Dungeons & Dragons
Plot: A young thief is caught up in political upheaval as the evil wizard Profion seeks to overthrow the Empress.
News:
27 November, 2000
Some days the internet actually gets the good stuff first. The official site has posted a new trailer exclusively for the internet. This one focuses a lot more on the story and characters. It's available in small, medium and large sizes. Do you want fries with that?
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31 October, 2000
For the longest time I had this date listed as the release date for the movie. As you probably noticed, they picked a different date. But in a strange coincidence, we can share with you the first review of the movie today. The review is highly positive with no spoilers.
A big thanks to Donsimus for helping to get this review.
26 October, 2000
Finally after months of waiting and speculation the full trailer for the movie is online. In an unusual touch the director, Corey Solomon, has posted a page discussing the trailer shot by shot. You can check that out here.
25 October, 2000
 The news has really been flooding in on this flick lateley hasn't it? Sean from over at ZENtertainment popped in late in the evening to show off this nifty photo from the movie. This is probably one of the clearest photos we've seen yet of one of the movie's many dragons.
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20 October, 2000
The trailer made an appearance last night on the TV show Extra. The fine folks over at FilmForce digitized the footage so that you can download it. You can check out their screen captures here or download the trailer.
19 October, 2000
It was described for us yesterday and today we can see it with our own eyes. New Line has released the official poster for the movie along with some stills.
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18 October, 2000
Well the trailer has finally reached theaters and we received a nice detailed description from 'Kevin' of it.
Hey there,
Just thought I would drop you a line.
Yes I actually got to see the entire trailer...TWICE! Sent directly from Vancouver to premier with their trade show screening of 'Thirteen Days' at this years ShowEast convention. Yes, we were allowed to keep the trailers(we received 2) but unfortunately one of them pretty much destroyed itself as it ran because the emulsion from the lab had not completely dried yet! I have not heard any news on what they will be putting it on as of yet. They did a couple of run throughs early in the afternoon, and a handful of us were able to see it.
Let me just say that I have seen the 30 sec spot on your site and have been eagerly awaiting a version at the theatre level. The new trailer, clocking in at 2 min 30 sec, is nothing less than spectacular. It's been quite a while since I have played D&D, and I was pleasantly surprised at what they showed, and I remembered. The Beholder was VERY cool! The special effects were amazing. The trailer consists of numerous dragon shots. Flying! (there is one shot with 20-30,maybe more, all flying in the same scene), breathng fire, and perhaps my favorite, two dragons in full frame fighting in mid-air! There appears to be alot of comedy thrown into the action, especially with Marlon Wayans, and Jeremy Irons looks perfect once again playing the evil villain. The tag line in the trailer, inter-mixed with shots from the film, "This aint no game!" and after the end title runs, the trailer ends with someone(probably Justin Whalen's character but I couldnt tell) standing in front of an opening a door with a voice over of "So you want to play" as it dissolves into credits. I was absolutely floored by this trailer, and I had to watch it again. It's pretty much a fast paced trailer that should get quite a reaction from audiences. The conventioners who got to watch it before Thirteen Days pretty much agreed as they applauded when it was over. So there you have it, its not second hand info anymore.
And just in case you are wondering, the poster and the banner have already arrived at our theatre. (I already snagged the one-sheet) The poster pretty much has an Episode One feel to it, with the two villains on the top left and right, Thora Birch in the center and the remaining cast on the bottom. But the focus would have to be the dragon flying out between the Jeremy Irons and Bruce Payne in the top center of the poster! VERY COOL! I didnt get a look at the banner yet, but I did see the tail of a dragon. So there you have it, news from the theatre front.
Scooped by 'Kevin.'
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27 September, 2000
The official website has finally opened. Don't get too excited though, all that's there at the moment is a brief Flash animation introduction.
Thanks to 'Sean Jordan.'
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22 August, 2000
D&D made a big splash at the recent GenCon convention, with tons of never before seen photos. DNDMovie.com was there and got some scans of them. Below are just a few examples.
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17 August, 2000
According to sources close to the production, the release date has tentatively been scheduled for December 22, 2000. That would seem to indicate real confidence in the movie by New Line. A quick check of IMDB shows that Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, Wes Craven's Dracula 2000, the Coen brothers' O Brother Where Art Thou?, Sandra Bullock's Miss Congeniality open the same day. Of course out of that bunch there are no similarly themed movies. Probably only Dracula 2000 would appeal to a similar audience. It is an extremely crowded period though. Two days before that, 13 Days opens and three days later the Tom Hanks/Robert Zemeckis collaboration Cast Away debuts.
