seen it tried enough times to know that we're going to get Dragonball Z instead.
If WotC announced tomorrow that they'd signed an alliance with Studio Sunrise to make an Eberron tv series, I'd be cautiously stoked. Short of that and I find myself expecting any cinematic D&D release to be unfaithful, underfunded, and bland. There's a whole 'nother rant there about how D&D is structured around dropping each player into the role of one of the archetypes of fantasy, so when you try and emphasize the parts of the story that are specifically D&D, you end up with a grab bag of cliches, but I've hit my rant limit for this post already.
Why wouldn't you want to see a film or series about dungeons and dragons set in one of their campaign worlds? It just seems obvious to me.
Well, since I don't like D&D novels, I can't imagine I'd like a "D&D movie." Unless it was totally unlike the D&D novels and had a new setting, new characters, etc., in which case I could just go watch Lord of the Rings or Willow again.
Good new fantasy movies I'm always in favor of, but I don't like any attempt at adapting the D&D universe (any setting) into media other than game books (with a few notable exceptions). I just don't think the D&D rules translate well into books/movies/tv, and would prefer to see all-new stuff.
-Amber S.
I second pretty much everything Medesha and Baudot have said. I realy don't want to see door drills, searching for traps, clerical healing, bardic inspiration, web followed by slow followed by an energy substitution sonic ball (you get the idea). I dislike the way the rules handle most of those things in-game let a lone shelling out $8.50 to see it in a theatre.
A cartoon I could see and though Clone Wars was ubercool I'm not sure Genndy is the right guy for the job though he does tend to do hip-nerd stuff. Perhaps who ever did .Hacksign would be a better draw for the project.
The first two trilogies of Dragonlance could be done as a set of movies (mini-series) but really one of the reasons I would go and see it would be because it wasn't very "D&D."
To me a D&D movie seems as shaky an idea as a 300 page book detailing one exciting basketball game in so far as I'd rather play it than be a second-hand spectator.
GGG
I think you are misunderstanding my point. I don't necessarily want to see a D&D novel literally translated to the screen (although the Dragonlance Chronicles series is a good choice), and I certainly do not want to see the actual game mechanics displayed on screen. That's silly.
What I want to see is a film or television adaptation of a story set in one of the core D&D worlds. Sure, I like most of the pre-existing fantasy films out there, but none of them are actually set in Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, Krynn or Ebberon. Those worlds are what makes D&D what it is, at least in my opinion. Sure, they're full of cliches, but what isn't these days? Are you seriously saying that under no circumstances would you like to see a good film that just happened to be set in any of the pre-existing campaign worlds?
I think the flavor of those D&D worlds in inextricably linked with D&D mechanics. I tried to convert a Forgotten Realms campaign I played in into a novel set in Faerun but without using any D&D mechanics, and it was impossible. I think the likelihood of seeing a good movie set in a D&D world is very slim; of course I'd go see such a movie, but I doubt it would blow my socks off.
-Amber S.
Just another animated series would do it for me. Unless someone is going to invest 150 Million to show me their three hour vision of "The Temple of Elemental Evil", I'd rather see Genndy Tartakovsky's (sp?) animated version of a good day of D&D.
Anyone else like his work?
Would it be the right style for D&D?
I love his work, and I think it would be cool for him to do a D&D cartoon. He did a brief Dexter's Lab foray into D&D, as I recall, which was hysterical.
- Ashavan
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I think you are misunderstanding my point. I don't necessarily want to see a D&D novel literally translated to the screen (although the Dragonlance Chronicles series is a good choice), and I certainly do not want to see the actual game mechanics displayed on screen. That's silly.
What I want to see is a film or television adaptation of a story set in one of the core D&D worlds. Sure, I like most of the pre-existing fantasy films out there, but none of them are actually set in Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, Krynn or Ebberon. Those worlds are what makes D&D what it is, at least in my opinion. Sure, they're full of cliches, but what isn't these days? Are you seriously saying that under no circumstances would you like to see a good film that just happened to be set in any of the pre-existing campaign worlds?
