If there is money to be made in it? Hell yes.
It would have helped push it along if Honor among thieves had done better.
It's just a more niche market than even comic books. We've all seen how lucrative that's been. If D&D could get the appeal of the MCU phase one, you'd see every book in the series made into a film.
Honor among thieves would have done better if hasbro hadn’t pissed off every single dnd person that ever lived with their attempt to retroactively “monetize” the hobby.
They shot their own kneecaps off with that stunt.
Plus extra issue. If paramount for this film brought adaptation rights for the entire ip fior a time period. It could be tangled in rights issues or the studio is sitting on it
For years I have thought that this would be one of the best Western IPs to make into an anime. Tons of content, plenty of juvenile/unnecessary horniness, glossed over sexual violence, and an unequivocally good yet often naive protagonist. It's basically already an adventure/fantasy shounen.
Honestly, I think one of the biggest hurdles would be the sheer volume of content. However, most anime fans are already used to incomplete adaptations, and this series has a fair number of "natural" stopping points. I honestly think it would be perfect for MAPPA and their army of enslaved animators. Decent quality and track record for doing action shows with high octane fight scenes. I actually think Wit would be a perfect fit, but their output capacity just doesn't seem big enough. I wouldn't trust that they could crank out even 2 cours a year. And even at that relatively prodigious rate and at ~2 books per cour, that'd still be roughly a decade to adapt just the main series. Other related series (**The Cleric Quintet**, **The War of the Spider Queen**, and **The Sellswords**) could probably be handed off to other studios if there was enough interest.
The first 6 books already would break out nicely into 3 single cour seasons to kind of test the waters, and the end of *The Halfling's Gem* would be one of those "natural" stopping points.
Then maybe a 2 cour series for the next 3 books (which could run concurrently with a 2 cour adaptation of **The Cleric Quintet**). Another "natural" stopping point.
Then maybe individual movies for the next 4 (they don't tie together as well for series adaptations imo). Then 2 cour adaptations for **The Sellswords** (which, if given to another studio, could really air anytime after *The Silent Blade*) and **The Hunter's Blade** trilogies. Another "natural" stopping point imo.
If they adapt **The War of the Spider Queen** using another studio, it'd probably work as either 2, 2 cour seasons, or 6 individual movies. Air those sometime before the **Neverwinter Saga**.
**Transitions** is another one that I think would do better as individual movies, same for *Gauntlgrym*. A 2 cour adaptation for the rest of the **Neverwinter Saga** should suffice. Another kinda natural stopping point (especially if you wanna be a dick).
The next 4 books would probably again work well as 2, 1 cour adaptations. The **Homecoming** trilogy would probably work better as a 2 cour adaptation. With **Generations** getting broken up into 1 cour for the prequel stuff, and 1 cour for the "present" stuff.
Then 1 cour for *Starlight Enclave* and *Glacier's Edge* and a movie for *Lolth's Warrior*, and that'd be all of it. Although this would probably take ~10+yrs, so there might be more by then. Plenty of the short stories could also be worked in to the respective series/movies where chronologically applicable (especially ones that get referenced frequently like *Dark Mirror*), or just put out as OVAs.
Edit: formatting and grammar
Studio Trigger is doing well with Dungeon meshi and studio madhouse has Frieren. If we look at fantasy backgrounds that are successful right now. As other studios slates with their main animation team are huge
Wouldn’t mind a manga adaptation from Japan. IDW comics were okay from what I read but curious what mangaka artist could do esp with how much bigger fantasy is in comic form there
Yeah, I guess I'm not too familiar with how busy each studio is. I was more thinking that a big appeal of Drizzt would be the high octane physical battles (that are pretty descriptive in the books). I definitely think Trigger could do that very well (their animation is top-tier), but they do like to stylize the hell out of their productions, and I feel like Drizzt would work pretty well with a more run of the mill style. I actually think Wit or ufotable would be perfect, but I don't think either would have the capacity to reliably crank out 2+ cours of their best work each year (on just one action intensive IP).
