New Dungeons & Dragons movie...?

[JadedDM]

Good point wasn't the first D&D movie basically advertising 3.0?

No...not that I remember. Granted, it has been a long time since I saw that stinker, but I don't remember anything specifically 3E about it. It did come out in the same year as 3E, but I think that was coincidence; the movie was in development hell for like 10 years.

[Dire_Flumph]

No...not that I remember. Granted, it has been a long time since I saw that stinker, but I don't remember anything specifically 3E about it. It did come out in the same year as 3E, but I think that was coincidence; the movie was in development hell for like 10 years.

It came out the same year as 3E released (2000), but nothing in the film referenced anything 3E specific (and most was just generic fantasy to boot).

The only real cross promotion I remember was an online PDF release of a D&D movie Fast Play game (still have mine!), but I don't recall it being promoted much at the time.

[Scarlet Knight]

I agree with this. I’d much rather have a decent fantasy movie that takes itself seriously and stands on its own merits.

That got me thinking: what makes a D&D movie different from a straight up Sword & Sorcery movie? The rules? "Quick, Father, he's dying! Heal him!" "I cannot until I pray again for the spell at dawn! Hold his spleen in place until then."

Will they go the Gamers movie route or try a regular fantasy adventure movie?

They can do the whole "players trapped inside their characters" route, like "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle"

A Darth & Droids treatment or their version of the Lord of the Rings?

I can see them doing a "DM of the Rings" version, where the comedy is around the interactions between player archtypes ( min-maxer & role player & gamer girl & frustrated DM, etc...) with everyone doing stupid things the rules allow without caring how unrealistic it would be.

They might need to spend a fortune on the rights to use Monty Python quotes throughout...

[Silly Name]

I don't really have any high expectations for this. I sorta hope it ends up being on the campier side simply because that'd be more fun than generic Forgotten Realms hogwash.

I'm not a big fan of the Realms (I seriously dislike Greenwood's prose, and most of his characters), but WotC seems fully committed to making them front and centre of everything D&D, so no luck for me. I suppose they're either going to use Drizzt, do something connected with Baldur's Gate (although I'm not super clear on how copyright would work in that case), or try for an original story - most likely set in Waterdeep, and most likely forgettable with forgettable characters.

Whatever they do, I'm sure there'll be a module tie-in.

Honestly, "a D&D movie" means nothing to me, and probably to most people. It could be anything, from straight high-fantasy to The Gamers to making the Tippyverse a cinematic reality. "A Drizzt movie" would be a much more informative tagline, for example.

[Ajustusdaniel]

That got me thinking: what makes a D&D movie different from a straight up Sword & Sorcery movie? The rules? "Quick, Father, he's dying! Heal him!" "I cannot until I pray again for the spell at dawn! Hold his spleen in place until then."

Unless it is a GM Of the Rings/Gamers/Darths & Droids type set-up, I can't imagine Vancian casting playing a major role, though I'd be happy to be wrong!

[Dire_Flumph]

They can do the whole "players trapped inside their characters" route, like "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle"

Ugh, I hope not. I got tired of that device in the 80's and 90's, and it's been used well only a very few times (Die would be the best recent example I can think of).

Like Jumanji it would probably work best to spoof the generic character types and I'd rather see something played straighter.

[Hopeless]

There's also Sword Art Online or Log Horizon.

Where they deal with gamers stuck within a game although in Log Horizon it was more gamers trapped on the world their game was inspired by as preparation for when they were summoned across during a game session.

Of course there's Gate the anime where a portal between the worlds opens and after an attack from that world causes a military force to be sent through to establish a fort to prevent another attack and hijinx insues when they discover its anime related and of course the soldiers are anime fans!

How far would you go with this?

Stick with a fairground ride that accidentally sends the occupants of a ride through a portal into another world like the original d&d animated series?

How would you handle THAT scenario today?

High School Jock (Hank)

Wealthy Kid (Eric)

Smart Kid (Presto)

The Gymnast (Diana)

The Popular Girl (how would you describe Shiela?)

The Kid (Bobby)

Lets assume you get to pick the new group to stumble into the Realms who would you pick?

Let me try...

