Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:I think that Eisenhorn would have made for a better movie.

For whom, us or the general public?

There's a reason they're making a film about the single most dominant brand image GW has.

For the record Dawn of War 2 was rated as 16+ in the UK and sold rather well. I see no reason why a higher certificate movie would not sell.

The violence would not be such an issue (for certifying) being CGI and (probably) involving noticeably alien aliens. Just look at the intros for both DoW and DoW2. I think GW would have seen the positive reaction to these and decided to make a film along those lines. Think DoW2 intro x 1hr 20 mins with Chainswords and high explosive bolts to ork guts a plenty - no bad thing.

Personally I don't see how this can be anything other than a positive move. Just look at the old Epic 40k computer game back in the day, relatively poor game play even by standards of the day but bloody good fun all the same! Even a relatively poor film would move the genre on another step. And with a decent writer (YMMV) who knows the territory at will at least resemble the 40k universe.

It will only be a relatively small budget affair any way so I can not see GW spunking all thier chips on this and going out of business! I would expect the budget to be no more than £10m with most of it coming from funders rather than GW.

Re the background and the authoritarian/fascist overtones, that very much depends on what planet you are standing on at that moment. I think that the Ultramarines have been chosen as a very deliberate move to show the Imperium in a light that we would associate with. Ultramar being the shining jewel in the crown of Terra and the Ultramarines being its benevolent if slightly large rulers/benefactors. Once the treat to Ultramar is revealed then the Imperium and its bureaucracy and war machine will swing into action and the Imperium in it true light will be shown, with the SPESS MARINES to the fore HURRRR!

Whatever way you look at it this is a long way off release (is there a eta?). Plenty of time for GW/funders to pull the plug ala the previous Blood Angels CGI movie abortion.

So they're making "The Crucible/Romeo and Juliet" into a 40k movie?

All the nerdgasm in the world won't prepare us for the love triangle of the SoB/SM and inquisitor mod.

If they stick to the Chainsword killing aliens mantra, I think it will do well. It's when you try to put a plot in there that things go amok.

I want this to be good. I really do.
But straight-to-DVD doesn't bode well.

Codex pictures specialize in STDVD movies like Bionicle: Legend of Metra Nui.
And the director's biggest film to date is a Budweiser Advert.

I want this to be good. I really do.

cool who issit

notprop wrote:Just look at the old Epic 40k computer game back in the day, relatively poor game play even by standards of the day but bloody good fun all the same!

I don't understand your logic there. I don't remember any Epic Video Game, I do remember a horrible Space Hulk game though. But that intro to DOW was pretty cool.

Tek wrote:... the director's biggest film to date is a Budweiser Advert.

You can see Martyn Pick's biography here. I may not be familiar with this work, but he has done more; Past work includes the 2009 feature film The Age of Stupid, on which he was animation director; London 2012, the promotional film commissioned by Film London and the London Development Agency

Also just noticed this; Recently he has completed a motion graphics/live action promo for U2 and is developing a feature based on his graphic novel "Siege" as well as pursuing gallery and film projects.

Anyone familiar with that comic? Here is a video with some stuff about it. I have to say this really makes me feel better than the important roles are being filled with people who have unique visions.

Dan Abnett's blog wrote:...I’ve tried to write a story that is nuts-and-bolts space marines: pure, core, simple and gutsy. It’s dark, it’s grim, it’s the future, there’s bolter mayhem all over the place, and the Galaxy’s burning....

It's not very reassuring that music video promos and TV commercial spots are the most high-visibility experience of the director. Directors with that kind of experience tend to direct films that are all mindless action, no story and they don't know how to stay on a shot longer than 3 seconds. Everything is short attention span theater in commercials and music videos and they often carry that into major motion pictures where it's definitely not a good thing.

As for the script, Dan Abnett is a fine pulp action story writer, but he's unproven as a script writer. Script writing and story writing are two very different things. Need an example? George Lucas wrote the story for Empire Strikes Back while Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay and it turned out great. For Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III Lucas wrote the stories AND the screenplays and the dialogue was terrible with hardly a memorable line in any of the three pictures.

Termagant wrote:cool who issit

Hi Termagant, you are new here and obviously young so I'll be kind. Typically you should read the thread before commenting on it. In this case, your question is answered in the very first post.

Also, at Dakka we encourage using capital letters and full punctuation. Doing so will make your posts easier to read and will make your stay here more enjoyable. Not doing so opens the door to all the unsavory characters here at Dakka poking fun at your expense.

Good luck.

jabbakahut wrote:
I don't understand your logic there. I don't remember any Epic Video Game, I do remember a horrible Space Hulk game though.

Final Liberation. It was a really good game, lost many hours of my youth on it!

BrassScorpion wrote:It's not very reassuring that music video promos and TV commercial spots are the most high-visibility experience of the director. Directors with that kind of experience tend to direct films that are all mindless action, no story and they don't know how to stay on a shot longer than 3 seconds. Everything is short attention span theater in commercials and music videos and they often carry that into major motion pictures where it's definitely not a good thing.

I don't know, the Crow was a well paced film directed by a person who's only prior experience was music videos.

Ridley Scott started as a music promo director.

