Re: The new Dungeons & Dragons series is canceled by Paramount+

On Wed, 12 Jun 2024 10:20:32 -0400, Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net>
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.