I'm with you. No, you don't want a filmed version of an actual D&D game. But there's a lot of storytelling potential, filled with rich backstory, in the established worlds. Movies based on the Driz'zt stories (which I've never read, but I hear tell they're quite popular), or the original Dragonlance Chronicles, could be great, done right. Focus on story and character, with combat and magic as accent (which is probably the reverse of most gaming experiences).
And baudot mentioned an Eberron TV series... A cool idea, given sufficient budget.
The Drizzt books are NY Times bestsellers.
That means a lot of people care about the character.
A movie featuring that character should draw lots and lots of people to the box office. (especially readers who are in the target movie-going demographic -- teen and 20-something males)
(Plus, fantasy films have more mainstream appeal than ever before. Hollywood is looking for fantasy vehicles).
This makes money for movie studio, the licensee, etc.
Honestly, I'm clueless as to why no one's jumping on this -- unless the stumbling block is the rights holders and the author.
Just another animated series would do it for me.
I would settle for an official release of the original animated cartoon classid on DVD, and they won't even give me THAT!
Come on now, they'll put Gem on DVD and not Dungeons & Dragons? That makes no sense to me at all.
I'd quite like to see an Eberron TV series in the same vein as Star Trek, perhaps as something the Star Trek guys can do while they let the Star Trek field fallow for a while after Enterprise. We've already seen Stargate: SG1 get a more fantasy-like, what with ancient technology so advanced it looks like magic and the episode where they go visit Merlin in a dungeon in England and solve puzzles while getting into a swordfight... perhaps the timing is right?
Contributor
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Oddly enough, I'm just not a fan when it comes to screen adaptations of fantasy novels (D&D or otherwise). I prefer bad B rated, campy cinema when it comes to S&S (like the Sword and the Sorcerer). It almost seems to get more corny when a producer tries to make fantasy into "serious film". If the main character is an elf, a dwarf, a short fat thing with hairy feet etc... how serious do you think its really going to be? The thing that scared me most in LotR was how grimey the hobbit's feet were when they all climbed into the bed in the last scene. Dirty hobbit feet -shudders-. I've said it before, "The Gamers-now that's a great D&D movie!"
OK, so I've just had a funny memory snap loose and pop to the forefront.
It's 5 or 6 years back. I'm sitting on the back porch of an L.A. home on an idyllic summer afternoon in the sense that even 11am in November is an idyllic summer afternoon in L.A. when Tony Ludwig (producer: Empire Records, Deep Blue Sea) sits down next to me and says he knows I know something about D&D, and would I look over this one movie pitch for him? And he hands me a one page pitch for Ravenloft as a movie.
According to the write-up, Ravenloft was an excuse to drop in whatever golden age of horror cinema monster you wanted in front of the audience, while still giving the thing a swords and sorcery feel. You could do a tour of the werewolf, Frankenstein's monster, mummies, vampires, and still have room for swordfighting and big explosions in the same deal. Notably lacking was any mention of characters, dramatic decisions, or anything I recognized as a plot.
Well, I don't remeber exactly what I said, but I'm pretty sure I had visions of one more mangled D&D piece, and I'd like to think I cautioned him to go into the thing with a better idea of a story he wanted to tell than the pitchsheet was offering.
I think the flavor of those D&D worlds in inextricably linked with D&D mechanics.
-Amber S.
Exactly my point. Movies like the LOTR trilogy and Conan the Barbarian and yes, even Willow and the Sword and the Sorcerer even as camp as it was are pretty much what "good" D&D the movie would look like (and pretty much are cool D&D movies in their own right) remember that D&D was born out of many of the books these are based on. Making a movie based on a game based on genre seems like stretching things a bit. Why not just make a damn fine Lankhmar movie and cut out the middle man? I'd go see that in a New York minute. Hmmm....
As for Dragonlance, the D&D is buried deep enough that you don't notice it so much in these books. It was after all fantasy world that was born form the fluff side of D&D rather than crunch.
GGG
Just remeber if the rights are availible I saw it first!
Fafhrd and Mouser movie . . . now that is a movie project I can get behind . . . I would love to see the Gods of Lahnkmar on screen . . . or even Hisvet for that matter!
