I'd put my money on terrible. All previous attempts at a D&D movie have been rubbish, the game just doesn't really translate that well to a narrative medium.

OTOH, are they planning a Drizzt movie, an Elminster movie, etc, an adaption of those books? That could turn out okay, but of course, the writer they have attached at this point is hardly inspiring.

I think part of the problem is that expectations are going to be all over the place.  Some people are going to want this character or that in the movie, and want the monsters to be from this monster manual or that one, or want this story line or that one presented.  The reality is that there is no consensus on what certain NPC's, monsters, or kingdoms even are.  With all the different D&D editions and all the publications, there is often source material all over the place with multiple contradictions.  If you want to start a quick argument among D&D players, just ask them how to correctly pronounce "Drow."  There are many D&D players who are fast and loose with rules and guidelines, but there are also plenty of rules-lawyer types who are quick to express their expertise.

Personally, I hope they enlist good actors, have a good story to tell, and have the funding to create decent special effects.  As much as I hate to say it, Forgotten Realms is probably better than Greyhawk just because its history is tighter with fewer contradictions.  And, Grug Greyskin, you are right that the game doesn't translate that well into a narrative medium, and that's why I think the producers need to forget that and just tell a great story in an interesting, high-fantasy environment.

The main things the film has going for it is its name brand familiarity and the void now left by the The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings films.  The general public now a good idea of some basic fantasy building blocks like what a dwarf, elf, hobbit, goblin and orc are, among other creatures.  Fantasy sells, IF it's quality and tells a good story.  If the producers try to do much beyond that and satisfy too many expectations, they'll ruin it.  As they say, "Too many cooks spoil the soup."  

wjaehnig wrote in Warner Brothers Announces D&D Cinematic Universe:

benjoshua wrote in Warner Brothers Announces D&D Cinematic Universe:I think part of the problem is that expectations are going to be all over the place.  Some people are going to want this character or that in the movie, and want the monsters to be from this monster manual or that one, or want this story line or that one presented.  The reality is that there is no consensus on what certain NPC's, monsters, or kingdoms even are.  With all the different D&D editions and all the publications, there is often source material all over the place with multiple contradictions.  If you want to start a quick argument among D&D players, just ask them how to correctly pronounce "Drow."  There are many D&D players who are fast and loose with rules and guidelines, but there are also plenty of rules-lawyer types who are quick to express their expertise.

I agree! Fans are going to nitpick this to death no matter how good or bad the movie is. That is one thing our community is expert at, speaking of D&D fandom in general!

I myself would have like to see a (real) Dragonlance movie as I'm a huge fan of that setting (yes I know, something that subjects me to endless ridicule among "serious" D&D fans  :lol: ) as I think either Chronicles or Legends would make great big-screen epics. But given that Hasbro and WotC will understandably need to tie the movie into their then-current releases I think it was a foregone conclusion it would be in the Realms. OK, still countless stories that could be told, FR are broad enough for just about anything.

15 years ago I would have agreed the game would be hard to translate to the big screen but given the great success of the original LOTR trilogy (books, not game, but still thought to be a tough sell that many years ago) I think there is a proven market for a high quality fantasy epic. I think if they tell a good story and you can't hear the sound of dice rolls in the background then it's got a fair shot.

There's plenty of DL fans out there.  I'm one and I agree, such a great story and setting would be a perfect fit for a movie with broad appeal.  Remember, the film has to play to the general audience to be successful, not just to us hardcore fans.  I think DL can do that, and do it well.  

I don't totally hate FR, I'm a fan of the Drizz't books.  I think his story would also make a terrific movie franchise.  

Just my ramblings.

I actually think DL would make a great series of movies too.  If it could be condensed into a 3 movie series like LOTR I think it would help the game broaden its base by a wide margin.  It would take the right creative pool to pull it together though.

I'm personally not a huge fan of the Drizzt books but incorporating him into the storyline would be a big draw too.

LOL... the last Conan movie equals my expectation level for this movie.

I honestly had not thought of a Dark Sun movie.  I could certainly see that working.  A bit of Mad Max meets LOTR.  

I also think a good dungeon crawl movie could work if done correctly.  Almost everyone loved the first 20 minutes of the original Indiana Jones movie.  It would take some work to stretch that into a movie but would be neat.  NOT like the Thieves' Guild trap maze of the first D&D movie.  That was just sad.

