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Like, if the first Warhammer40k movie to be produced was about a Rogue Trader and his (Or her) adventures, would you watch it? Do you think it would be capable of conveying the grimdark atmosphere of Warhammer40k? If you would watch the movie, what would you want the story to be? Go ahead and leave your thoughts down below

It depends entirely on if it ends up being bad (which is probable) or not.

I'd watch any 40k film, frankly.

But I do think the likes of Inquisitors and Rogue Traders are a city-sized opal geode for the box office. The fact that it's not been tapped yet baffles me.

After watching the movie Space Marine and never getting those hours back in my life, I would have to say NO.

The problem with any 40k movie is that it has two major conflicting goals.

The first is that it has to be involved enough, and respectful of the existing lore. I'm always of the opinion that a good story can bend and tweak the lore, but even bending 40k and keeping it recognizable is nearly impossible. If it isn't recognizably 40k, the (very small, we need to keep that in mind) 40k-player demographic will be turned away. The second is that it needs to have widespread appeal. As much echo chamber as we have here on Dakka, there's just no money in investing in a movie targeting 40k players. In order to be made, a 40k movie would need to have much. much wider appeal.

The big problem with all of this is that there's no easy starting point for a screenwriter. 40k has way too much lore and history to make a reasonable movie out of. If it is 'modern' 40k, it has massive history, and a huge amount of work needed to build the setting. If it is 30k/Hersey era, it has a staggeringly large cast and an even more immense pool to draw from. If you just cherry pick the best moments, you get a hollow experience, if you try to deep dive you have a product that won't function or profit.

If you assume Games Workshop doesn't smother it with their clenched iron fist of IP control, perhaps...just perhaps someone could make a reasonable film.

I think you stand a much better chance of a properly handled CGI film vs. a live action film. If you ignore the terrible Ultramarines film which had animation on par with a cut scene from a 2002 video game...use an actual, capable CGI studio, you could end up with a reasonable film.

Look at normal box office films in general. Despite earnings (people will watch anything), how many are genuinely good films? Maybe 5%-10%?

If these guys did the film - I'd watch it. This trailer is 10x better than the whole of that terrible Ultramarines gak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNFGJQIW5ZM

Yeah, it'd almost HAVE to be produced in CGI, a live action 40k film would have to have quite a large budget to effectively capture the scale of Warhammer What would be better, is a television series (CGI obviously) and make each season it's own story. Season one would be in the perspective of an Imperial Guardsmen or something then Season 2 would be in the perspective of a Dark Eldar Archon. I think that would be pretty cool

One of the arguments for taking a Rogue Trader setting is the ease at which you can make a damn fine story, which everyone can follow.
If we look at Dredd, for example, the film gives the basic background, which is all you need to know why people like Dredd exist. Then they stick in a relatable plot and bingo, you've landed a film in my top 5 list.
40k is spanning the whole galaxy, with all its little gubbinzes to home in on, like the hotel-on-wheels that is the trans-continental express on Gudrun.
Straight out of a souped up bond film, that, which you'd expect in an inquisitor novel, really.
Just home in on the miriad of situations, basically mini-stories, that make up the Eisenhorn omnibus. Anything on those lines can become a film in its own right, with a sensible cast size to boot.
No need to be stuck in the spehs merheen bubble of everything in epic.