I guess this sort of answers my question. If the very readers of Dungeon magazine (who I would tend to assume are fans of Dungeons and Dragons) don't even want to see a Dungeons and Dragons based film, then we'll probably never see one.
Frankly, I'm baffled.
I guess this sort of answers my question. If the very readers of Dungeon magazine (who I would tend to assume are fans of Dungeons and Dragons) don't even want to see a Dungeons and Dragons based film, then we'll probably never see one.
Frankly, I'm baffled.
Well, it's like this... All of us enjoy a particular campaign setting because of all the little details: the backstory, the history, the geography, NPCs, cultures, etc. etc. A movie has time for NONE OF THAT. LotR got away with it because the good name of Professor Tolkein made the movie respectable, and the story (mangled though it was) was better than audiences expected. Even the extended-play DVD of the LotR (excellent though it may be) leaves out ACRES of the story, history, and events that make Middle-earth so cool. If you can't cram all that cool stuff that makes Greyhawk, or the Realms, or Krynn into a movie, then you get just another generic S&S movie, as Medesha alluded to in an earlier post. And if you can't do it RIGHT, I think most of us would rather that you didn't do it at all. When I need a dose of dragons, I'll go rent "Reign of Fire." Just my $0.02.
Amal...you got it right on the dot...while most of the D&D players would stand up and cheer when the camera pans on an aerial view of the City of Waterdeep, 99.99% of America will just go "great, another computer generated City without plumbing and with tons of extras wearing weird costumes."
Let's just keep our hobby on the fringes, where it belongs, and not try to mainstream it by wishing for a great D&D movie.
How about a Thieves World mini-series for the Sci-Fi channel instead? Most non D&D players could pretty quickly catch up with the backstory of Sanctuary and the Hellhounds, etc. etc.
The SciFi channel did a fair job with the Dune miniseries after that turd that Sting & company laid on our doorstep 20 years ago.
I guess this sort of answers my question. If the very readers of Dungeon magazine (who I would tend to assume are fans of Dungeons and Dragons) don't even want to see a Dungeons and Dragons based film, then we'll probably never see one.
Frankly, I'm baffled.
I'll watch any swords & sorcery movie, but the last two attempts to make a D&D movie have been pretty abysmal, even though the second one was kind of okay for the Sci-Fi channel.
I agree with GGG and some of the others--just do some movies or mini-series based on established fantasy novels and don't try to force the D&D game mold on it--it doesn't work.
Gamers can turn any movie into a D&D movie by making annoying comments during the movie like:
"Critical Hit"
"Boy, did he blow his Diplomacy check"
"I wonder what level she is?"
You know....geeky play by play...it's alright with me.
Gamers can turn any movie into a D&D movie by making annoying comments during the movie like:
"Critical Hit"
"Boy, did he blow his Diplomacy check"
"I wonder what level she is?"You know....geeky play by play...it's alright with me.
I remember doing the exact same thing immediately after "The Fellowship of the Ring" came out. Our gaming group was chattering excitedly about certain aspects of the movie when someone (OK, it was me) asked "So how many hp do you think a Cave Troll has?" ~Apologies to all for the off-topic post~
I think we all did that!!
Let me reiterate: I know that there's tons that could go wrong with a D&D film. We've seen what can go wrong, and its bad bad bad. But that wasn't the topic of this post. The question is, WILL we ever see a good D&D film? And, sorry, other fantasy films do not count. I'm not knocking those films. Some are great. Some are not so great. Point is: LOTR, Conan, Willow and Reign of Fire are not really D&D films, because none of them really take place in the D&D world. Frankly, I don't consider the existing D&D film franchise to be D&D films, since they do not take place in any existing (sigh, until now) D&D world.
Ok, sure, D&D has been heavily influenced by many of these films, and by many clasic fantasy sources. Of course I'd love to see a Fafrd and the Grey Mouser film/miniseries, but that's not what this post is about...
Let me make an example: In D&D trolls regenerate. Has anyone seen a troll regenerate in a film? No. I've seen the Terminator 2000 merge back together after being blown to bits, Wolverine and the Hulk use healing factor to cure grevious wounds, but I have NEVER seen a troll get hacked to bits by heroes only to have it frighteningly regenerate and rise again to fight. That's the kind of moment that any D&D player would immediately recognize and smile about, but would probably be just as interesting to people who don't play D&D.
