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.
DemetriDominov wrote:No one has mentioned the Lord Inquisitor yet. It's a fan made movie now sanctioned by GW because it's going to be so much better than Ultramarines... if they get a better voice actor than in the trailer that is.. check it out:
Is it finished or is it just a trailer right now? And GW says it's cool?
Just a trailer, due to be realeased in 2013. Looks cool and considering its a 'fan' based set up just shows what can be done with a little inside knowledge of the universe.
Unit1126PLL wrote:Indeed, what makes 40k isn't the gigantic soldiers or tanks...
...it's the awkward situation the humans find themselves in, the theocratic dystopia that's preferable to the alternative.
It's about the loss of technology, and the heretical pursuit of human progress.
It's about the non-existence of an individual and the grinding, clanging pulse of a galaxy-spanning bureaucracy.
It's about the fall from grace, and the heroism of the individual faced with death and pain.
40k espouses a philosophy I believe which is best summed up in 15 hours.
Combat is combat is combat - go watch Saving Private Ryan or the Terminator or something.
I do agree with a great deal of what you say...but having read 15 Hours, it would be very easy for a studio to strip the 40kness from the film. They would take away all those soul crushing elements you love about 40k and you would wind up with a generic scifi film about a dude getting sent to the wrong place, or worse. 15 hours is just your generic war film with 40k as window dressings.
razor5647 wrote:Based on some of the movies that have come out recently Tanks and explosions are all that is required for a moderately successful Hollywood film these days..
plots??? we don't need those..
I guess that's true as well. In that case, I'm not entirely sure I would want to see that 40k movie. :(
Probably depends on the specifics. I've seen some very actiony movies that consisted of 90% lensflares and explosions lately and some of them actually managed to entertain me. Nothing I'd watch twice, but something I would have wanted to see at least once. So I suppose Space Marines and a lack of plot would be okay if it's at least "popcorn worthy" and has some impressive visuals. On the other hand, missing out on the Grim Darkness means that such a movie wouldn't have much "40k" in it, so the entire point would probably get lost to me.
Maybe using a group of "just tithed" IG from a peacefull Agri-world would be good, since having them to learn about what lies beyond their small world would be the plot-device to show it to the unlearned audience.
The money involved to make a proper movie would be bloody heaps, not to mention the fact that it wuold have to be motion capture, since a space marine suit would be inpractical to make and wear,
and hiring all those animators, and modelers, and voice actors, and texture artist, not to mention just getting backing from investors and hollywood would cost a bomb. In short, no, they will never make a proper 40k movie, since GW just doesn't have the money.
If marvel can afford to make the Avengers (and every movie that led up to it), there's no reason why Hollywood can make a Warhammer 40k movie. It won't be through GW, it'll be through a production studio GW sells the rights to, like Universal or Warner Brothers, or some other studio. Just like they sold the rights to THQ, Relic, and Vigil to make Dow, (*DMO*... if it still exists), and SM. GW still made millions off their IP, and made incredible additions to the genre, and we're all happy that they did it.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/06/15 14:59:31
I think one reason they haven't made a movie in addition to all the interesting points made thus far, is that GW has pilfered, or rather borrowed, too many ideas from popular culture. All wedged together in a weird mishmash.
Any sci-fi fan worth their salt would only have to take one look at the universe to realize this. I can see it now when the Necrons meet the Cadian IG, some movie goers saying "Hey, look! the Terminators are attacking the M.I. from Starship Troopers!"
The Universe parodies things in such a way that if they were used in a movie it would take away from the grim-dark experience and walk the knife edge of black comedy. Can you imagine what the audience would think seeing the Catachan Rambo IG? Or the Vampiric Blood Angels? The Were-Wolf Space Wolves!?!? Seriously, I think many would just groan under the weight of it all.
When it's just us 40k fan boi's it's not so bad, heck, some of the BL books have been on the New York Bestsellers List. The thing is though, lawsuits would abound if a movie were to be made. Once the audience is widened (eyes are opened) and the money starts rolling in, everyone and their brother that can make a claim to intellectual property rights will be all over them.
