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Disclaimer: this is just my opinion - please don't burn me as a heretic.

I truly think that the WH40k(30k) setting has movie potential.

The WH40k universe is definitely versatile enough to base any form of motion picture on it.

Web Mini Series - Inquisition/Rogue Trader/Death Watch

TV Series - Fething Band of fething Guardsmen

Movie - Endless epic Bolter porn.


And about long and boring prologues
HH isn't that complex to understand

Sorry i am not a writer but i would find following sufficient to start a HH movie:

I am a space marine,
a genetically augmented human and we are legion.
Led by the mighty and godlike Primarchs we are fighting a crusade to again unite long lost human worlds with the Imperium of Mankind.
In the name of our glorious emperor we seek out the separatist and xenos to forge a better future for humanity.
I am Captain Garviel Loken (!obligatory!) and this is my story.

And then he "dies" at the end of movie 1.

Damn,
I need a fake movie poster with Isstvan III burning and the fitting sub-title "Let the galaxy burn"

I think something like band of brothers, following Horus from his discovery by the emprah, to his demise would be interesting.
really humanise, ans crush Horus.... like boromir.

 aapch45 wrote:
I think something like band of brothers, following Horus from his discovery by the emprah, to his demise would be interesting.
really humanise, ans crush Horus.... like Ned Stark and Robb Stark

Fixed

 Asherian Command wrote:

 aapch45 wrote:
I think something like band of brothers, following Horus from his discovery by the emprah, to his demise would be interesting.
really humanise, ans crush Horus.... like Ned Stark and Robb Stark

Fixed

Apologies

I'm a huge GOT fan as well

Probably 3/4, you would need to obviously cover the major battles: both Istavans, Calth, prospero and the like. You then need to display the sheer scale of the galaxy spanning war and cover later battles such as Lorgar and Angrons crusade into Ultrama and then of course devote at least an entire film to the siege of Terra including the massive naval battle for its air space. Honestly it's not feasible.

I would say three movies. The first would cover the fall of Horus, this would be used to set up the issues that would lead to the heresy ending with Horus waking from his sleep. The second would be the betrayals at Isstvan 3 and 5. The last movie would be the siege of terra. Then you could have a series of follow up films covering other specific peoples stories. Or it could work as a hbo style series.

You would need to come up with creative way of getting it out to the masses to generate interest. A full fledged space opera is likely to fail. Go with a mini series.

Start with 6 episodes to generate interest. The books are popular but if you make the series gritty and sexy then people will watch and go and want to read the series generating more demand.

I would base the series on John Grammaticus. With a bit of artisitic liscencing you could make him into evn more of a Flashman type of character. Follow his plot line with the Heresy in the background with references and maybe the odd flash scene of epic battles (over the course of the series if you add them all up, the scenes could almost be a complete battle timeline). Start with his background, the 30K universe and his dealings with the cabal.

If it works then you expand the series to 12 more episodes. He should rarely if ever run into marines but, erebus could figure prominently in the back story. You'd never really see Horus of the Emperor. But you'd hear a lot about them. You could have one episode with marines using the whole Vulkan lives plot line where he runs into a rag tag bunch of Istvaan survivors. Make the season finale, with him arriving at Maccrage to go after Vulkan (who would be the only Primarch we ever see up until that point).

After these two seasons, if it takes, then you produce either spin offs of 2hr tv specials. maybe one dealing with the remembrancers on Fulgrim's ship with the whole Fulgrim/Ferrus plotline in the background. Maybe another could be the whoel Alpharius protocol intrigue. Even one based on the assassins. even a Garro one shot could work if properly done. But you keep producing as many seasons of Grammaticus as you can.

If all of that then takes, then perhaps someone would be bold enough to make a trilogy. Starting with the first movie that would build to the Istvaan Massacre, the 2nd would start just after Calth leading to the storyline in Unremembered Empire with the loyalists trying to rally then finish with the third movie being the siege of Terra.

Then after you could reboot the series with an Imperium Secundus series based on some other no name character.

Ambitious? Lol. Yes. But one can dream.

I think a lord of the rings style trilogy would work best, but with the film industry the way it is at the moment I hope they never make it,
as it would simply get ruined.

