D&D Honor Among Thieves

[InvaderStych]

 

Trailer is super derivative, yet still promising ...

 

... somehow ...

 

... in a "don't take this too seriously and it'll all be fine" sort of way. 😄

Edited July 22, 2022 by InvaderStych
wanted to elaborate

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

It had my interest...

I'd been wondering why Paramount and E1 went so big with this at SDCC and the A-Listers signed for a D&D movie... until I spotted the writers on IMDB.

It's John Daley & Jon Goldstein from Spiderman:Homecoming. 

...now, as they say on the internet giffy things, you have my attention.

 

It looks like mildly ridiculous fun (Ragnarok, Lego Movie) that plays with but loves its source material: while still fully inhabiting a fully-formed, high-production version of the Forgotten Realms world. (Which, TBF, is exactly the attitude I went into most D&D / MERP / TMNT sessions with, and how I play CoH.)

 

Also, Pine seems to have the right attitude to the whole thing.

(Hugh seems utterly baffled but sod it, he's working and having a bunch of fun.)

 

Roll'em:

• Chris Pine: wisecracking Bard/Hannibal Smith type
• Michelle Rodriguez: also-wisecracking but mostly asskicking Barbarian
• Justice Smith (Detective Pikachu, Jurassic World) : deadpan, slightly Spock-like mage
• Sophia Lillis (Sharp Objects - please go see that if you've not already) : Yay Druids! *happy druid dance, no not skyclad*
• Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton, Gray Man): Paladin and general smouldering duties
• Hugh Grant: Rogue, probably treacherous or heart-of-gold and a bit doomed

It's either going to be massive or a dud, but I'll be watching it anyway - assuming it's not a blasted Paramount+ exclusive. And if it goes big, it could do for D&D what the Lego movies did - and there'll be MORE NERDS EVERYWHERE.

 

Oh, and if you've ever seen the first attempts at D&D movies (SNAAAAIIIIIIILLLLLSSS!), it looks like a massive improvement already.

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Frostbiter]

Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God is actually a pretty decent movie. Or at least I really liked it. The others...not so much.

[The_Warpact]

It's got an Owlbear, all other arguments are invalid.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

14 hours ago, The_Warpact said:

It's got an Owlbear, all other arguments are invalid.

 

The cast seem to agree with you.

Also, they give very, very good EPK interview. 

I always worry a little when people have this much fun making a movie (or are quite as drunk as Hugh is on the junket), but still gonna see it.

 

 

[DougGraves]

I have no particular interest in this movie as D&D is a system and not really a story or even setting.  So the idea of a D&D movie means nothing to me.

 

But I am excited for more attempts to make fantasy a viable genre.  So I hope it does well.

[High_Beam]

I have played D&D in its various forms since 1979.  But D&D is a niche, not something that will inherently appeal to millions of viewers needed for a box office that could be considered successful.

 

Look at Judge Dredd, and I mean both the Stallone and Urban versions.  Stallone's was terrible from story and other aspects but it also hit many things dead on (uniform, the bikes, the Angel family) and to be blunt its how I always saw Joe Dredd (even though the writers themselves always swayed more toward Clint).  Urbans was a great film and clearly had more appeal but with that the hard part to get over is that fascists are the good guys, people are not comfortable with that which will always make Dredd, no matter how good the story or anything else is, a niche product.  It didn't do well in the box office and they flat out said if it didn't make at least X dollars, there would be no sequel.

 

D&D movie needs to not say D&D, not point to the tropes of D&D, at least not to the general audience.  Also, don't say Lord of the Rings lite or Game of Thornes without the nudity, but don't say D&D.  And that's the part that hurts my heart because I love D&D as a game and a franchise but I would not help things because I would want a Forgotten Realms D&D movie or a Greyhawk D&D movie, one that is its own thing but leverages that wealth of lore.  I don't want a generic D&D movie which is what I see.   The problem is that that would require catering to a smaller cadre of fans (FR vs GH or Tyr help us Ebberon) which would further limit the likelihood of success.

 

Oh and the promotional material, the trailers and the interviews (which translate to more money invested on the product), turn me off from wanting to see it.  We cant have nice things.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

18 hours ago, Krimson said:

and would end somewhere in the middle of the campaign without any sort of resolution. 

...and more drinking. (Diet Dr Pepper under 18, diet beer over 18, mead for special occasions.)

 

TBH I guess that's what they're aiming for - the spirit of fun, casual, slightly insane freeform gameplay with a bunch of Greatest Hits thrown in.