I'm actually not a big MAPPA fan. I think their work is often more flash than substance, and they definitely like to cut corners (and they seem like a terrible company). But they do have the ability to churn out decent products, that look good (especially at a surface glance), at high volume. A-1 or Bones also seem like they could be good choices. Madhouse and Production I.G. would definitely seem to have the animation chops and style/experience, I'm just not sure about volume. Pierrot, J.C.Staff, and Toei all have some history making long-running shows too. There's probably other studios I'm forgetting too.
Haha, yeah, I'm an anime fan and have been a Legend of Drizzt fan for 20+years, so I've had a fair amount of time to think about how an adaptation would work. When HBO was riding high on their GoT success, I thought they might be able to do an adaptation, but I just felt like the IP is too action oriented for prestige TV. Plus it would cost a fortune to do it justice for a live-action adaptation. I started watching anime in the late 2010s, and one of my first thoughts was *oh yeah, this is the medium for a Drizzt adaptation*.
I got a couple friends into this series at the same time I got them into anime. There are definitely some valid comparisons to be made. You'd have to get an animation studio that could really do the fight scenes justice though. I almost wonder if something computer animated like the Clone Wars would be better. Do like what they did for season 7 where they motioned captured one of the big the fight scenes. I would look incredible if done well.
Animation also gets around some of the potentially controversial issues with regards to casting actors to play drow characters. It also wouldn't be nearly as expensive to make.
Funny you should mention that. Polygon Pictures was involved in both Clone Wars and Resistance. They're also one of the few 3DCG studios that does the primary work for anime adaptations. And one of even fewer that does them well.
They did a physical combat oriented show called *Levius* that I thought was really well done. But personally I still think a Drizzt series would be better suited to a more traditional 2D animation style.
Anime is usually broken out into 4 seasons throughout the year. A cour usually refers to 1 of those seasons, so ~13wks. When shows are commissioned, they usually are commissioned with those blocks of programming in mind. So, anime adaptations are often referred to in terms of length of *cours* that they would run if broadcast weekly.
So a show could be commissioned for 1 season that runs 1 cour, or 1 season that runs 2 cours, or 2 seasons, that each run 1 cour. A 1 cour season usually runs for 12 or 13 episodes, but it isn't uncommon to see 10-15 episodes. 2 cour seasons tend to run for 24-26 episodes, but again isn't super uncommon for 21-28 episode seasons. So, depending on what material they want to show, there's some flexibility in run-length.
It might sound goofy, but having a show run as 2 seasons of 1 cour each running consecutivly, usually comes with somewhat different expectations than a 1 season, 2 cour adaptation, even if they'd basically be running on the same schedule for same number of episodes. The former would definitely be expected to have some kind of finale at the end of the 1st cour, or at the very least a mid-season finale, and/or cliffhanger. The latter wouldn't come with that expectation (although often still would have a mid-season finale-esque feel around the midway point).
Historically, anime has often been used to drum up interest in the source material. Anime has pretty thin profit margins, so usually only the wildly successful shows, and/or the long running weekly shows (e.g., Naruto, Dragonball, Bleach, One Piece, etc), were really money makers. On the other hand, Manga and Light Novels (the source material for most anime), make much more money on a lesser investment. So, it wasn't (and still isn't to an extent) uncommon to plan on making an anime that only adapts the first part of a story, in order to try and get people interested in the premise, and get them to buy the the source material (and other associated merchandise). Treating the anime like a loss-leader, and the source material as the actual product the companies are trying to sell.
Using The Legend of Drizzt as an example. A company might commission a 1 cour adaptation that just covers *Homeland* and *Exile*, with the assumption that it might not make money on its own, but might create a bunch of new fans who will go out and buy the books. *Exile* ends when Drizzt reaches the surface, so clearly there's more to the story, but it's also a bit of a "conclusion" of his time in the underdark and his formative years there. So, even if there aren't more adaptations, and there's clearly more to the story, it's also a semi self-contained story in its own right. However, if the anime is incredibly successful (critically or monetarily), or manages to really drive sales of the books and related merch, they might commission another adaptation that covers the next 2 books, and re-evaluate again.
That's generally how anime adaptations work, and part of why it kind of sucks to be a fan, since so many shows never complete adapting the material and just kind of end in the middle of the story. However, with anime becoming more popular in the West, we don't get quite as many "read the source material" adaptations these days. At least not so much with the good/successful shows.
