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Hi everyone, is it just me or is anyone else supprised that no holywood film studio has made the Horus Heresy into a film yet ? I think they should at least make the 1st 4 books into a film.

What dose everybody else think ?

I really could not see a 40K live-action film ever coming to fruition.

I could (and would like to) see more animation/anime/cgi movies such as they did with Ultramarines. While hollywood has the technology to make a live action film, i doubt they'd ever visit our nook of geekery.

The last time I heard of this someone posted the costs of Lucas Films bill for all the storm trooper uniforms. It was a hefty figure that would need to be multiplied by a 100 or so to get to the numbers needed.

However with the advances of CGI it is not impossible but higly unlikley given the costs and the fact GW would want such a tight grip over it all where as Hollywood would probably want some form of Astate's love action going on to give it a human feel or something lol

so long as it not like the ultra marines movie it was just so bad

It would be the longest movie in history.

Maybe a tv series of 10 hour long episodes would work. TBH, there's too much ground to cover in one movie, and the audience is way too niche for Hollywood to take an interest.

The Ultramarines movie was, let's face it, below par. It would be cool though if the people that made the intro for the first Dawn of war game gave thought to doing a feature.

Horus Heresy would have to be a TV series.

I could see Eisenhorn becoming a trilogy of movies.

moonshine wrote:What dose everybody else think ?

I'd rather watch a Ciaphas Cain movie. Or Eisenhorn. Or Faith and Fire. Or some other story that isn't about Space Marines fighting Space Marines.

make it a film ftw!

I personally think the Horus Heresy would make a really good film. It's got action and it's even got a sorta love story between the remembrancers.

I think though that Eisenhorne would make the best film and if Hollywood were to do a Warhammer 40K movie I think it would make them the most revenue. It has an involving story, It's got a love story (Eisenhorne and Bequin), and it's got really interesting characters each with a unique background, thats why it was such a good book.

Sadly I don't think a 40K movie will ever get made, or if it will it will be based off the Dawn of War video games assuming they sell as much as Halo in the coming future.

I think the best we could hope for would either be more animated/cgi films or if were really lucky a mini-series of 3 hour episodes for 3 days or so on the Sci-Fi channel.

A proper 40k film would be prohibitively expensive. The Ultramarines movie is CGI which of course is cheaper, but even then it's very small scale. There's rarely more than a dozen guys on screen. A Horus Heresy film with hundreds (if not thousands) of Marines fighting each other in big battles, whether it's CGI or live action with CGI padding. For reference, the first Transformers movie took 30 hours to render one frame in any scene with three robots. On average, film is about 30 frames per second. 900 hours for one second of film, and animation is a business where time is money.

While I would love a proper 40k movie, it's just not happening at that scale any time soon.

cg horus heresy movie would be so awsome!

I could see the Horus Heresy being done as a trilogy-style thing. However it'll only happen if GW decides to move into the actual movie market. As a stand alone story the Horus Heresy has some good potential right there, even if it doesnt appeal to the niche. If they try to cater to their tabletop audience though, it will likely flop.

Trilogy is too small to capture the scale...we're talking about an Imperium with tens of thousands of conflicts here all linked to the Heresy.

I've said it before - an HBO type series spanning at least 1-2 seasons would be the best way to capture it.

You'd need at least an episode for each of the Primarch back stories...

Mind you if it is 'hollywood-ised' it'll be the most truncated Heresy in history -_- they'll miss out so many pivotol points.

To go from the Luna Wolves right through to the Sons assaulting Terra in one film it would be ridiculous and quite frankly, s***.

Edit: Btw don't get me wrong...I'd LOVE to see the HH translated to the big screen. I just don't think it'll ever happen.

MAKE IT A MOVIE FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xD

Out of all the 40K lore I think the Heresy is the only area with the proper cadence to be made into a film. Chronicle the rise and fall of Horus. Start with the discovery of Horus and conclude with his death. Very lineal, tried and true plot line, great avenues for sequals and offshoots if the franchise does well.


I would not expect it to happen but I would LOVE to see it. I whole heartily believe it could work by allowing some creative license with the fluff and the aesthetic just so it works as a mainstream blockbuster and not a peice where every non-wargamer leaves the theater scratching their head.

a long running TV series spanning 3-4 seasons would be great.

they could then start on other stories like the Battles for Armageddon.

Brother SRM wrote:A proper 40k film would be prohibitively expensive. The Ultramarines movie is CGI which of course is cheaper, but even then it's very small scale. There's rarely more than a dozen guys on screen. A Horus Heresy film with hundreds (if not thousands) of Marines fighting each other in big battles, whether it's CGI or live action with CGI padding. For reference, the first Transformers movie took 30 hours to render one frame in any scene with three robots. On average, film is about 30 frames per second. 900 hours for one second of film, and animation is a business where time is money.

While I would love a proper 40k movie, it's just not happening at that scale any time soon.

Why prohibitively expensive? Who's paying? GW would not front the bill. GW would license out the IP and a third party would produce it.

Regarding the size and scale of the film, you only need a small fraction of the live action actors whereas the rest are helmeted CGI additions, which has been done in every large scale movie for the last decade.

Cost is not the issue. Potential revenue is the issue.

I'd love to see it, but it's a bit too big. I remember seeing a discussion on who should cast which primarch.

Even though cost does seem like an issue I think there could be a way around it. For example, in one of the series in doctor who there were actually only 12 cybermen suits (iirc, i know there was not more than 20) and thanks cgi, clever camera angles, etc... it made it look like there were hundreds, I am sure they could do a similar thing with power armour.