Apparently, it's a Forgotten Realms based flick.  But - again, thinking Lego Movie here - taking the core mechanics of the world and running with them rather than note-perfect accuracy. As long as they don't throw in cheese lines like "did your Charisma just fail you?" I'll be happy enough.

(Or if they give those all to Hugh Grant.)

Edited August 10, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[TheOtherTed]

I kind of see this the same way I saw "Dogma" or "Ocean's Eleven" when they first came out - i.e., another "make-work" film.  Brainstorm a random idea with some "currently available" and more-or-less trending celebrities (not necessarily actors), pitch to everyone who'll listen, drum up some funding, and go to town with it.

 

Though truth be told, I have no idea if that's how "Dogma" or "Ocean's Eleven" happened.  They probably didn't.  But while those films clearly did well, I can't help feel a certain degree of cynicism about the "Hey, look who we signed on!" vibe to it.

 

That said, if Jay and Silent Bob show up, I'm in.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Those two showing up or even cameoing would be awesome.

(Mind you, I like Ocean's 11. Even Don Cheadle/Basher's accent, since it's fun trying to guess what the hell it's supposed to be. Awight?)

 

I get the feeling it could be good or enjoyably terrible*, not unwatchably terrible, and right now I have zero idea which.

 

Also - and please yell at me if this would be very very wrong...

...would anyone else be up for a Tiny Tina's Wonderlands movie?

 

*For calibration purposes - enjoyably terrible: Flash Gordon (saved by Brian, Ornelia, Max & Queen), Xanadu (💓ONJ), Ishtar

**Unwatchably terrible: the original Whalin/Wayans D&D movie, Jupiter Ascending (Eddie Redmayne's amazing scene-chewery aside), Cats, Nic Cage's Wicker Man (NOT THE BEES!!!).

Edited August 15, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Just rezzing this thread to say: if you thought doing a press junket with drunk Hugh Grant was bad...

...it could be worse.

 

 

[Cancrusher]

They've all been hot garbage (IMO, I mean) up to this point.  I'll decline to watch unless/until it get's rave reviews.  I'm not holding my breath, though.  

[Frostbiter]

12 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Just rezzing this thread to say: if you thought doing a press junket with drunk Hugh Grant was bad...

...it could be worse.

 

 

 

Well, that escalated quickly.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Trailer 2: not quite as strong as the first, but still fun. And Hugh being a git.

 

[InvaderStych]

On 1/23/2023 at 4:28 PM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Trailer 2: not quite as strong as the first, but still fun. And Hugh being a git.

 

Yeah, I'm still in.

 

Never seen anything with Regé-Jean Page prior to this, but he's serving up a flawless "straight-man" in these trailers. Not as easy as it appears. It is all about the silent reactions, all facial expression. Not a lot of actors can nail it like that.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

R-JP is best known for being arm candy in Bridgerton, and would rather not be known for work on The Gray Man. 

[lemming]

6 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

R-JP is best known for being arm candy in Bridgerton, and would rather not be known for work on The Gray Man. 

Ah, he was paid and probably enjoyed himself, even if the film was a formula.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

(EDIT: yes, this is exactly the sort of idiot stuff my groups would do)

Edited February 21, 2023 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[TheOtherTed]

Okay, alright, I can appreciate a bit of Abbott & Costello style humor.  Consider me warmed to the movie by about 1.5 degrees.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Final trailer is up - and is that a Mind Flayer?

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Another clip from the flick. I'm slightly worried when PR bomb us with all these bits.

I think they're worried it ain't gonna play (and it is a big, high-concept swing. Lego Movie, which seems like a similar idea and style to me, did great on word of mouth as much as anything else.) And this is at least half of one of the big setpieces. So you might not wanna watch this. You've been warned.

 

 

...but that said... I did start laughing like a drain about 1 minute in.

Spoiler

 

Anybody we know?

 

[TheOtherTed]

I should have heeded the warning.  I've never experienced a clip that so completely destroyed my interest in a movie before.  To be fair, though, I was hanging on by a thread anyway.

 

It took a Google search, but I'm guessing that

Spoiler

your hidden contents are companions from earlier "Baldur's Gate" games?  I have to admit, I haven't played any of them before BG3.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

That would not be who I was thinking of.

(Unless Baldur's Gate also wrote them in...)

Spoiler

 

 

[TheOtherTed]

Whoa - good call-out.  I never would have made that connection, and I watched that show religiously as a kid.

 

It does make me wonder who that first group at the 55 minute mark is, though...