Morgan a former ESA Engineer currently divorced a bit upset ended up as babysitter to the kids of a friend when she ended up on this ride. Is a former child soldier and kept in shape being the survivalist of the group.
When she ends up crossing over she is transformed into an elf a particular plain looking one but still an elf apparently a cleric of an elven deity something that plays into her back story with the reveal her ancestors fled the Realms and went to Earth turning human in the process so she has literally come home though she doesn't know that,

Greg the son of a Marine and a CIA operative he's trying to play the adult in this new world and a bit irked his babysitter has turned into an elf whilst he is trying his hand as a Bard with his guitar and an interest in any musical instrument he comes across.

Evelyn the baby of the group she starts developing celestial warlock abilities due to her worship of her babysitter whose patron deity has seen fit to empower her in an effort to help Evie help her babysitter who is clearly experiencing problems with the situation.

Glenn a US Navy Seaman who came along to keep an eye on them, but was actually on a date with Morgan who he's interested in and she is reciprocating, but then she turned into an elf and he's just a skilled sailor with military training and the group's Fighter almost tempted to say Monk instead.

Lester a friend of Greg's from school who came along for kicks and was the wealthy kid and now stuck on another world he's trying to adapt coming into possession of a book which he's busy trying to learn how to cast magic as a Wizard.

Deidre the red headed athlete is keen on Greg, but is often just as friendly with Lester as the trio are friends but its early days before she has to choose between them if she does and whether they manage to get home.
She's the Rogue.

Someone set up an artefact along the route and when Morgan comes into range it automatically activates sending them into the Realms where they wake up with the ride nearby and no sign of how they got there.

Establishing a camp and making sure everybody is okay Morgan and Glenn check out the area as Greg and Lester have an argument over Deidre and end up walking out forcing Glenn to keep an eye on the others as Morgan goes looking for them.

They encounter some frog-like creatures (Bullywugs) and end up in a brief fight until Morgan turns up and chases the Bullywugs off as Lester finds his book and annoyed Greg starts playing with his guitar as they return to the others.

Unseen they're being watched as one figure turns to the other and in sub titled their weird language tells the other,"Alert the master an elf has intervened with one of his raiding parties."

That sort of thing.

What would you like to see?

[Rogar Demonblud]

The Popular Girl (how would you describe Sheila?)

Pro forma love interest. It says something about the people running the show that the girls had to share the thief-acrobat class while the boys each got their own.

[Anonymouswizard]

Pro forma love interest. It says something about the people running the show that the girls had to share the thief-acrobat class while the boys each got their own.

I mean, you know that's just because they were avoiding the Cleric class.

[JadedDM]

The Popular Girl (how would you describe Shiela?)

Wasn't she a shrinking violet? Fitting in with the whole 'becoming invisible' theme.

[Peelee]

I half wonder if they're going to make it a comedy, where the heroes do a bunch of stupid stuff like PCs normally do. Like, the Rogue tries to steal everything not nailed down, or the Bard tries to seduce everyone they meet, even monsters.

Do bards normally do that, though? I know the jokes, but I've never had a friend play a bard like that (and I certainly wouldn't).

[Anonymouswizard]

Do bards normally do that, though? I know the jokes, but I've never had a friend play a bard like that (and I certainly wouldn't).

In actually play it seems to be sorceresses. Or at leat in my experiences. Although that group also limited roleplaying the act to after-session privacy.

[Peelee]

In actually play it seems to be sorceresses. Or at leat in my experiences. Although that group also limited roleplaying the act to after-session privacy.

That's another thing, I've often wondered why bard's get that rap and sorcerers don't. Both hot Charisma out the wazoo.

[GravityEmblem]

Do bards normally do that, though? I know the jokes, but I've never had a friend play a bard like that (and I certainly wouldn't).

I once played a Bard like that, though he was always getting slapped for it. Though things never got more explicit than asking if the NPC was attractive.

[Anonymouswizard]

That's another thing, I've often wondered why bard's get that rap and sorcerers don't. Both hot Charisma out the wazoo.

Because bards are two editions older? And have guitars?

[GravityEmblem]

Because bards are two editions older? And have guitars?

Exactly. Nothing more attractive than a man with a guitar, who can also do magic.

[Tvtyrant]

Exactly. Nothing more attractive than a man with a guitar, who can also do magic.

The attractiveness of street Buskars had never been equaled.

[Rogar Demonblud]

That's another thing, I've often wondered why bard's get that rap and sorcerers don't. Both hot Charisma out the wazoo.

