The Fight for D&D The Next Movie Begins

by **DeadSockPuppet** Fri May 10, 2013 9:13 pm

The first one blows humongous chunks, but this fanboy did piss away the money to see it in the theater. I thought Jeremy Irons could carry the movie, but not with Marlon Wayans dragging him down. I would love to see a quality movie, especially since there's so much epic source material, but if the next movie might be like the first I'd rather see them drop everything and give up.

Dungeons and Dragons and Disputes: Movie Studios Battling Over Game
By Lily RothmanMay 10, 2013

Earlier in the week, Deadline reported that Warner Bros. plans to follow in the games-to-movies trend with an upcoming adaptation of the fantasy role-playing-game Dungeons & Dragons—and now they’ve got word that there’s more to the story. Apparently, even though Warner Bros. has already gotten started on the project after acquiring the rights, Hasbro (the game company that owns D&D in a non-movie sense) says they’ve also started working with rival studio Universal on a cinematic adaptation of their own.

The tricky part is that producer Courtney Solomon, who is signed on for the Warner Bros. project, also produced and directed the 2000 Dungeons & Dragons movie—which was distributed by New Line Cinema, which is now part of Warner Bros.—and, according to one of Deadline‘s anonymous sources, Solomon still holds the rights needed to make the

Well, that’s not the only tricky part. The other thing is that the 2000 version proved that just because a lot of people are passionate about the game doesn’t mean the movie will be a hit.

That film, which starred Jeremy Irons and Marlon Wayans, made only $33.8 million worldwide—short of the $45 million budget Box Office Mojo reports for the movie. And critics were no kinder than the box-office: Dungeons & Dragons scored a measly 10% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, where fewer than a third of audience members liked it.

Still, Warner Bros. and Universal, each betting that they can do one better, are clearly willing to roll the 12-sided dice on this one.

by **Atrum** Fri May 10, 2013 10:55 pm

I actually enjoyed the original.

Also, I DM a group 1-2x per week - so just about anything D&D that gets made I'll be giving a fair chance.

by **DeadSockPuppet** Sat May 11, 2013 5:45 am

My thing is that there's so many great background like The Realms and Al Qadim or Greyhawk that would make for a fantastic setting and then they could use some of the greats like Eliminster, Rary, Otiluke, and the likes. I was just disappointed that the first movie didn't do that. I mean, it's not like there isn't almost 50 years of official and fan source material.

by S7 Coolhand Sat May 11, 2013 4:32 pm

They need to make it significantly different than that last POS. And not too Disneyesque - need some blood and guts - I'd also like to see the characters stick to their alignments. I could be good if done right, but my expectations are low.

In my only serious foray into real AD&D (on paper) I played a chaotic neutral mage. I quickly figured out to dip my arrows in poison to defeat the first boss. Then I chopped off his head and kept it in my backpack for a month or so, occassionally carving off some flesh trying to get a good clean skull I planned to craft into a stave. The DM eventually made me start rolling for disease points so I tossed it as my low lev character had low HP already.

by **DeadSockPuppet** Sat May 11, 2013 6:18 pm

enter nerd mode

If you want to be a "rules lawyer", later editions of D&D explained that 1.) alignment is a general idea of how your character tends to act and 2.) it's how most people outside your friends view you. The key thing to take away is that it's a general idea and the character can over time move along both axis, lawful and chaotic, good and evil. Their alignment is where they tend to settle or "come home to" when they're not shuffling around. Also, one can perform good actions with evil motivations and still be an evil character, just like a character can perform evil actions with good motivations and still be a good character.

For example, chaotic evil characters that fight the chaotic good forces of a king tend to view themselves as the chaotic good people trying to triumph over the chaotic evil despot. Just like lawful good and lawful evil characters follow a strict code or set of laws/rules. Both can have the same dedication and self sacrificing nature and outsiders determine where on the spectrum they fall: good or bad.

Ultimately, what one comes away from alignment with is that it's a spectrum, it's a generalization, and it's not set in stone.

exit nerd mode

I would love to see more GoT or LotR level action and battles and more PG-13/R level blood and gore. Who doesn't want to see the brute fighter score a critical hit and cleave his enemy in half or watch a mage unleash a fireball that melts the flesh off his opponents before they disintegrate.

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The Fight for D&D The Next Movie Begins

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