Could it be coincidental that the Lord of the Rings movies are all slated to open at Christmas time in 2001, 2002 and 2003? Maybe New Line wants to start a trend of releasing a big fantasy movie every year at that time.
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14 August, 2000
In a bit of a surprise, New Line Cinema has acquired the domestic distribution rights to the movie. The rights had been expected to go to Warner Bros. due to producer Joel Silver's close ties with the studio. It makes good sense though. New Line has plenty of experience with material like this and is also working on the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films.
"For millions of people worldwide, Dungeons & Dragons has been the penultimate fantasy game for more than 25 years, and this film will deliver for die-hard fans as well as those who have never been exposed to this epic world of magic, sorcery and adventure," said Mark Ordesky, head of acquisitions for New Line and president of sister company Fine Line Features. "Beyond the new fans who are entertained by the game today, there is an incredible nostalgia factor to this title, and we hope to capture and rekindle their imagination with this acquisition."
Director Solomon said, "With New Line's great track record releasing genre films, and their experience with 'The Lord of the Rings,' I think they're the perfect match for 'Dungeons & Dragons."
Rolf Mittweg, co-chairman of New Line's worldwide marketing added "Like 'Mortal Kombat' and other fantasy/adventure franchises, this is the kind of programming that New Line has traditionally excelled with."
New Line paid more than $5 million for the domestic distribution rights as well as options for a prequel and sequel. However they also made a significant P&A commitment while agreeing to release the film by year end. The print and advertising costs will mean the final cost for New Line will be much higher.
Thanks to 'Ann,' The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.
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8 August, 2000
A new teaser trailer will be debuting at Gen Con this Friday. Unlike the little foreign teaser that appeared a couple weeks back, this one will feature finished special effects and sound. It will be an updated and extended version of the trailer that showed at Cannes. Expect to see a few more scenes and a lot more dragons. It will be showing at 4 and 5 PM. Expect to see a full trailer appear on the net in about a month.
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25 July, 2000
Believe it or not, the teaser trailer is up and running. Don over at DNDMovie pointed out that one of the movie's foreign distributors posted it today on their website. It's available in three different sizes. The downside is that it's in french.
30 June, 2000
Director Courtney Solomon was in Atlanta for this weekend's Dragon Con. Cinescape caught up with him and got him to spill the beans on the movie's status. He expects the movie to either be released in November/December of this year or Memorial Day weekend in 2001.
The big question of course is what condition the production is in. Who, if anyone, will distribute it domestically? "This is a big debate all over the place," said Solomon. "It'll be in about two weeks when we start deciding which distributor it's going to be, and speaking to all the domestic distributors. We've had offers already; it's just a question of who's going to get behind the film at this stage of the game. Warner Brothers gets first dibs on it, obviously, because of [executive producer] Joel Silver and his relationship there."
So what about the future? Solomon has already worked out a pair of sequels if the movie proves popular enough for sequels. "One thing I always loved about Star Wars was that the characters progressed through the first three movies, and there was a final end to it," said Solomon. "I set up outlines for three up front, and so you're looking at the first, the introduction of the world. In the second, the same characters progress and new characters are introduced, and in the third, it'll all end up however it ends up. I want to make sure that if we do sequels, they'll be as good as or better than the first one."
You won't have to twist actor Lee Arenberg's arm to make a sequel. "We had such a good time and we became such great friends that we want to make more. We need people to get into it so that we can keep having the adventure ourselves. That's really what it's about. It's selfish."
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14 June, 2000
This is like watching a tennis match. Coming Attractions' anonymous source read yesterday's response and fired right back. It's getting a bit nasty now I think.
"First thing, let's talk about what it means to take out a bond on a film. Did they do it for D & D? I have no doubt, but the original budget for the film was made with the consideration that FX would not be a prohibitive cost factor. In the age of Titanic, Dinosaur, Pearl Harbor, and Episode 1, a film which should have cost approximately 100 million or so was going to be done for a third of that (cheers to them). No bond can cover a situation like that. Now, Courtney, or Corey to his friends, decides to re-write this film on set which obviously pisses off some people, like the FX people who are commited and aren't making an upfront profit (in fact, they're out of pocket until the film comes out and makes it money back, and then some). So, they shut up and do their work, right? No, because after they do take it in the ass what happens? Corey isn't mad about their work. Well, you know what happened from there.