Maybe just the Horus Heresy would work since it's Humano-centric and avoids some of the pitfalls I mention. As long as they stick to that basic story it might work.
Then again, maybe people would get off on a movie that taps so many iconic sci-fantasy ideals. The problem would be the law-suits.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/06/15 15:56:41
I actually work in film and TV, so this discussion really piqued my interest.
First off, I think that you are all wrong (excepting Veteran Sergeant). My guess is that GW has not licensed the rights because any distributor would demand a cut of merchandising. That cut would probably include future (post release) sales of minis as well as all the action figures/costumes/etc. that would come out in Walmarts and Targets around the world. That's the lesson that everyone learned after George Lucas made a fortune (instead of the studios) when he kept merchandising for himself. Now studios know that that is where the money (with this kind of movie) is. There is no way that GW would give up a portion of their core business sales in perpetuity to make this happen.
That huge issue aside, I don't think it would be any more or less expensive to make a 40k movie or cable TV series than a lot of other stuff currently running. It would be a bit CG heavy (which is harder for TV to deal with financially), but it really comes down to script. If the story is strong, bringing an audience into a character's perspective, I think it's possible – regardless of cost. As far as GW not being able to afford it, I don't think they'd have to pay a penny to make it happen. It would be a win-win for them: they'd get tons of new interest in the game, they'd get a cut of the gross through licensing, they'd get a cut of merchandising (but not all, and again that's probably the deal breaker). The studio would pay to make it happen in exchange for larger cuts of all that I mentioned.
As far as popularity: look at LOTR, that was a total niche story and it blew up.
I'd say follow the example of the “Lord Inquisitor” and start a Kickstarter. There's probably some really good CG people in our community, maybe some good cosplay designers, probably some good writers. In my experience if you want a story/film that you like, you better do it yourself. Make the thing (write a script, make a trailer, do something that a studio exec can see and touch beyond minis) and then shop it around. Pete Jackson got the LOTR because he did a ton of legwork before he took it to the studio and Tolkien's family. It's a ton of work though.
Ultramarines the Movie was good in my opinion for the 1st Games Workshop 40K movie, but there needed to be some orks instead of chaos that way there would have be more fighting and less scheming
For the Lion and Death to all chaos filth. For the Emperor!!!
2000 pts Blue Moon Ork Warband
2500 pts Imperial Guard Regiment "Javion IV 7th Regiment" 1000pts Templars of Oden 2nd Company
New story arc/faction every few episodes or season. Start with maybe Desert Raiders (play up the Tallarn schism as the thinly veiled Sunni/Shiite allegory it is, people will just eat this up), then some SoB, Battler Fleet Gothic, Rogue Trader shenanigans and then round out season one with 15 Hours.
Word Bearers omnibus for season two, because feth the good guys blah-blah-blah trope, feth it in the eye.
Inquisitor is a fan one but GW signed off on it, it's going to be sick!
We are winged salvation, but we are a terrible, final salvation, and our wings embrace the horizon with fire. We are the Blood Angels. To confront us is to die, and death is my remit, my reality, my unbounded domain. I have known death, and defeated it, claimed it as my own. To my cost, to my strength, death is my one gift to bestow, and I am nothing if not generous.
After "Ultramarines", GW signing off on a 40k movie wouldn't necessarily make me feel more confident in it.
I support the HBO idea, though. I have yet to see an HBO show disappoint me. Well, an HBO show that dealt with a theme of interest to me, anyways. Given the list of their productions, I have only watched a small part of their stuff, but Rome, Tales from the Crypt, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Deadwood and GoT I liked all.
Dark wrote:Maybe using a group of "just tithed" IG from a peacefull Agri-world would be good, since having them to learn about what lies beyond their small world would be the plot-device to show it to the unlearned audience.
Just like what I think! or make the Book ''Legion'' from the HH series in a movie!
2000 pts Renegade Imperial Guard
1750 pts Chaos Undivided
1000pts Imperial Guard
750 pts Space Wolves
1000 pts Tau Empire
GW is *very* touchy about their intellectual property, since when you get down to it, that's basically all they have. Their games are all a bit crap anyway, they rely almost entirely on the draw of their various universes to keep people buying their models. I imagine they have refused Hollywood's advances based more on control of rights to their IP than anything else. Any movie Hollywood puts out these days is as much about the merchandising as ticket sales, and GW will never give anyone a license to essentially compete with themselves.