Any Dan Abnett script will be modified by a film scriptwriter before they start thinking how to film it. Tons of books have been made into successful films.

Harrison Ford famously said to George Lucas, "George, you can write this gak but I sure can't speak it", about the disalogue in Star Wars.

Tons of books have been made into successful films.

This is true. Some of the best movies ever were made from books, example: The Maltese Falcon.

On the other hand, tons more books have been made into terrible films and script writing is an all but dead art these days.

Unfortunaly GW has caused me to become cynical in the extreme...
-it will be aimed at 12 year old, no blood, no awesomeness.
-it will [MOD Edit - Yes, that is going a bit too far, per the forum rules.] fiiiiiine It will not be true to the fuff and will instead be modified to appeal to a wider audience
-why did it have to be smurfs, everything is...it's enough that it's about marines, I can accept that, marines rock, depite the mickey-mouse factor, but ultras...they're in every codex, rulebook, WD, video game...

but if done right it could be great, the logo looks cool, the vid game looks cool, Dan Abnett is awesome...

Valhallan42nd wrote:

BrassScorpion wrote:It's not very reassuring that music video promos and TV commercial spots are the most high-visibility experience of the director. Directors with that kind of experience tend to direct films that are all mindless action, no story and they don't know how to stay on a shot longer than 3 seconds. Everything is short attention span theater in commercials and music videos and they often carry that into major motion pictures where it's definitely not a good thing.

I don't know, the Crow was a well paced film directed by a person who's only prior experience was music videos.

Same can be said of the Replacement Killers.

Kyley wrote:Unfortunaly GW has caused me to become cynical in the extreme...
-it will be aimed at 12 year old, no blood, no awesomeness.

Judging by your sig, you were probably 12 when you got into the game thanks to them targeting you ;-)

Seriously though, the movie is a long way off, why not have everyone put positive energy out there in hopes that it will somehow influence the awesomeness of this.

I think this sounds great to me

"He needs those glasses to block the LASERS!"

Nerd-RAGEEEEEE!

"Spiderman didn't shoot organic webs, he used a webshooter HE developed!"

ARGHHHHH

Srsly dudz, I'm sure the movie is going to rock. As long as I see some marines in black armor shoot at marines in blue armor I will be satisfied.

It's coming out Summer 2010 IRC. They've been working on it for three years now.

Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:40k/Kingdom Hearts crossover on the horizon! XD

I just threw up in my mouth, jerk.

Valhallan42nd wrote:I don't know, the Crow was a well paced film directed by a person who's only prior experience was music videos.

Spike Jonze went from directing music videos to Being John Malkovich, Adaption and Where the Wild Things Are.

So you're right, it's not always the kiss of death. And to be fair, it could be worse; Games Workshop could have given it to Uwe Boll.

But right now, the onus is on them to prove they deserve patience and optimism.

Spike Jones is a great example! I wouldn't even be looking at this movie if Uwe Boll was attached!

Im going to be hanged for saying this but....

I think it'll make even less than Dragonball evolution...

Deadshane:
Whine much?
Should we get you a whaaa-mbulance

Seriously though, I think the movie is gonna blow chunks. Hope Im wrong, but Ive been hoping since the last 8 price hikes that GW would stop and they havent. My 23 year involvement with the GW aspect of TTG (31 years of TTG in general - started when I was 8) is about to hit the "no more" level due to GW's pricing policy and heavy handed C&D shenanigans.

I like Abnett a ton, huge fan of his books but writing a book and then a screenplay is pretty different so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Also.... ULTRAMARINES?! SERIOUSLY?! so many better/more fun chapters out their. Comeon, way to go so generic. IF done right ill grab it but i dunno. I hope it does well and makes them venture into the movie world a bit more but i dont wanna see them take all the fluff i love about EVERY race and see them shove it in a baby bottle and feed it back to me in a simplistic way.

**Edited because i brought up straight to DVD-release not knowing it had already been brought up**

LunaHound wrote:Im going to be hanged for saying this but....

I think it'll make even less than Dragonball evolution...

Well... Dragonball Evolution grossed $57,497,699 worldwide and cost far less than that to make, so I am sure that GW would be happy with that number ;-)

LunaHound wrote:Im going to be hanged for saying this but....

I think it'll make even less than Dragonball evolution...

Not hanged, just scolded for the stupid comparison between a cinema movie and a direct to DVD movie.

BrookM wrote:

LunaHound wrote:Im going to be hanged for saying this but....

I think it'll make even less than Dragonball evolution...

Not hanged, just scolded for the stupid comparison between a cinema movie and a direct to DVD movie.

Why dont they make it a cinema movie then?

Luna:

Same reason for many of the other Direct to DVD movies: it's a B movie.

A cinema movie usually (not always) requires more funds and better talent, two things GW is loath to utilise

Spacemanvic wrote:Luna:

Same reason for many of the other Direct to DVD movies: it's a B movie.

A cinema movie usually (not always) requires more funds and better talent, two things GW is loath to utilise

What about Blair Witch and Paranormal ? ( im not trolling this thread im serious wondering )

Because cinema movies are far more expensive in terms of marketing as well as having to compete with major studios for theater space. You also have to have more name draws on a theatrical release.