I was thinking about this today and I thought of a decent idea for the introduction. i think that if it had a scene at the very start where Sejanus meeting the emporer and explaining what has happened, right before he is killed of chourse

I think due to the fact that there is so much going on in each book the only possibility of making it any good would have to be a tv series, that way they would not have to leave out as much. A couple seasons long and they would not have to make it hundreds or thousands and thousands of marines battling each other at once. Yes that sort of stuff happens in the books but 90% its focused on a much smaller number of people within the epic battle raging on. They would only need a couple of overview scenes to show the scale of things then could focus in on the characters like the book does. I would hope that they use a different form of animation than the Space Marine movie, b/c that was below par. But I would be fine if they went for a cheaper form of animation that was not super high tech 3-D hd enhanced like transformers. An please no live action, that would be crazy high cost and more than likely terrible unless done in the most expensive way possible

Make a Space Marines Omnibus into a movie trilogy (preferably Ultramarines. Damn that was a great read.) and the Horus Heresy into a T.V. series, something like Game of Thrones.

Smurfs=boring


lets have the Space Wolf omnibus made into a TV show. that would be epic.

Grey Templar wrote:Smurfs=boring


lets have the Space Wolf omnibus made into a TV show. that would be epic.

*Unsheathes power sword*

The Ultramsurfs would like a word with you.

HH story is too long for a movie, as many have said a series would be better.

Currently watching HBO's adaptation of Game of Thrones, and I'm impressed. That series has way more characters and complex plot lines than the HH, and they've managed to capture it very well (despite my horrified reservations). So +1 for HBO taking this on, maybe they can partner w/ a CG company if live action is prohibitive.

Cybronx wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:Smurfs=boring


lets have the Space Wolf omnibus made into a TV show. that would be epic.

*Unsheathes power sword*

The Ultramsurfs would like a word with you.

o noes, Rowboat Girlyman's man childs are coming after me

The_Happy_Pig wrote:Maybe a tv series of 10 hour long episodes would work. TBH, there's too much ground to cover in one movie, and the audience is way too niche for Hollywood to take an interest.

The Ultramarines movie was, let's face it, below par. It would be cool though if the people that made the intro for the first Dawn of war game gave thought to doing a feature.

Why do people always think that the people who made the intro to DoW would be able to make a full length feature?! There is a whole world of difference between a 90 second intro and a full length feature......

Anyway's, back on topic. I cant see it myself. There are too many book's and too many subplots to be able to do this effectively, and im afraid that in the grand scheme of things our little hobby is not really worth serializing either. If more people got behind Codex Pictures and thier efforts then maybe GW would fund more full length projects.

Instead of slagging off the Ultramarines movie, which i thought was ok BTW, get behind it and support it. Then we all may see things move in the direction we want.

No series of films ever started perfectly, even the first Star Wars film was not want Spielberg wanted, he had to bank on it becoming a success before he made the changes and could fund the other two movies in that sequence.

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:Instead of slagging off the Ultramarines movie, which i thought was ok BTW, get behind it and support it. Then we all may see things move in the direction we want.

Reward people for making bad movies, and they'll continue to make bad movies. The only thing I want GW to take from the Ultramarines movie is "Don't".

Don't settle for a mediocre story.
Don't settle for mediocre effects.
Don't make movies about Space Marines and Space Marines vs. Space Marines.
Don't leave out everything that makes a modern military sci-fi film earn hundreds of millions of dollars.

Yes, but if you want a good story, if you want good FX and if you want a movie that has all the things a bad ass sci-fi flick has, you need for the first one to be a mild success at least.

With everybody bitching about how bad the Ultramarines movie was, you really think GW are gonna give the go ahead for another one!?

If none of you want another 40k film, then by all means keep whining about it! Because if you do, they won't sanction another one. The Space Marines vs Chaos Marines theme is about as iconic as 40k gets, with the possible exception of Orks vs Marines.
The only way another film will EVER get made is by trying to appeal to the masses, and Codex Studios tried that.

It does not have to be perfect, what?, you were expecting Oscar material here?
If the Ultramarines movie is even a little bit successful, it does not have to be Codex Pictures that will make another one.....

The important thing is laying a groundwork, a base for the other films about the 40k universe.
I love my hobby, I want to get as many people involved in it as possible. If this means that the next few films feature Marines, then so be it.
If GW look at all the hate reserved for Ultramarines, which I'm sure they have, you really think they will give the go for a second or third?

With film and 40k, I don't think it would really get anywhere it might have a cult following if anything. Things that come to mind are movies like DUNE based on a great novel not so great a flix in most people's eyes but I liked it. Long drawn out and moderately interesting it had its appeal. I think 40k Heresy would be something like DUNE it would have to be cheap actors of no real reputation(Save Patrick Stewart...) and it would definitely be drawn out considering how much crap went down in the Heresy.

Then again when you think about all the camera panning from between Chapters and planets and whats going on were it would get pretty confusing fairly fast to someone that dosen't know a thing about 40k. So then you would have to break it down to the basic storyline of what happened in the Heresy and why... It really wouldn't get much look from between Falling Chapter's and Faithful ones. It would just be Horus running around threw his degrading life. Though, I would say Horus set as the protagonist and ending the film dying would be new. Not many films will give the 'hero' type the lead and everything is set so wonderfully then the horror sets in.

So I think that's something they could feel out, the stepping stone's of Horus and how he fell, I think if they touched LIGHTLY on other chapter's and how simple command structure works in each along with how Horus went to certain Primarch's to try and turn them I think that would lead the film fine. Long as they didn't get off track too much. Though for me I see the Heresy as a DUNE type flix strong complex reeling and drawn out quite lengthy with a small following but it could be good its just finding the people that can professionally make film and are inspired to make a good 40k flix and not some trash cause they want a pay check.

-Sincerely Viri