Path: ...!Xl.tags.giganews.com!local-2.nntp.ord.giganews.com!news.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2024 16:31:05 +0000 From: Spalls Hurgenson Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd Subject: Re: The new Dungeons & Dragons series is canceled by Paramount+ Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2024 12:31:05 -0400 Message-ID: <08hj6jpm8559pngb3ijo9fkuhfrf9lgll4@4ax.com> References: X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 2.0/32.652 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 58 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com X-Trace: sv3-b7aiAENz8RsJ/0D02DsuGvj73Sl5ez/0bklt7p201kzWngi34aAo2004aUtOtcXQ4ttxCZOtt6E1zJ8!Tqq/bkZxyePSOYc/Iu/cy3k1750bw/uL5S1bwRdUfcS4VNh+2YvaXIc1tUyapfz9rwscu84= X-Complaints-To: abuse@giganews.com X-DMCA-Notifications: http://www.giganews.com/info/dmca.html X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40 Bytes: 3983 On Wed, 12 Jun 2024 10:20:32 -0400, Ubiquitous wrote: >spallshurgenson@gmail.com wrote: > >>Well, no surprise here after the lackluster response to the D&D movie. > >Really? I thought it did respectfully well, at least better than previous >attempts and enough to discuss another movie. Lackluster in terms of box office returns. It made back its budget but didn't do gangbusters, and as of last year, Paramount was saying that -while there remains the /possibility/ of a sequel- it would only happen if it has a smaller budget because the box office reception was poor. >>I've said it before, and I'm saying it again: >>Dungeons & Dragons is not an exciting license on which to base a >>television or movie franchise. The GAME is exciting. The various IPs >>-Ravenloft, Baldurs Gate, Drizzt DuOrden, Spelljammer- are all great. >>But D&D is a lousy license that alone can't carry a movie. >How would do it, if you had to? I'm not sure I would. But I certainly wouldn't try to wedge my own fan-fiction fantasy story into a D&D framework, which is what the last four D&D movies did. Throwing a few Beholders and Bigby Spells into a lackluster story don't make the game feel like D&D. Having characters proudly proclaim, "I'm a Ranger" in a way that you know they are referring to their class doesn't make for engaging storytelling. It's obvious branding; it's marketing, not cinema. The thing is, if you really want to emulate a D&D game -if you really want to capture the D&D/table-top role-playing feel of the game into your movie- it *can* be done. It *has* been done by many Indie filmmakers (for example, the JourneyQuest series). They're often forced to go the comedy route though, because so much of D&D is just ridiculous; it's weird restrictions and mechanics that don't really make much sense when applied to real life (or even the fantasy thereof portrayed in Hollywood movies). I /wouldn't/ make a "D&D movie". I'd make a fantasy movie that told a good story with good characters. If it shared some stuff with D&D, that'd be neat (floating one-eyed magical orb-monsters aren't unique to D&D, after all. Take the weird beastie in "Big Trouble In Little China" for instance). Branding your creation a "D&D movie" forces certain limitations and expectations on you that generally makes for a poor narrative. Better to make a "Conan" or "Dragonslayer" or "Pan's Labyrinth" where the story and characters come first. If I really /had/ to make a "D&D movie", at least let me use one of the official IPs where the setting was designed around the game mechanics. I'd use "Ravenloft" or "Dark Sun"; can you imagine a "Spelljammer" movie? But I wouldn't just slap the D&D brand on a mediocre fantasy film and expect it to be a success.