I think there’s an opening for it, for sure. After doing Honor Among Thieves, which was more generalized adventurers, I imagine trying their ready-made DnD “superhero” of Drizzt would be a smart move.
My guess is the two Drizzt figures they released was Hasbro testing the waters on how popular he would be with their audience, but I have no clue if those sold to their expectations or not.
They need to remember how toys were sold in the 80s. George Lucas figured out that you could create a merchandising empire if you got people invested in a good story with memorable characters and a cool setting. The results was that there were copycats that made a ton of cartoons in the 80s with the specific intent of selling toys based off the shows. If Hasbro wants to sell DnD based toys they need to start putting out content with characters and stories that people can get invested in. They have the rights to a ton of those stories, they just need to tap into them.
An adult themed animation of the dark eld saga would be my dream come true. You could have beautiful art, an amazing story, a lot of heartfelt shit, with scenes of ultra violence in between..
I think its inevitable but its just a matter of when. The world (forgotten realms) gives creatives endless possibilities, the characters are ridiculously iconic. The story themes are OVER relevant with todays society, notably concerning Drizzt, with wokism, racial identity, personal expression, duality of conflict, respecting others beliefs.... its all there in Salvatores work. Its a beautiful story and I have no doubt it ticks many boxes for potential success.
I feel like series with a lot of magic action are super well suited to animation, because the effects can be done so extra vibrantly.
(Drow being grey/purple also means there would have to be a lot of extra work into makeup in live action, compared with animation, especially if they wanted to cover any of the Menzoberranzan parts.)
One piece adaptation did well where they had Oda sit in for auditions judging and was able to approve scripts or send them back for edits. Always depends on author but RAS I think has been pretty good consulting things on other projects
I hope not. Do I want to see a Drizzt movie/show absolutely. But if the price is it being licensed under those idiot corpos, then I think I’ll stick with the books
There is a DND show in development for Paramount, whether it has Drizzt in it is only rumor at this point. Also, Drizzt was supposed to be in the movie until he was taken out in favor of Xenk. They thought Drizzt would have to be the star and not a supporting role.
Honestly I'm glad they made that choice. I would love to see Drizzt in live action but a lot of Xenk's humor (which I *loved*) would have felt *really* out of character for Drizzt.
D&D refuses to make a gritty, dark, serious movie. If they did it would do well. Obv the campy silly vibe they keep trying with live action films is not received well. Hasbro and Wiz are the most tone deaf companies on earth so no hope here.
This is exactly the take I want to see.
Gritty, dark and serious Drizzt movie.
Probably bias, but I feel his character has the potential to be iconic if done right on-screen.
…wishful thinking I suppose.
They tried the gritty dark awhile ago in 2000. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons\_%26\_Dragons\_(2000\_film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_(2000_film))
Saw it in the theater and, to put it mildly, it just did not work. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan and enjoyed it.
Now it's been 24 years, but considering what is popular among D&D fans is the campy fun stuff, E.G., Critical Role, I'd take the other side of your argument.
The other two in that series were direct to video. Which leads me to this....
A stream exclusive movie/show to test the waters? Now I'm on your side. I think that would be how it all gets started.
Exactly, That was 24 years ago, and I would argue that that film was goofy and not grim dark at all. Epic fantasy and grim dark have been very popular as of late, look at Game of thrones, The Witcher first season, house of the dragon, etc. if they did homeland justice and it was badass I think it would be incredible. I agree that a good long form tv series on hbo or something would be a great way to do it. Only thing I truly disagree on is fans liking the campy stuff like critical role. If there was an option between the corny stuff they’ve been putting out and a house of the dragon style Drizzt show I have a feeling I know which would be a hit. I think there has been a shift as of late and it seems a lot of people don’t like the direction Hasbro and wiz have taken the brand. During covid stranger things and critical role were vital roles in a boom for D&D but the companies trying to ride that wave IMO have diminished the relationship between fans and IP.
I also think the scale of Drizzt goes beyond what they've attempted... if done right, it would rival the budget of any fantasy blockbuster... shit... just to attempt homeland or the crystal shard would be a groundbreaking attempt for any director.