Basically, we treat them as rock stars with lots of groupies. LOTS of groupies.

[tomandtish]

Morgan a former ESA Engineer currently divorced a bit upset ended up as babysitter to the kids of a friend when she ended up on this ride. Is a former child soldier and kept in shape being the survivalist of the group.
When she ends up crossing over she is transformed into an elf a particular plain looking one but still an elf apparently a cleric of an elven deity something that plays into her back story with the reveal her ancestors fled the Realms and went to Earth turning human in the process so she has literally come home though she doesn't know that,

If they did this I'd love to see them duplicate what happened in Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg. The cleric can't regain spells because she (the player occupying the cleric) doesn't believe in the god.

[Hopeless]

If they did this I'd love to see them duplicate what happened in Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg. The cleric can't regain spells because she (the player occupying the cleric) doesn't believe in the god.

I wonder if they've read that book?

[Spiderswims]

That got me thinking: what makes a D&D movie different from a straight up Sword & Sorcery movie? The rules?

Just about nothing. The only unique thing about D&D is a couple of copyrighted words, like illithid.

They could go straight up Sword & Sorcery movie:

A "popular" Realms place like Waterdeep or Baldur's Gate is attacked by a dragon, so a group of heroes must get the orb of dragonslaying from the dungeon of doom and then slay the dragon.

Chris Pine would be an obvious fighter/knight type, but could work just as well as a rogue, bard or even warlock. He'd be his typical 'slightly goofy' self, and it also a great warrior. And in the cleric, wizard and whatever class Chris is not. I'm sure they will have a tefiling warlock as that is pure D&D.

Hopefully they can avoid the campy "play fighting that knocks people down" and do a bit more "kill and death", but you never know. They could go for the soft middle like the Marvel movies. Might be likely to have a lot of CGI non human foes so they are safe to "kill" , like skeletons or empty suits of armor.

OR

They go with the people in the real world, playing REAL D&D. Have the nice mix of different people to show that "D&D is for everyone". Then...well...a magic roller coaster to the Realms. Then you get the fun "fish out of water" type adventure....though maybe more 'they are awesome' to over promote D&D.

This provides them the long running gag for the whole movie that the people can "remember" real D&D rules and then use them in the world.

Maybe even have them metagame up to eleven if they find themselves in , maybe Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, the people in the movie can remember all the game details from what they played through that playing D&D. Maybe a character might even have a d20 in their pocket and roll it to make a "real" action "in" the movie.

Or it could be a lot worse....

[Saintheart]

If they did this I'd love to see them duplicate what happened in Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg. The cleric can't regain spells because she (the player occupying the cleric) doesn't believe in the god.

I wonder if they've read that book?

If they have you can pretty much guarantee most of it won't be appearing in the movie. I personally liked the first book (since it's about the only Isekai book I've read and because the idea was good enough to carry one novel) but given it contains

Spoiler

Show

dragons being enslaved for centuries to flame away a city's excrement, PCs gang raped by NPC bandits, PCs dying kicking on the end of a spear in the guts, and a wheelchair-bound kid winding up literally flamed to death in the real world

I very much doubt we're going to see that sort of stuff in This Summer's Lighthearted Take On The Eighties Most Enduring Game Franchise.

[Grey Watcher]

I half wonder if they're going to make it a comedy, where the heroes do a bunch of stupid stuff like PCs normally do. Like, the Rogue tries to steal everything not nailed down, or the Bard tries to seduce everyone they meet, even monsters.

At the end of the film, during the climatic final battle with Evil, it appears hopeless, but then Pine's character says, "Wait, I have an idea! All we need are a few hundred peasants and as many ten foot wooden poles that you can find..."

I... honestly would be interested in seeing that movie. The idea has potential. I dunno if the conventions, tropes, and such associated with the brand have reached quite enough mainstream familiarity for the suits to greenlight a big budget film, though.

[Hopeless]

Or have a group of grown ups turn up after a dare to play a game the home owner picks.

He pulls out a set of the three 5e d&d books along with a very aged 1980's red box basic D&D.