"Meanwhile, Joel Silver (the only reason this film is even being made) aint too happy with Corey's behavior, the dailies, or the fact that they need to finish up the FX. Now, if the film suceeds: he's the hero, and if it fails: what was anyone thinking letting a bunch of freshman write, direct, and produce this project?! Get it? And about WB, they're interest in the film from start to finish has always been becasue of Joel (nuff said). If it still ends up being a great film (that's the funniest thing I ever heard considering that script; fan my ass: has Corey ever played D & D?!) Warners may want it, and they'll have first stab. But if its a great film, expect Joel to be on board.
"In the meantime, this FX debacle will either be solved with more money (much bigger budget), resolving their differences (doubtful) or a simliar deal with other FX houses. BTW: Has the guy from DNDmovie.com ever heard of an FX S.O.S. It's quite common in movies like Titanic and Starship Troopers."
13 June, 2000
Regarding yesterday's rumor about troubles for the movie we've got another viewpoint on the issue. Don Whetsell of DNDMovie.com stepped up to the plate to try and crush that earlier rumor.
"You know how sometimes you hear rumors about a good friend of yours and it really pisses you off because you know the whole situation.. and you know what is being said can't possible be true in light of that knowledge, but because you are honor bound not to sling the mud you keep quiet about it?"
As you are aware, I know a ton of stuff about this production that I have been asked not to share with the public just yet. In fact I think I'm pretty sure who this anonymous source is and I applaud their dishonesty and unprofessionalism for reminding us all what a pit of vipers Hollywood can really be.
It has at least at this point gotten me to convince Corey that I should share some of my knowledge with the public. Lets dispel some of these rumors."
First off, the entire film is bonded. No independent film gets made without being bonded or no one would risk the financing. If the film runs over it's modest budget the bond company steps in to finish the film to the bank that made the original loan. There is not now, nor has there ever been any chance that the film would not be completed. let face it.. We are not talking about 100 million dollar juggernaut here. were talking about going from 35- to at the most 50 million, sill a very mod3st budget for this type of picture."
As for the Visual FX, they are rolling right along and at this point Corey is mixing the last three reels of the film in Toronto. They only lack 100 shots of completing the FX and as you would guess.. These shots are the most complicated and difficult of the whole film.. They are finishing out at a rate 15- 20 a week. so everything should be in the can by mid July. It's true that the FX work is behind the original schedule, but that is due to the sheer amount of it, not any cash shortages. Honestly if you have cash shortages how do you explain hiring 4 other studios to work on the film simultaneously? (VisionArt, Flat Earth, Production Plant, and Digital Firepower)"
You should also know that the film had private screenings in Cannes of about 2 minutes of footage with unfinished FX shots for industry people only, and the reaction there was very positive. Even better, the film has already been presold around the globe and in 2 weeks in France they will start showing a 25 second trailer before Gladiator, and then later before MI2. They get a trailer first because J&M has already secured the distributorship for those markets. Silver Pictures is still 100% behind the film. Joel silver never threatened to take his name off the film or any such nonsense. WB has firstlook option on the film but in fact..multiple studios are interested in distributing and Sweetpea Entertainment is holding off on the distribution deal locally until the film is finished or nearly finished. Even so, seems someone at WB likes to plan for the future.. Try visiting http://www.dungeons-dragons.com/ and see where it takes you.. And in case your wondering, a whois check will reveal that ol' WB themselves registered that domain!"
I'm probably in trouble now with Corey because I've told you all more than I should have..but I don't care. I can't sit idly by while this crap gets flung from one end of the net to the other. Too many people have worked damn hard on this film and made too many personal sacrifices against a lot of odds for some bozo to go around spreading this stuff unopposed."
12 June, 2000
Could trouble be brewing on this movie? Coming Attractions is reporting that producer Joel Silver is prepared to take his name of the movie, which would almost certainly kill the expected deal with Warner Bros. for domestic distribution.
"Director Courtney Solomon and the company are apparently butting heads over the final product. Also, reaction from dailies throughout the production has not been good. Now, Executive Producer Joel Silver (48 Hours, Predator, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, and The Matrix) is threatening to take his name off the picture, which could cause it to loose its domestic distribution from Warner-Bros (which, though not official yet, was considered a foregone conclusion due to Silver's long relationship with the studio). Although the film is in the can, its effects are nowhere near finished and it would cost a considerable amount (perhaps doubling the films budget) to complete them now that Station X Studios is no longer doing the FX for free. Without a distribution deal it may prove impossible to secure those funds. For those wondering where the trailer was at ShoWest, now you know. Will we ever see this film?"