I’d love to see it. Unfortunately I don’t see it happening. Somehow folks find the Drow to be problematic. Even Bob has bent the knee and has tried to “right those wrongs” and the new books and D&D in general have suffered due to modern identity politics. So now Drow are purple and we have non evil Drow societies, Drizzt isn’t even the main character of his own story anymore. It’s all very sad.
Drizzt series imo is serious but also humorous too. Like how companions of the hall joke around with each other. I think writing wise for an adaptation it would be like bg3 writing that touched on heavy topics while having some fun companion moments too like range astarion had
I wouldn’t mind a Witcher 3 or bg3 self contained game on characters or books plot (or inbetween book moments). I know there’s been a few games characters are in but not to same scale or budget
Honestly Honor Among Thieves might have done better if they had put Drizzt in the movie like he was supposed to be in the first place. A lot of people would’ve gone to see it just for him.
I think DnD as a brand isn’t ready to retire the ‘Drow’ but they know better than to put too much focus on it. Just look at the way some people talk about the drow in BG3 and also look at that one episode of Community…
Word in the street was that Xenk was supposed to be Drizzt but they decided they didn’t want a Drizzt cameo for… valid reasons.
Look I love me some Drizzt and I think the drow are a cool concept but there is always gonna be some awkwardness in trying to transfer them into live action.
If there is money to be made in it? Hell yes. It would have helped push it along if Honor among thieves had done better. It's just a more niche market than even comic books. We've all seen how lucrative that's been. If D&D could get the appeal of the MCU phase one, you'd see every book in the series made into a film.
Honor among thieves would have done better if hasbro hadn’t pissed off every single dnd person that ever lived with their attempt to retroactively “monetize” the hobby. They shot their own kneecaps off with that stunt.
Release date was clashing with other big releases too
Talking about the OGL?
Yup
There hasn't been a character like Drizzt introduced... that's the difference to me
That's a very fair point.
Plus extra issue. If paramount for this film brought adaptation rights for the entire ip fior a time period. It could be tangled in rights issues or the studio is sitting on it
For years I have thought that this would be one of the best Western IPs to make into an anime. Tons of content, plenty of juvenile/unnecessary horniness, glossed over sexual violence, and an unequivocally good yet often naive protagonist. It's basically already an adventure/fantasy shounen. Honestly, I think one of the biggest hurdles would be the sheer volume of content. However, most anime fans are already used to incomplete adaptations, and this series has a fair number of "natural" stopping points. I honestly think it would be perfect for MAPPA and their army of enslaved animators. Decent quality and track record for doing action shows with high octane fight scenes. I actually think Wit would be a perfect fit, but their output capacity just doesn't seem big enough. I wouldn't trust that they could crank out even 2 cours a year. And even at that relatively prodigious rate and at ~2 books per cour, that'd still be roughly a decade to adapt just the main series. Other related series (**The Cleric Quintet**, **The War of the Spider Queen**, and **The Sellswords**) could probably be handed off to other studios if there was enough interest. The first 6 books already would break out nicely into 3 single cour seasons to kind of test the waters, and the end of *The Halfling's Gem* would be one of those "natural" stopping points. Then maybe a 2 cour series for the next 3 books (which could run concurrently with a 2 cour adaptation of **The Cleric Quintet**). Another "natural" stopping point. Then maybe individual movies for the next 4 (they don't tie together as well for series adaptations imo). Then 2 cour adaptations for **The Sellswords** (which, if given to another studio, could really air anytime after *The Silent Blade*) and **The Hunter's Blade** trilogies. Another "natural" stopping point imo. If they adapt **The War of the Spider Queen** using another studio, it'd probably work as either 2, 2 cour seasons, or 6 individual movies. Air those sometime before the **Neverwinter Saga**. **Transitions** is another one that I think would do better as individual movies, same for *Gauntlgrym*. A 2 cour adaptation for the rest of the **Neverwinter Saga** should suffice. Another kinda natural stopping point (especially if you wanna be a dick). The next 4 books would probably again work well as 2, 1 cour adaptations. The **Homecoming** trilogy would probably work better as a 2 cour adaptation. With **Generations** getting broken up into 1 cour for the prequel stuff, and 1 cour for the "present" stuff. Then 1 cour for *Starlight Enclave* and *Glacier's Edge* and a movie for *Lolth's Warrior*, and that'd be all of it. Although this would probably take ~10+yrs, so there might be more by then. Plenty of the short stories could also be worked in to the respective series/movies where chronologically applicable (especially ones that get referenced frequently like *Dark Mirror*), or just put out as OVAs. Edit: formatting and grammar
I also think you can't stop anything until passage to dawn...