I'm not sure wether i would want the heresy books to become films... I'm afraid it would ruin the books! But IF they were to be made into books, there would have to be more than 3 at least

dkoz wrote:
I can see it making a good HBO AMC or sci-fi channel series. I think that's a better idea than making a movie.

They would all be great to make the series but I think it would definitely have to be animated or CGI, and that if GW would even let them make a movie. Especially since Ultramarines was considered a fair good first movie.

they could also do like the Star Wars Clone War series and just make a bunch of 30min long episodes and run it for a couple season, the season could be based on the books or just important events, alongside short stories.

I decree this must be done

btw, how do you make an image smaller?

Personally I feel the GoT model would work the best if they ever made a filmed version of the series
It would also require multiple seasons and would need the series to essentially be finished so they can get the timeline sorted before making so they have enough to jump between areas of interest much like GoT ie the first season could build up to Istvaan (With the inital fall of Logar) then split into all the major plot lines after the dropsite massacre

It would have to be 5+ movies becasue we all know the first movie is going to be introduction of the Emperor and the Primarchs and then the last like 20min Istvaan III Atrocity for a little clue to next Movie.....Movie 2 Istvaan III then politics...yada yada yada...some Xenos here and there the Survivors of Ist III tell Emperor about Horus and the rest of the movie Istvaan V BUT JUST THE BEGINNING!!! where Loyalists are bending traitors over 1 by 1......Que Movie 3 Istvaan V everythings goin good then BAM!!!! everyone shows true colors continue witth fighting show few survivors leaving then telling the big E whats what then cut to Horus telling the Word bearers to go kill the Ultratwats at The Battle of Calth....Movie 4 Calth happens throw a plot twist in there where the Ultramarines find out they plan to invade Terra try to tell E but cant, E finds out they are coming preps his golden anus for the wrath of the traitors and then last shot of the Traitors translating in orbit of Terra end it there.....Movie 5 Siege of Terra and the Emperors Palace then everything is over and the end of the movie narrating "And so it has been for 10,000 years the forces of Chaos trying to finish what they had started on Istvaan V but the Defenders of mankind and Our Angels of Death have never yielded, never faltered but there is no hope to rebuild what We once were....For it is the 41st Millenium....and there is only War!

BAM!!!!! theres the movie list and thats how it should go and if that last speech isnt the last thing said.....someones gunna be hurting

The horus heresy would be more suited for one of those long runing TV series as the details into leading upto such a massive event in the 40K universe would not be able to be shown in films unless you went the way of the harry potter films (each one being a book).

Personally, i say for the starters they should do a band of brothers style TV series with gaunt's ghosts. Would be a safer and easier to produce option imho.

If all of Monty Python was around today as they were in their prime, then it would be a great movie

Dedicated Fans volunteered production and acting for a web series approved by GW. Make the webseries 10 to 20 minutes initially to test the waters. Keep cost down by telling a story about a small platoon of imperial guardsmen in charge of medical emergency rescue like MASH. Keep the characters out of direct fire but have the chaos of bombs and gun shots go off in the background. Focus less on action, more on character development, atmosphere, and drama.

Telling a strory about the pre-heresy spacemarine needs high end special effects, professionals actors, and big budget.

If GW was to do a movie, it should be a non-canonical short story from Let the Galaxy Burn or other such sort story collection.

I would love to see an animated HH movie, rather than a action live movie, imo.

IMO Trilogy and a sequel would me more than enough

Earth Dragon wrote:
I would love some great CGI Warhammer movies, but as with many great films in the last couple of decades with source material, the writers will trim the fat not making this or that character a major part of the story, if at all, and we'll have to listen to nerd rage ramblings about how Salamanders are supposed to be charcoal, not African looking, and that's what "ruined" the movie for them.

If they were to do movies, perhaps try the same styling of the Avengers. Have a few movies highlighting different chapters and such, intertwine them a little, and then have a movie or two that wraps it all together. It might take about 6 movies to do, but if done well, they could have a lot of success. The main thing is meeting the balance of "fanboy" expectations, and writing the movies to where people not familiar with 40k at all could understand.

This is probably the best idea i've read so far. If they were to make movies, then this would definitely be the way, but if they were to go with like an HBO series then they should probably just stick to the first 3 books and maybe include the Siege of Terra.