It'll probably suck pretty bad and end up reinforcing negative stereotypes about D&D, but it'll probably also do well overseas and spawn several equally sucky sequels, much to our chagrin.

staro wrote in Warner Brothers Announces D&D Cinematic Universe:I really don't think it serves any purpose to refer to the movie as being based on D&D.  It's a game, and you don't successfully base a narrative on a game.  Most people will imagine the movie will at some point involve players sitting together roleplaying, because that's what D&D is.  I'd much rather they just focus on it being a fantasy movie.  Whatever story line they choose, anyone who plays the game will know it for what it is and will want to see it; slapping the D&D label on it is just asking for it to be mocked.  People are ready for more fantasy, after LOTR and Game of Thrones, but they expect it to be high quality and, I think, serious.  With my gaming group, we get silly pretty much 90% of the time when we play, and we leave with sore cheeks and stomachs from smiling and laughing so much, but that's not what I want from a D&D-based movie, and I worry that if they keep focusing on it being a D&D-based movie, some of that cheesy, character acting kind of stuff will make its way in and lead to another dumb movie that happens to be fantasy-themed.  As a major fan of the Forgotten Realms stories, I would be ecstatic to find out a Drizzt movie is in the works, but only if it is serious and rich in its creation.  As an example, I was really excited about the Sword of Truth series until I saw the first few minutes of it and realized it was Hercules/Xena 2.0.  Game of Thrones shows what you can do when you try hard enough.  Just let it be a new fantasy movie series without the D&D reference.  Again, anyone into D&D will already know what it is and will come, and everyone else won't be turned off by the connection to our game.

Well done sir.
Awesome post and I agree with nearly every thought you put down.

staro wrote in Warner Brothers Announces D&D Cinematic Universe:I really don't think it serves any purpose to refer to the movie as being based on D&D.  It's a game, and you don't successfully base a narrative on a game.  Most people will imagine the movie will at some point involve players sitting together roleplaying, because that's what D&D is.  I'd much rather they just focus on it being a fantasy movie.  Whatever story line they choose, anyone who plays the game will know it for what it is and will want to see it; slapping the D&D label on it is just asking for it to be mocked.  People are ready for more fantasy, after LOTR and Game of Thrones, but they expect it to be high quality and, I think, serious.  With my gaming group, we get silly pretty much 90% of the time when we play, and we leave with sore cheeks and stomachs from smiling and laughing so much, but that's not what I want from a D&D-based movie, and I worry that if they keep focusing on it being a D&D-based movie, some of that cheesy, character acting kind of stuff will make its way in and lead to another dumb movie that happens to be fantasy-themed.  As a major fan of the Forgotten Realms stories, I would be ecstatic to find out a Drizzt movie is in the works, but only if it is serious and rich in its creation.  As an example, I was really excited about the Sword of Truth series until I saw the first few minutes of it and realized it was Hercules/Xena 2.0.  Game of Thrones shows what you can do when you try hard enough.  Just let it be a new fantasy movie series without the D&D reference.  Again, anyone into D&D will already know what it is and will come, and everyone else won't be turned off by the connection to our game.

Yeah this just swings from one side of the pendulum to the other, a complete 180 if you will. Basically your point is make an awesome fantasy movie who cares about branding it D&D. That I agree with wholeheartedly.  Being ecstatic about a Drizzt movie and not having the D&D brand is ridiculous, no matter how cheesy or not. Making a movie or trilogy about the DL chronicles and not referring to Dragonlance or D&D is silly. At this point D&D is a brand not just a game to Agent Cooper's point.  The real point from D&D fans or otherwise is to just make a good serious high budget fantasy setting movie which sounds good in practice. The many decades of D&D storytelling provide a rich environment of work to mold into that movie we all want. There are few, if any (sorry I'm not a huge movie buff) generic fantasy movies that had any prominence at all. All of the good ones came from a previous story (Conan, LoTR, GoT, etc.) Although those are not games, I don't want a movie based on how you play D&D but rather based on some of the epic stories we all grew to love, just like Peter Jackson with LoTR.

Here are some worst case scenarios:

1. Movie is bookended by teens playing D&D. Something like The Princess Bride, except instead of Colombo telling the kid from Wonder Years a bedtime story, these teens' fruitful imagination is the rest of the movie.
2. Just as #1, except that the same actors playing the teens are also the actors in the remainder of the movie, truly imagining being their character. Lots of 4th wall breakage, like a typical D&D game.
3. Even worse, through some magical means, the teens actually are transported into the Forgotten Realms (or wherever), something akin to a live action version of the 80s cartoon. Peter Dinklage plays the Dungeon Master.

Coming to theatres in 2017 or whenever.