This.
We all know that any 40k film will be about space marines.
Imagine they make the movie... and it's awesome. It's rated R, it's all big name stars, it blows your mind, grown men cry in theaters across the world as the ultimate sci-fi film is released.
Now imagine the next day.
The Slurpee cups, the Coke cans, the Happy Meals, the T-Shirts, the winter caps,
the sneakers, the references in every area of pop culture, Oprea's book club says to pick up the newest HH novel....
The 40k noobs...
Millions and millions of 40k noobs...
The vile masters of GW get rich beyond reason and destroy our game beyond anything we could imagine.
Like simply allowing Todd McFarland to make 40k a 28in scale action figure game.
And years later, only we tabletop gamers will remember that it all started with little models.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/06/16 07:42:34
GW is *very* touchy about their intellectual property, since when you get down to it, that's basically all they have. Their games are all a bit crap anyway, they rely almost entirely on the draw of their various universes to keep people buying their models. I imagine they have refused Hollywood's advances based more on control of rights to their IP than anything else. Any movie Hollywood puts out these days is as much about the merchandising as ticket sales, and GW will never give anyone a license to essentially compete with themselves.
This.
We all know that any 40k film will be about space marines.
Imagine they make the movie... and it's awesome. It's rated R, it's all big name stars, it blows your mind, grown men cry in theaters across the world as the ultimate sci-fi film is released.
Now imagine the next day.
The Slurpee cups, the Coke cans, the Happy Meals, the T-Shirts, the winter caps,
the sneakers, the references in every area of pop culture, Oprea's book club says to pick up the newest HH novel....
The 40k noobs...
Millions and millions of 40k noobs...
The vile masters of GW get rich beyond reason and destroy our game beyond anything we could imagine.
Like simply allowing Todd McFarland to make 40k a 28in scale action figure game.
And years later, only we tabletop gamers will remember that it all started with little models.
What's your point?
I like the part where you describe the best sci-fi movie ever.
Veteran Sergeant wrote:The Ultramarines movie was terrible, lol. Talk about a huge disappointment. The animation was decent, but the story was lackluster, and the whole concept was just kinda stupid. Dan Abnett must have written it half asleep, high as hell on Ambien.
This. It was the most derivative story I've ever seen...and the actual WAR was not nearly what it could/should have been.
The centre of a massive brood chamber, heaving and pulsating.
If they did make a 40K movie, I'd like to see:
Ridley Scott as the director, Aaron Dembski-Bowden writing, and it should be live action. Space Hulk would be a brilliant start, or perhaps focussing on the Imperial Guard fighting the forces of Chaos with the Space Marines supporting. It should be a no-holds-barred 18, as grim and bloody as they can make it, whilst still maintaining a plot, so as not to turn into a bad Japanese horror flick. If I see so much as a sliver of a Hollywood happy ending I shall be getting Khornate on someone's arse.
As for the cast, I'd like to see some less well known people in it.
Squigsquasher, resident ban magnet, White Knight, and general fethwit.
buddha wrote: I've decided that these GW is dead/dying threads that pop up every-week must be followers and cultists of nurgle perpetuating the need for decay. I therefore declare that that such threads are heresy and subject to exterminatus. So says the Inquisition!
I think a movie would be awsome but would have to be done based on the space marines and done in cgi, i just think if it were done with actors it would be cheese
Brother Thomas wrote:I bet it will never happen. I mean look what they did to starship troopers. Made them look like IG instead of power armored badazzes
An accurate movie of Starship Troopers would've been a box office bomb. That book sucked ass. Did you know the author wrote it in response to a nuclear treaty between the US and the USSR? He hated those damn commies that he thought we open fire and risk humanity's annihilation, just so that at least we could say we blew up those damn commies.
That said, the author was a very creative guy. Without him we'd never have Space Marines or Tyranids.
The centre of a massive brood chamber, heaving and pulsating.
That. Was. The. Most. Epic. Post. Ever.