This topic comes up every week in the Facebook 40K fan page, it's pretty funny to see how far it gets before someone says "this again?"

Should be a TV show for HBO cable could not handle 40k...

personally it should be animated and should have 7 seasons. Lets say 12 episodes 1 hour long.

Center around Gavriel Loken maybe switch it up with other famous characters like Garro.

Realistically it is just as insane to do 40k is really big!

 Zeke 169 wrote:
Knowing how GW likes to market long-term, an HBO Miniseries would be great.

Look at the Space Operas of Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Firefly, Children of Dune, I think they could feasibly pull it all off. Even looking at the storytelling from Game of Thrones each episode touching on the lives of the main characters.

However, IF it were to make it as a movie I would hope they wouldn't go beyond a trilogy. Focus on the main plot points otherwise you would lose the audience in the expanse of the world.

Then would you include much if any of the Eldar, Necron, or Orks? Or just focus on Brother v. Brother conflict?

Furthermore...who would you cast for each of the Primarchs? The Emperor?
The Sigilite?

I'd definitely cast the guy who played Thranduil as Fulgrim:


They're both completely twisted (and ruthless and evil), and both fit the description perfectionist + insane + enormous ego + bishōnen hawtness

I'd like to cast schwarzenegger as the Lion (because neither of them talks much), but I'm not that sure that his voice wouldn't sound too stupid for a primarch

I'm afraid we are a very small band of players in the big world of entertainment. Would be a lovely idea but there is no chance. If it did happen it would be a 'B' movie to beat all cheesy nasty straight to DVD losers and we the community who love 30/40k would moan about it forever.

I think that a trilogy would probably do best. I think you streamline the plot, dropping certain characters and events but still making references and Easter eggs. I think if someone was able to do live-action with CGI mixed in it might make it more appealing to non-hobbyists. Lots of action, lots of gore. I would totally get behind a movie like that. Fingers crossed it happens some day.

Films would screw it up as they would probably cut alot of important details to put it into a 2 hour film

I think the HH would be best done as an animated TV series.
too much to cover in film, and studios would just screw it up.
Animation saves costs because then you don't need to spend as much on actors, effects, props etc.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Another great way to do it would be to do it documentary style. Where military experts and survivors give interviews. short clips of action. plenty of stills. etc

A cgi series would be great. If one was aiming to encompass the Horus Heresy in bursts of 30 minute shows. One could do it in a format where it explores the beginnings of each primarch in a separate episode. First episode is Lion El'Jonson's time on Caliban, perhaps speed some of it up a bit and do each primarch in order as the Emperor recovers them, thus providing the background for the story itself piece by piece as the action is fed in each episode without having to be put through all the there are X or Y primarchs and their names are X or Y something something emprah episode pilot.

Furthermore it would be awesome to build up the first season with various crusades and all the pre-heresy fun things. Flesh out the now matured primarchs a bit. The season finale is a two-parter that ends with Horus turning to chaos. Season 2 is debuted with the Heresy being mounted on Terra, providing plenty of dramatic, action packed fluff for all of the now seasoned and thoroughly background-laden viewers.

I think it could reach a large audience.

No it wouldn't. It'd be much better as an HBO series like GoT

However I feel it is best left as books.

I don't think anything space marine related would make for a good TV/movie franchise. They would be better kept as almost mythical beings in some 40k series, where they occasionally make appearances as the show goes on.

Some guardsmen or whatever that become rogue traders eventually and a the whole corruption from within thing slowly becoming apparent with lots of plot twists. having to deal with inquisition for what they may or may not have seen on the battlefield, with bonus points for cypher cameo. And glimpses of space marines and chaos that show just how insanely powerful they are and giving a hint of what the imperium really is and how the universe is so much more than the ones in charge would have your average citizen believe.

After all they do everything to keep the reality of daemons and chaos a secret. I suppose it wouldn't be unlike firefly but cranked up to eleven, which is why it would never happen.

HH has to many characters doing to many things for it to work. The events leading up to fulgrim and angron turning into demon princes could take at least half a movie if not a whole movie to explain.

If you don't do this it's super confusing why half why threw the movie two characters turned into huge monsters with out ackword plot dump.

A mini series covering the events leading up to the drop sit massacre would be a lot cooler. And if done well could lead to more stories getting told.