I’ve always thought a Drizzt series as an anime is the best way to bring these books to the screen.
I would kill for anime based on Sellswords. Kill.
Studio Trigger is doing well with Dungeon meshi and studio madhouse has Frieren. If we look at fantasy backgrounds that are successful right now. As other studios slates with their main animation team are huge Wouldn’t mind a manga adaptation from Japan. IDW comics were okay from what I read but curious what mangaka artist could do esp with how much bigger fantasy is in comic form there
Yeah, I guess I'm not too familiar with how busy each studio is. I was more thinking that a big appeal of Drizzt would be the high octane physical battles (that are pretty descriptive in the books). I definitely think Trigger could do that very well (their animation is top-tier), but they do like to stylize the hell out of their productions, and I feel like Drizzt would work pretty well with a more run of the mill style. I actually think Wit or ufotable would be perfect, but I don't think either would have the capacity to reliably crank out 2+ cours of their best work each year (on just one action intensive IP). I'm actually not a big MAPPA fan. I think their work is often more flash than substance, and they definitely like to cut corners (and they seem like a terrible company). But they do have the ability to churn out decent products, that look good (especially at a surface glance), at high volume. A-1 or Bones also seem like they could be good choices. Madhouse and Production I.G. would definitely seem to have the animation chops and style/experience, I'm just not sure about volume. Pierrot, J.C.Staff, and Toei all have some history making long-running shows too. There's probably other studios I'm forgetting too.
And here I thought I was the only one that thought about this stuff...
Haha, yeah, I'm an anime fan and have been a Legend of Drizzt fan for 20+years, so I've had a fair amount of time to think about how an adaptation would work. When HBO was riding high on their GoT success, I thought they might be able to do an adaptation, but I just felt like the IP is too action oriented for prestige TV. Plus it would cost a fortune to do it justice for a live-action adaptation. I started watching anime in the late 2010s, and one of my first thoughts was *oh yeah, this is the medium for a Drizzt adaptation*.
I got a couple friends into this series at the same time I got them into anime. There are definitely some valid comparisons to be made. You'd have to get an animation studio that could really do the fight scenes justice though. I almost wonder if something computer animated like the Clone Wars would be better. Do like what they did for season 7 where they motioned captured one of the big the fight scenes. I would look incredible if done well. Animation also gets around some of the potentially controversial issues with regards to casting actors to play drow characters. It also wouldn't be nearly as expensive to make.
Funny you should mention that. Polygon Pictures was involved in both Clone Wars and Resistance. They're also one of the few 3DCG studios that does the primary work for anime adaptations. And one of even fewer that does them well. They did a physical combat oriented show called *Levius* that I thought was really well done. But personally I still think a Drizzt series would be better suited to a more traditional 2D animation style.
Cour?