He pulls out the pre generated characters which they pick from (select cast for those characters unless your cast is happy playing that character in medieval outfits maybe ask Peter Jackson for help with that!) and the game starts with Pine's character walking up a hill towards a small ruin whose catacomb he's intent on exploring.
Use the introductory adventure to introduce the characters so you have the Fighter, the female Cleric and the human Wizard.
Of course the Wizard player is a douche bag so he kills the Cleric and flees forcing the fighter to carry the Cleric out and back down to the temple in hopes of getting her raised from the dead.
Its now the fourth player turns up so we learn the Cleric player is now running a Rogue, the Wizard's player has switched to a Druid and the fourth player decides on running a Halfling Wizard (Warwick Davies available anyone?).
Now we learn the rogue Wizard is hiding in a castle and seeking revenge the group go after him.

Would that work?

Dungeons and Dragons: Get Bargle!

[Clertar]

They might go the Guilded Age way. Start out like a vanilla fantasy adventure, and then pull a 180 and show the players.

[Anonymouswizard]

Alternative idea: after his latest meeting with Ed Greenwood Elminster goes for some tacos and accidentally casts the spell to return to the realms while Chris Pine is in the area of affect. Of course by the time Mr Pine realises he's in another world Elminster has wandered off.

Thus Chris Pine must team up with a dears barbarian, a half-elf warlock, and a lizardfolk rogue (or cleric) in order to find his way back home.

[Hopeless]

Even better Pine was attending a Star Trek Convention when he encounters Elminster.
First person he runs across he assumes is a cosplayer dressed oddly for a Vulcan, a Scotty impersonator and a well dressed Uhura fan.
Completely unaware he's now in a fantasy world he uses the lessons he learnt trying to imitate Shatner to defeat an army of what he thinks are in character klingons and Romulans (Orcs and Dark Elves) before he gets to realise what is going on a fleeing foe casts banishment on him and he finds himself back at the convention and decides to head to the toilet to freshen up...

[Mordar]

I'm a little surprised by the number of people with a dominant "D&D Slapstick" bent. Sure, every campaign (or one-shot) in which I took part had moments of goofiness/levity/quote-flinging, but they all had serious intent and undertone.

Maybe it is a matter of selected preference, faded memories or style of the times...but with the exception of limited games (like Toon or Macho Women with Guns), that was my experience and so bias makes me think it is the common experience.

In any event, I don't want any slapstick, comic relief¹, Jumanji-swapping or fourth-wall breaking in a D&D movie. I want it to explore a world, show recognizable D&D monsters, present an adventure (with most definitions of the word), and have recognizable character classes. Magic should be costly, but no Vancian issues (can hedge around that, and have magic consume energy or something like that). Give us something recognizable, consumable by the masses and not juvenile.

Good luck, right?

- M

¹ - that is the thing that sank the first D&D movie for me. Sure, it was pretty lame, but the insertion of a Wayans playing a Wayans for comic relief rendered it a joke, exactly as Mallack did for CtD. Keep comic relief for comedic movies.

[Xyril]

I'm a little surprised by the number of people with a dominant "D&D Slapstick" bent. Sure, every campaign (or one-shot) in which I took part had moments of goofiness/levity/quote-flinging, but they all had serious intent and undertone.

I think that either your definition of "slapstick" is different than mine, or else your experience with D&D is different than mine. In my experience, I'd say that acknowledging the quirks or humor inherent in the D&D system is something that finds its way into most games, but progressing to the point of slapstick does not. For example, thieves stealing everything for fun or bards seducing everyone doesn't literally happen in every adventure... but in general, if you're a hammer everything looks like a nail, and if you don't occupy people with goal-focused tasks that suit their unique skills, they tend to start finding or creating those tasks in a way that sometimes adds a bit of humor to the campaign.

[Tyrant]

I'm a little surprised by the number of people with a dominant "D&D Slapstick" bent. Sure, every campaign (or one-shot) in which I took part had moments of goofiness/levity/quote-flinging, but they all had serious intent and undertone.

Maybe it is a matter of selected preference, faded memories or style of the times...but with the exception of limited games (like Toon or Macho Women with Guns), that was my experience and so bias makes me think it is the common experience.

In any event, I don't want any slapstick, comic relief¹, Jumanji-swapping or fourth-wall breaking in a D&D movie. I want it to explore a world, show recognizable D&D monsters, present an adventure (with most definitions of the word), and have recognizable character classes. Magic should be costly, but no Vancian issues (can hedge around that, and have magic consume energy or something like that). Give us something recognizable, consumable by the masses and not juvenile.