6 June, 2000
 For a long time now we've been hearing about the massive battle of dragons in this movie but so far we haven't seen so much as a scale from these dragons. Until now. During the Cannes film festival, a poster was on display for the movie and guess what the focus of that poster was? If you guessed dwarves, please leave now. Just take a look at this picture for the details.
22 May, 2000
Digging around at the website of J&M Entertainment turned up some nuggets of gold. J&M is the foreign distributor for the picture. They have a bunch of pictures I don't recall seeing before. Several of these really show off the wonderful locations chosen around Prague for sets.
How does it look? Talk about it on the Forums
27 April, 2000
Today I've got two interesting photos for you to look at. Donsimus over at DNDMovie was kind enough to send these in to me. The first one is the first shot ever seen of Tom Baker in full makeup as Horvath, leader of the wild elves. I don't know about you but it seems really weird seeing him with pointy ears.
The second is the first shot with inserted CG effects. It shows Profion in the process of trying to create his rod of red dragon control. So, no he isn't throwing a lightning bolt.
How does it look to you? Talk about it on the Forums
14 April, 2000
Lee Arenberg, who will be playing the dwarf Elwood, sat down with DNDMovie.com to talk about the movie. He was asked about playing a dwarf and needing to appear shorter than he really is. "Well..I created a special walk, which Corey [Solomon] and I refined during rehearsals. Corey also staged shots so that I"d be in the back or in positions to make me appear even shorter. We achieved my shortness through acting and film-craft, rather than using special effects."
One of the biggest challenges was handling Elwood's massive battle axe. "The axe was a difficult tool, because no one had to fight with one before. It's an unusual weapon and the shape was.. weird! The real axe that size, which is in some shots, weighed over forty pounds, but the stunt axe weighed almost twelve pounds ...that's still a dangerous thing to swing at someone's head!"
To read the entire interview, head here.
12 April, 2000
The sharp folks over at FilmForce managed to get a hold of the script. They were generally pleased with it, giving it a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.
I'm a big fan of fantasy movies, and this is a genre that has been overlooked a lot in recent years. However, that trend may be reversing, thanks to the upcoming release of Dungeons & Dragons.
FilmForce was able to acquire the script to this movie, still in production. This version is the shooting script, dated February 1, 1999.
The script gets off to a good start, immediately delving into magic and a sinister plot by an evil mage against the Kingdom of Izmer, which is the central setting of the movie. The writers seem to have a good eye for interesting and dynamic shots, adding suspense and keeping the reader's interest.
The main characters of this story are two likeable young thieves, who are later accompanied by a young mage, a dwarf, and an elf. The characters read very much like those from a fantasy computer game or RPG. Not surprising, given the movie's title. The characterizations are done well, with the reader constantly empathizing with the heroes and hating the villains. The background characters include more elves, thieves, orcs, hobbits, and a variety of other creatures, making the Kingdom of Izmer very reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings.
The plot is well-paced and reasonably suspenseful. There is a fair amount of humour in the story as well, and even some romance here and there, although it doesn't get in the way of the plot.
Well, there's nothing glaringly wrong with this script. I do have one minor complaint, though.
One is that as the movie goes on, it becomes more linear and more predictable. It seems that the writers lost some of their inspiration as the story went on, and the ending in particular seemed to lack something--although as presently scripted, the special effects will be very impressive, maybe enough to compensate.
Overall, this script was a fun read and shows a lot of promise. I'll be looking forward to this one when it hits theatres in the fall.
10 April, 2000
Director Corey Solomon talked to DNDMovie.com about the CGI effects for the movie.
"We have known for some time, and can now reveal to you..that the CGI fx for this film are so pervasive, massive, and detailed that multiple CGI shops (Flat Earth is one of them) have been brought on to the project to assist Station X Studios, each working on their own specialties..and all of the work being composited together for the final transfer to the footage. What kinds of things will you see, you ask?"
Well how about dragons...LOTS of dragons..hehe. Over 140 different dragons battling it out in some of the shots. "Over 150 separate cuts which feature anywhere from 60-140 dragons each and over 50 close-ups of the dragons battling with the mages, chasing the Empress through the city, being shot by huge magical bolts of energy, attacking each other hand to hand and ganging up on each other like Hawks, and so forth.."
To read the rest of what he had to say head over to DNDmovie.com.
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