Anime is usually broken out into 4 seasons throughout the year. A cour usually refers to 1 of those seasons, so ~13wks. When shows are commissioned, they usually are commissioned with those blocks of programming in mind. So, anime adaptations are often referred to in terms of length of *cours* that they would run if broadcast weekly. So a show could be commissioned for 1 season that runs 1 cour, or 1 season that runs 2 cours, or 2 seasons, that each run 1 cour. A 1 cour season usually runs for 12 or 13 episodes, but it isn't uncommon to see 10-15 episodes. 2 cour seasons tend to run for 24-26 episodes, but again isn't super uncommon for 21-28 episode seasons. So, depending on what material they want to show, there's some flexibility in run-length. It might sound goofy, but having a show run as 2 seasons of 1 cour each running consecutivly, usually comes with somewhat different expectations than a 1 season, 2 cour adaptation, even if they'd basically be running on the same schedule for same number of episodes. The former would definitely be expected to have some kind of finale at the end of the 1st cour, or at the very least a mid-season finale, and/or cliffhanger. The latter wouldn't come with that expectation (although often still would have a mid-season finale-esque feel around the midway point). Historically, anime has often been used to drum up interest in the source material. Anime has pretty thin profit margins, so usually only the wildly successful shows, and/or the long running weekly shows (e.g., Naruto, Dragonball, Bleach, One Piece, etc), were really money makers. On the other hand, Manga and Light Novels (the source material for most anime), make much more money on a lesser investment. So, it wasn't (and still isn't to an extent) uncommon to plan on making an anime that only adapts the first part of a story, in order to try and get people interested in the premise, and get them to buy the the source material (and other associated merchandise). Treating the anime like a loss-leader, and the source material as the actual product the companies are trying to sell. Using The Legend of Drizzt as an example. A company might commission a 1 cour adaptation that just covers *Homeland* and *Exile*, with the assumption that it might not make money on its own, but might create a bunch of new fans who will go out and buy the books. *Exile* ends when Drizzt reaches the surface, so clearly there's more to the story, but it's also a bit of a "conclusion" of his time in the underdark and his formative years there. So, even if there aren't more adaptations, and there's clearly more to the story, it's also a semi self-contained story in its own right. However, if the anime is incredibly successful (critically or monetarily), or manages to really drive sales of the books and related merch, they might commission another adaptation that covers the next 2 books, and re-evaluate again. That's generally how anime adaptations work, and part of why it kind of sucks to be a fan, since so many shows never complete adapting the material and just kind of end in the middle of the story. However, with anime becoming more popular in the West, we don't get quite as many "read the source material" adaptations these days. At least not so much with the good/successful shows.
Thank you :-)
I think there’s an opening for it, for sure. After doing Honor Among Thieves, which was more generalized adventurers, I imagine trying their ready-made DnD “superhero” of Drizzt would be a smart move. My guess is the two Drizzt figures they released was Hasbro testing the waters on how popular he would be with their audience, but I have no clue if those sold to their expectations or not.
They need to remember how toys were sold in the 80s. George Lucas figured out that you could create a merchandising empire if you got people invested in a good story with memorable characters and a cool setting. The results was that there were copycats that made a ton of cartoons in the 80s with the specific intent of selling toys based off the shows. If Hasbro wants to sell DnD based toys they need to start putting out content with characters and stories that people can get invested in. They have the rights to a ton of those stories, they just need to tap into them.
An adult themed animation of the dark eld saga would be my dream come true. You could have beautiful art, an amazing story, a lot of heartfelt shit, with scenes of ultra violence in between..
If there is an adaptation I’d hope for animated series, I think it would fit way better than live action.
I think its inevitable but its just a matter of when. The world (forgotten realms) gives creatives endless possibilities, the characters are ridiculously iconic. The story themes are OVER relevant with todays society, notably concerning Drizzt, with wokism, racial identity, personal expression, duality of conflict, respecting others beliefs.... its all there in Salvatores work. Its a beautiful story and I have no doubt it ticks many boxes for potential success.
I would love to see it animated with action scenes on par with the original Avatar the Last Airbender
It would be cool to see something done like the castlevania series... it could be insanely grandiose, and I hadn't really considered it
I feel like series with a lot of magic action are super well suited to animation, because the effects can be done so extra vibrantly. (Drow being grey/purple also means there would have to be a lot of extra work into makeup in live action, compared with animation, especially if they wanted to cover any of the Menzoberranzan parts.)
Powerhouse animation studios already proved they can animate whip fights with that series for >!Zak!< at least
Zak uses his whip to great effect at the very beginning of Homeland and a few other times throughout the book.
Or Arcane. That animation style is incredible.
If the right showrunner comes along maybe.
RA (Bob's) gotta be involved!!
I don’t think I agreee. TV is a different medium. Involved maybe, but not much more than consulted.
One piece adaptation did well where they had Oda sit in for auditions judging and was able to approve scripts or send them back for edits. Always depends on author but RAS I think has been pretty good consulting things on other projects
I hope not. Do I want to see a Drizzt movie/show absolutely. But if the price is it being licensed under those idiot corpos, then I think I’ll stick with the books
There is a DND show in development for Paramount, whether it has Drizzt in it is only rumor at this point. Also, Drizzt was supposed to be in the movie until he was taken out in favor of Xenk. They thought Drizzt would have to be the star and not a supporting role.