And just to use LOTR as an example: Before Lord of the Rings came out, most of my friends had no idea what it was. Trying to explain it to people who haven't read it was not exactly easy, and lets face it: Nothing sounds terribly cool when you are trying to describe it in general terms. Then the film trilogy comes out, and suddenly my friends are asking me questions about Middle Earth's geography and history. They began calling my friend erica "eric-hai." Most importantly, some of them ended up wanting to read the book. Now, when out at a mall I can see a guy who looks remotely like aragorn and say "Is this guy a ranger?" and just about everyone knows what I'm referring to, even though they are just your average everyday joes.
This is the level of proliferation that I want to see D&D achieve, if only on a small scale. I want to be able to swat at a fly and miss, and have someone say: "Maybe it was a displacer fly."
And finally, why should we try to keep D&D on the fringe when it could be enjoyed by more people?
WILL we ever see a good D&D film? Maybe, I don't know. I doubt it. I'm cynical.
And that's okay. You're more enthusiastic, and that's okay too. Variation makes life interesting.
-Amber S.
As long as someone keeps attempting to make a good D&D movie, I will continue to support it by paying the ticket price or watching it on the SciFi channel (or whatever media it's on). I think most of us keep hoping that someone will finally "get it right." What exacly that is depends on who you're asking, but I think we'll know it when we see it. It just hasn't happened yet.
David,
I get your point. Your enthusiasm is wonderfully refreshing. I think a lot of us are too cynical about this D&D movie.
I, for one, am not "trying to keep" D&D on the fringes--it does that all on its own. All the rulebooks, the reading, the "thinking"--it'll NEVER be mainstream, because it's so complicated and requires so much intelligence, creativity and dedication just to play, not to mention DM.
That's why a "D&D" movie has limited appeal and limited potential, I think. The "D&D" label immediately artifically categorizes such a movie for the vast majority of the population. The sheep-like drones that make up most the world like categories because it makes the world easier for their little pidgeon minds to understand. "D&D" equals "uncool--must point and scoff" for most people.
How many people do you know that loved the LOTR movies, but wouldn't be caught dead rolling a d20?
That's why D&D movies won't work and D&D will always be a fringe. Once a "category" has been established in the collective flock's minds--it sticks forever....baaah baaah...
I like not being part of the flock. D&D "Liberating brain cells since 1974"
An example of this is the fact that ALL of you have "gaming friends" and "non-gaming friends" You treat them both differently and certainly have vastly different conversations, dont' you? RPG gamers speak a secret language once they identify each other....would the rest of the country watch a movie about Hare Krishnas? Probably not--remember that the "normal people" put D&D players into roughly the same categories--we're just one step away from going to South America to suck down some Jim Jones death cocktail.
That's why D&D movies won't work--let's keep disguising them like we have been and we'll all be fine.
I say a good D&D film could be possible. But under two conditions:
First, the story/script writters MUST be actual players of the game.
Second, the directing staff MUST also be actual players of the game.
There's the problem! All of the "bad" movies about D&D (or any other game) have been made by people that don't play the game, or have briefly heard about it.
Some big cheese in an office at hollywood must have said :"Hey, let's do a Dragon and Dungeon movie, the kids'll love it!".
I mean, didn't you get the impression, when watching the D&D movie, that they just didn't get it? Making a D&D movie is a little more than opening the monster manual and picking monsters for the heroes to battle.
If anyone gets serious about making a D&D movie, they should come to these boards and ask some of us to write it!
Ultradan
(The Eternal Optimist)
If some of us helped write the next D&D film, it might be called:
D&D 3: TPK
(Thanks for not making fun on my late-night rant, Ultradan) (The rest of you feel free, I have thick skin)
I agree, Farewell to Kings. Its mostly because of that stigma that I want a good D&D film to come out. Well, besides the fact that I'd think it would be the bee's knees.
Your point about people enjoying LOTR not wanting to roll a D20 is true. But what is also true is that many of these same people wouldn't have gone near LOTR either, until an easily accessible film came out to make them feel it was ok.