That's almost made me recover from my bomeheaded father dropping my best mate's Orks on a driveway...Almost.
Squigsquasher, resident ban magnet, White Knight, and general fethwit.
buddha wrote: I've decided that these GW is dead/dying threads that pop up every-week must be followers and cultists of nurgle perpetuating the need for decay. I therefore declare that that such threads are heresy and subject to exterminatus. So says the Inquisition!
The Mutant Chronicles movie is a prime example of what could happen to a 40k movie. I played the board game, and the movie has very little to do with it. Sure, there are some character and faction names taken from the board game, and the whole concept of mutant zombies from outer space, but other than that they've pretty much gone wild. Added steampunk into it and such. Oh, and John Malkovich.
So if there was a 40k movie they'd probably think that the SM don't look heroic enough for Hollywood and design new ugly power armor, and give them lasers instead of bolters because in mainstream sci-fi lasers are the best weapons out there. And Keanu Reeves would play the Emperor. Probably.
If they made a movie that was true to the fluff only 40k fans would like it. And we are pretty much slaves to GW already, so what's to gain from it?
Mutant Chronicles was a low point in both Ron Pearlman and Thomas Jane's careers.
I still think that Storm of Iron would make a good movie.
Note: all of Heinlein's work (to include Starship Troopers) was an expression of his neo-fascist outlook on the world. Not to say this was a bad thing, but he is very blunt about his politics when it comes to his writing. It is also why military people tend to gravitate towards liking Starship Troopers.
Brother Thomas wrote:I bet it will never happen. I mean look what they did to starship troopers. Made them look like IG instead of power armored badazzes
An accurate movie of Starship Troopers would've been a box office bomb. That book sucked ass. Did you know the author wrote it in response to a nuclear treaty between the US and the USSR? He hated those damn commies that he thought we open fire and risk humanity's annihilation, just so that at least we could say we blew up those damn commies.
That said, the author was a very creative guy. Without him we'd never have Space Marines or Tyranids.
The author of Starship Troopers was a big fascist. The movie was in fact supposed to be an adaptation made out of spite to the author, turning the Nazism tones up to eleven in the movie.
Anyway, something which you all need to take into consideration with a 40k movie or TV series is something which the producers of Doctor Who think about all the damn time: how can we make it so casual viewers can watch it? That's why I think Dark's idea is best. Have it with characters who, as far the audience know, are normal people who might live next door, so the audience can identify with them, and then follow them on their journey. If you have a film or series that's focused on Space Marines, the casual audience might just think 'Oh, it's about robots'.
The Kasrkin were just men. It made their actions all the more astonishing. Six white blurs, they fell upon the cultists, lasguns barking at close range. They wasted no shots. One shot, one kill. - Eisenhorn: Malleus
I would love to see a live action movie done in partnership with GW and Universal... imagine the the rides and experiences to be had at universal studios lol...
As long as Michael bay doesnt direct it... First Transformers, now TMNT... I couldnt stand to see a movie about SMs butchered anymore...
"I ayn't so eezy ta kill... heheheh..."
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!!!!
Sturmtruppen wrote:If you have a film or series that's focused on Space Marines, the casual audience might just think 'Oh, it's about robots'.
Oh, I don't know. Depends on how the movie introduces people to the setting. There are certain Space Marine Chapters who act more like beefed up superheroes rather than ascetic warrior-monks, after all.
Not that I'd support something like that, but for the casual audience it would work, and some of these Chapters have an impressive fanbase.
5000 
For the Lion and Death to all chaos filth. 
For the Emperor!!! 
2000 pts Blue Moon Ork Warband
"Javion IV 7th Regiment" 
1000pts Templars of Oden 2nd Company 
We are winged salvation, but we are a terrible, final salvation, and our wings embrace the horizon with fire. We are the Blood Angels. To confront us is to die, and death is my remit, my reality, my unbounded domain. I have known death, and defeated it, claimed it as my own. To my cost, to my strength, death is my one gift to bestow, and I am nothing if not generous. 
1000 pts Tau Empire
1700pts 
1500pts 
"I ayn't so eezy ta kill... heheheh..." 