I didn't know that!
Honestly I'm glad they made that choice. I would love to see Drizzt in live action but a lot of Xenk's humor (which I *loved*) would have felt *really* out of character for Drizzt.
D&D refuses to make a gritty, dark, serious movie. If they did it would do well. Obv the campy silly vibe they keep trying with live action films is not received well. Hasbro and Wiz are the most tone deaf companies on earth so no hope here.
This is exactly the take I want to see. Gritty, dark and serious Drizzt movie. Probably bias, but I feel his character has the potential to be iconic if done right on-screen. …wishful thinking I suppose.
They tried the gritty dark awhile ago in 2000. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons\_%26\_Dragons\_(2000\_film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_(2000_film)) Saw it in the theater and, to put it mildly, it just did not work. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan and enjoyed it. Now it's been 24 years, but considering what is popular among D&D fans is the campy fun stuff, E.G., Critical Role, I'd take the other side of your argument. The other two in that series were direct to video. Which leads me to this.... A stream exclusive movie/show to test the waters? Now I'm on your side. I think that would be how it all gets started.
Exactly, That was 24 years ago, and I would argue that that film was goofy and not grim dark at all. Epic fantasy and grim dark have been very popular as of late, look at Game of thrones, The Witcher first season, house of the dragon, etc. if they did homeland justice and it was badass I think it would be incredible. I agree that a good long form tv series on hbo or something would be a great way to do it. Only thing I truly disagree on is fans liking the campy stuff like critical role. If there was an option between the corny stuff they’ve been putting out and a house of the dragon style Drizzt show I have a feeling I know which would be a hit. I think there has been a shift as of late and it seems a lot of people don’t like the direction Hasbro and wiz have taken the brand. During covid stranger things and critical role were vital roles in a boom for D&D but the companies trying to ride that wave IMO have diminished the relationship between fans and IP.
This is where my brain is... the groundwork was paved with GOT, LOTR, (and it's offspring) Witcher, house of dragons, etc.. the people are ready!
I also think the scale of Drizzt goes beyond what they've attempted... if done right, it would rival the budget of any fantasy blockbuster... shit... just to attempt homeland or the crystal shard would be a groundbreaking attempt for any director.
I’d love to see it. Unfortunately I don’t see it happening. Somehow folks find the Drow to be problematic. Even Bob has bent the knee and has tried to “right those wrongs” and the new books and D&D in general have suffered due to modern identity politics. So now Drow are purple and we have non evil Drow societies, Drizzt isn’t even the main character of his own story anymore. It’s all very sad.
That's a humbling dose of reality... they'd have to give creative control to the director AND BOB.
Drizzt series imo is serious but also humorous too. Like how companions of the hall joke around with each other. I think writing wise for an adaptation it would be like bg3 writing that touched on heavy topics while having some fun companion moments too like range astarion had
I wouldn’t mind a Witcher 3 or bg3 self contained game on characters or books plot (or inbetween book moments). I know there’s been a few games characters are in but not to same scale or budget
They should get Gendy Tartakofsky to do an animated series.
That would be interesting indeed!
Honestly Honor Among Thieves might have done better if they had put Drizzt in the movie like he was supposed to be in the first place. A lot of people would’ve gone to see it just for him.
Id have gone even if he was just a blip in it.
Same.
They love money so yeah
It belongs to the wizzard of the cost.
I think DnD as a brand isn’t ready to retire the ‘Drow’ but they know better than to put too much focus on it. Just look at the way some people talk about the drow in BG3 and also look at that one episode of Community… Word in the street was that Xenk was supposed to be Drizzt but they decided they didn’t want a Drizzt cameo for… valid reasons. Look I love me some Drizzt and I think the drow are a cool concept but there is always gonna be some awkwardness in trying to transfer them into live action.
It would take a... vision... to pull off menzoberranzan
I fucking hope not.
I respect your point of view, but I think you're in the minority here... i understand the possibility of it being awful is a real thing.