And, yes, part of me enjoys our little secret about D&D: Mainly, that it's a lot of fun. I guess I just can't help but want to spread the fun around.
I agree, Farewell to Kings. Its mostly because of that stigma that I want a good D&D film to come out. Well, besides the fact that I'd think it would be the bee's knees.
Your point about people enjoying LOTR not wanting to roll a D20 is true. But what is also true is that many of these same people wouldn't have gone near LOTR either, until an easily accessible film came out to make them feel it was ok.
And, yes, part of me enjoys our little secret about D&D: Mainly, that it's a lot of fun. I guess I just can't help but want to spread the fun around.
If D&D was easier to learn, it might be easier to spread the fun around. Converting a "normal" person to become a gamer can be very complicated--you have to catch them at just the right time, present the game to them in just the right way....
The social pressures to not be weird and to not be a geek are just as great on adults as they are on teens and kids, they're just disguised differently....I still get weird looks and stupid comments from people my age when they find out that I play D&D--and I'm nearly 40 years old!
I still say--D&D movies--yes, but let's not call them that any more! Let's not use any D&D settings either, lest someone stand up screaming in the theater "Oh MY GOD--this movie is about D&D" and cause a wide-spread panic and mass exodus of theater goers, lest their cool status be revoked if they are caught watching a D&D movie.
(I know I'm exaggerating and laying it on very thick--I'm just in a weird mood lately, if you knew me personally, you'd just sigh and shake your head and say--there he goes again!!)
The question is, WILL we ever see a good D&D film?
As LOTR keeps getting held up as the example of what a good movie COULD do for D&D, I'll use that to explain why that WON'T be repeated by a D&D movie (in my humble opinion).
Peter Jackson loved and respected Tolkien's work. Deeply. And he respected fan expectations. Deeply. And he went out of his way in EVERYTHING, even tracking down the premier Middle Earth artists to assist with set design so that the world would look familiar to fans, to make SURE he did it right. Few directors have that dedication or drive. The LOTR trilogy was his baby from the beginning, and that love and care showed in his final product.
The D&D movie, however, clearly was nothing more than a 90 minute commercial as part of a re-launch marketing campaign, designed to do two things: look cool to new kiddies and look harmless to their parents to wipe away any lingering doubt of the "Satanic Panic" '80's. "See, Mom and Dad? We're really a wholesome, harmless game for your kids. We have no plot, no drama, no substance, nothing that could possibly warp your sweet little angel's mind."
THAT's why you won't get lightning in a bottle twice. Various forms of media, including movies, are marketing tools. And without someone with a true love of the game world, who wants to make sure it's done right driving the show, those marketing decisions will ALWAYS result in substandard, useless tripe.
Funny side note, off topic--a lawyer friend of mine used to keep a d6 in his pocket so he could quickly identify gamers.
When conversing with strangers of brief acquaintances, he would pull out the d6 and hold it up and say "What is this?"
Gamers: "It's a d6"
Non gamers: "It's a die"
He called it his litmus test....more proof that gamers are a breed apart.
Funny side note, off topic--a lawyer friend of mine used to keep a d6 in his pocket so he could quickly identify gamers.
When conversing with strangers of brief acquaintances, he would pull out the d6 and hold it up and say "What is this?"
Gamers: "It's a d6"
Non gamers: "It's a die"
He called it his litmus test....more proof that gamers are a breed apart.
Sorry to continue this off topic point in this thread, but what did being able to classify someone as a gamer do for him? Did he start drawing on graph paper versus yellow legal paper? Did it have a positive or negative aspect?
No, he just used to do it to find gamers. He had an experience once where he worked in an office with several people who also played RPG's and none of them knew that he did as well. He got this weird theory that gamers that have professional lives try to keep it hidden, so he developed this "die" test. He doesn't do it any more...he also doesn't game any more....
Gamers: "It's a d6"
He called it his litmus test...
F2K,
That's the coolest thing I've heard in a long time. I think I'll use this to flush out fellow gamers. Thanks!
Ultradan
"What is this?"