Good luck, right?

- M

¹ - that is the thing that sank the first D&D movie for me. Sure, it was pretty lame, but the insertion of a Wayans playing a Wayans for comic relief rendered it a joke, exactly as Mallack did for CtD. Keep comic relief for comedic movies.

Yeah, I'm definitely in the camp that says lots of "slapstick, comic relief, Jumanji-swapping or fourth-wall breaking" aren't going to be in the movie and I'm not really sure why anyone thinks they would be. This is purely speculation on my part, but I assume at least one preferred outcome of this venture is to set up the ability to make more movies. That is unlikely under any Jumanji-esque scenario. Either it will be terrible (highly likely in my opinion), or the novelty won't be sustainable past 1 or 2 movies. Likewise with the other things outlined above. Likewise with the various tropes people keep bringing up. Would I watch a movie filled with D&D tropes? Sure I would. Would Joe Public who has no idea what the joke is about or that there was a joke? Probably not (and if they did they wouldn't do so again). I think folks are grossly overestimating the cultural penetration of D&D. Do lots of people know that it is a thing which exists in the world? Sure. Less of them have a vague idea of what it is, even less a firm grasp, fewer still have actually played the game, and fewer still know about the various tropes that some people associate with the game. A few in jokes and references are to be expected (I assume), but you can't build a movie around things 90% of the audience have no connection or frame of reference to. Well, I mean, you can do that, you just won't make any money.

I think people need to take a more rational (or monetary) look at this. Is the goal to make money? Obviously the answer is yes. That eliminates a lot of ideas right there. Is the goal to start a franchise or shared universe? I have to assume it is. The IP is perfectly capable of supporting that. The Realms alone has over 200 novels (not that all of them are movie worthy, to be clear). Given the other two goals, is another goal to simulate playing the game? I don't think that's a given. As others have said, it is difficult (to be it mildly) to simulate a game that is different for everyone that plays it. And if it is the goal, towards what end? Selling more copies of 5E*? That would be very shortsighted. For one, it is unlikely to seriously move the needle on 5E sales. A decade of Marvel absolutely dominating the box office hasn't done anything to improve comic book sales., and reading those doesn't require lots of free time and a group of people that can reliably meet up. For another, the potential box office sales of a successful, ongoing series far outpaces any potential gain from moving more copies of 5E.

So, having said all of that, I think the most likely outcome is a movie set in the Forgotten Realms**. Maybe it's based on an existing book/module/game, maybe not. It will be a story that sets up a larger world for other movies to explore while hopefully wrapping up whatever main plot emerges. It might not have the D&D name on it, instead focusing on the FR name and waiting for a sequel to make it something like Forgotten Realms: A D&D Campaign World. That way they don't scare off the folks who still associate D&D with devil worship or nerds and if it flops they can more easily try again later without dirtying the name like certain other attempts. If enough people in the production crew are D&D players then there will be some in jokes and references. If not, probably not.

*5E is a stand in for whatever edition happens to be the edition when this comes out.

**I think FR is the most likely setting. It has the most material, by far, of any of them. It's also close enough to what people are used to that it won't be too jarring. Eberron is a possibility too. It is fantasy but different enough to stand out. Ravenloft has one story they would go with and people already have Dracula, so I don't see that happening. Dark Sun would be interesting, but the setting is insanely bleak and most plots would break the setting or be relentlessly hopeless. If they were only going to do a few movies, this would be more likely as you could do one narrative across a few movies and then never go back there. Starjammer is probably too bizarre and/or silly. Greyhawk isn't as widely known (at this point) as the Realms (though see above about how widely known in this context doesn't really mean widely known among the general populace) and I believe doesn't have as much material, but it is in the realm of possibility from what I know about it.

Edit to add: I also don't think the right move is some "save the world" plot. Save the city/kingdom? Maybe. You don't have to have dragons (especially if you don't actually use the D&D name) if you make a compelling movie that doesn't need them. Waterdeep: City of Speldors is a story I feel could easily serve as the building blocks to a decent movie. It would need some work to have reasons to talk about/show things outside of Waterdeep and the plot probably needs work to be screen worthy, but it's self contained and doesn't have world shattering consequences. Build on that. Sometime down the road, make the Drizzt movie we all know they are dying to make.