Gamers: "It's a d6"
Non gamers: "It's a die"
Makers of the D&D movie: "It's a spatula"
Ultradan
I keep wondering if the deleted scenes from the 2nd movie will have this line:
"No one has used divine magic in 100 years in this kingdom."
"What about the clerics?"
"Is that what they do?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, problem solved then."
I say a good D&D film could be possible. But under two conditions:
First, the story/script writters MUST be actual players of the game.
Second, the directing staff MUST also be actual players of the game.
Ultradan
(The Eternal Optimist)
I'm adding an addendum here:
First, the story/script writers MUST be actual players of the game as well as actual script writers.Second, the directing staff MUST also be actual players of the game as well as actual directors.
I think that might be the problem with 95% of movies today. ;)
As for setting a D&D movie in a D&D world - I've never played in the two or three worlds currently floating about. In fact the only D&D world aside from my own (my precioussss) was the D&D Known World (or Mystara to you blasphemers out there). I've adapted stuff from everywhere but really never paid that much attention to it after I culled the proper nouns.
So really a setting (with all it's little details) is not going to hook me -a D&D player of 20+ years. Now if you want to make a D&D movie out of my homebrew well, Hell I'm all over that!!! How much do I get for selling the options?
GGG
...He got this weird theory that gamers that have professional lives try to keep it hidden....
Not so weird :/
Jack
Are we ever going to see a good dungeons and dragons film? One that is set in one of the already rich campaign worlds available to film makers? ...
Movies rarely come out of Hollywood that don't promise wide appeal and big profits. You'd be surprised how few actually play D&D, relatively speaking. I was.
My guess is FR novels (or Dragonlance, or whatever) are similarly limited in actual popular appeal.
And the last movies certainly didn't help things.
IMHO,
Jack
And also, why exactly do we assume our hobby will be treated better than other hobbies? Have any of you played Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, or Doom? Did any of you recognize the plots that were in the movies? In fact, the only "niche" industry that has STARTED to be treated well is comics, and if you saw any old comic book TV shows, or movies that came out before 1989's Batman, you know that hasn't always been the case there either. Even then, all it takes is for someone to decided Hollywood knows better, and you start getting movies like Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, or, even worse (amazingly enough) Catwoman.
Oh, also, a few noted regarding the above. Hollywood does things right when, in some rare instance, someone manages to slip something decent through the cracks. Keep in mind, if the Fellowship of the Rings had done slightly less well, we would have had the scenes of Arwen leading a force of elves to save Aragorn and the defenders of Helm's Deep. And there would have only been two movies . . . the degree to which Hollywood execs screw something up is inversely proportional to how successful a given Hollywood mavick is in making money for them.
How do Hollywood execs screw things up? By tell writers and directors what should be in their movies, for one thing. Hollywood execs told Todd McFarlane, when making Spawn, that if he didn't change one of the main characters from black to white that they would cut the funding for the movie in half. They also told him that the two main characters should only be engaged, not married, because the main character selling his soul for his wife wouldn't be as compelling as selling his soul for his fiance (I'm sure this had nothing to do with any execs personal notions about marriage).
When Keven Smith was writing the script for Superman Lives, to come out a few years after the Death of Superman story in the comics, he was going to have a story where Lex gets ahold of Braniac via a subspace transmitter and tries to find someone to help him kill Superman. Braniac responds, and set Doomsday free, a creature that he had found in statis in deep space. The creature fights supes, everyone thinks he is dead, he turns up alive, and saves the world when Braniac double crosses Lex and tries to leech the Earth dry of information and technology.
Sounds like a worthy Superman story for the big screen, eh? So the producers call Kevin Smith in and tell him that they want Superman to fight a polar bear. Huh? Well, the Fortress of Solitude is in the Arctic, right? We want him to fight a polar bear.
We also want him to fight a giant mechanical spider. Huh? We just thought it would be neat to see a giant mechanical spider in a movie, so this seems like a good time to use it. There won't be time for him to fight a giant mechanical spider, a polar bear, and Doomsday, and still tell the story, Smith says. So drop Doomsday from the story! Kevin Smith soon thereafter leaves the project.
And what happened to the mechanical spider? Well, those same executives put out a movie called Wild Wild West . . .
And now you know . . . the rest of the story.