DukeLeto69 Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 In the excellent thread about GW financials and annual report here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/349245-gw-2018-annual-financial-report-and-analysis/ A few of us, me included, got a bit carried away talking about the reference in the report to exploring opportunities to extend the IP through animation and live action (movies and TV series). Quite rightly the mods zapped those posts as we were going off topic. So I wanted to start a thread where we can discuss the opportunities, potential, plausibility, benefits (to GW and to us) of GW partnering up with TV networks and/or movie studios to make content. Should it be live action? Should it be animated? If animated what kind of style? Also what existing or new content should/could they explore? Personally I think they should go down the TV series route rather than a movie as the latter is simply too high risk. Also, as was pointed out on the financials thread, a movie would involve GW potentially needing to sign away toy and merchandise rights which they will never do. So what stories could they tell. For me four things immediately spring to mind: "Tales from the Dark Millenium" = an anthology style series "Eisenhorn/Ravenor" "Gaunt's Ghosts" "The Horus Heresy" Also I would prefer animation over live action and computer animation at that (in the style of computer game link content). What do you guys think? What ideas and thoughts do you have on all of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slips Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Moved to Amicus for discussion since this is less "news" and more "what would you like to see?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wispy Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I tend to think a TV series is the best route, and they should seriously consider a 'TV Verse' that is its own thing rather than trying to squeeze a series into the existing setting. It should be faithful but it doesn't need to be exact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interrogator Stobz Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Weta Workshop in NZ want to make a 40k movie/TV thing, but the ip on the toys is an issue, there are concerns that movies don’t really make money, but the merch does; another issue is the violence rating (40k is very violent). I was there a couple of weeks ago and had a chat with xxxxxxx, probably just wishful thinking ofc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wispy Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 another issue is the violence rating (40k is very violent). this raises another seriously good question: who the heck is the target audience? when it's just a wargame, 40k is an all ages hobby. he violence is abstracted, the horrors of war are abstracted. we know life in the setting is awful behind the scenes but in general the primary 40k product tends to depict two consensual armies with no innocent victims. the minute you're depicting it on a screen, you lose the distance and abstraction and are suddenly not All-Ages anymore. Can you go the Marvel route and depict the setting for all ages or or do you have to go Game of Thrones to do it justice and not defang it? Does that lose you a whole bunch of people who would otherwise be interested? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interrogator Stobz Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 When I left and gave it some thought, the WarCraft movie level of violence might be about right. And Weta helped make that... R16 and R18 movies don’t make money too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeLeto69 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 WETA - for real! That would be good. Peter Jackson explored a Halo movie for a while but it all got canned in the end. There is a fair amount of violence in the LOTR/Hobbit movies. One of the ways they got around censors was to give Orcs and Goblins black blood rather than red! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interrogator Stobz Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Yeah, an absolute power of creativity there. They would do our ooniverse justice. I hope that they sort the issues and convince GeeDub to give them some production rights. Time will tell. For clarity, my info is not from the actual decision makers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnboardG1 Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I’d be all over an animated 40k series with clone wars or rebels styling. The problem is that I’ve come to expect Mark Strong to play almost every male character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_Shift Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 An inquisition series that starts off like a police drama and slowly reveals more of the bigger picture with aliens and particularly chaos being teased for the uninitiated. Leading towards the introduction of space marines but not as main characters. I think Eisenhorn provides a good template for that but it would need to be stretched out a fair bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quantum Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 If you want to make a TV series out of 40k, a good place to start would be an anthology: a series of stand-alone episodes in which various aspects as heck the Imperium are show. So you can have an episode about an inquisitor uneathing a dangerous cult, a day in the life of a guardsman on the front line, the deadly intrigue of an imperial noble house, a scavenger's life in devastated hive city after some forgotten war, an unsantioned psyker being hunted by imperial authorities while strange voices whisper in his mind, etc. That way you can play around with various genres, have low budget episodes where only the writing and acting are relevant, are not limited to the same faction for each episode and you do not run the risk that the show will be cancelled on a cliffhanger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishagu Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Anthology in't a good idea imo. In the age of streaming shows have large, interwoven stories that flow from episode to episode. Week by week no attachments wouldn't be as gripping. The purpose shouldn't simply be to educate about the setting but to tell a good story with compelling characters. The trick is to have a show that revolves around some Inquisitorial agents, dealing with Aliens on various planets and with only minor appearances from Astartes, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jings Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Anthology in't a good idea imo. In the age of streaming shows have large, interwoven stories that flow from episode to episode. Week by week no attachments wouldn't be as gripping. The purpose shouldn't simply be to educate about the setting but to tell a good story with compelling characters. The trick is to have a show that revolves around some Inquisitorial agents, dealing with Aliens on various planets and with only minor appearances from Astartes, etc Yup, this. Have some Deathwatch guys as inquisitorial "big guns", use them sparingly, and focus on a specific star system / sector. My go-to would be some GSC for that infiltration drama but almost any Xenos would work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarabando Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 the guys at Angels who did all the props for Star Wars and a loooot of other movies were planning to do a pilot/pitch to GW for a Gaunts ghosts series, not sure how far they got with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishagu Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Gaunt's Ghost is overrated imo, it would be disappointing if the show was based on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeLeto69 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 Gaunt's Ghost is overrated imo, it would be disappointing if the show was based on that. Wow really! Different folks and different strokes but I think the GG series is awesome. For sure there are some weaker entries but overall the books are brilliant and some simply outstanding... IMO of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irbis Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 A few of us, me included, got a bit carried away talking about the reference in the report to exploring opportunities to extend the IP through animation and live action (movies and TV series). Except they outright state they won't do a movie at all unless ridiculously good deal happens and what they probably meant by "extend the IP through animation and live action" was trailers like they made for Imperial Knights. I don't see 40K movie happening unless Netflix or Amazon decide they would like to burn a big pile of money pointlessly in hopes that will drive subscriptions up (and won't just be pirated like GoT...). R16 and R18 movies don’t make money too Deadpool says hello. And I have no idea why people have imagined it needs to be even 16+ movie. Star Wars: Solo contains probably best IG battle in cinema (seriously, if you were to paint aquilas on the trooper helmets, changed their weapon look to lasguns, and modified the walkers a tiny bit to make them look like Sentinels, it would be perfect Warhammer movie) complete with ridiculously over the top Commissar performance by Imperial officer that couldn't be more 40K if they tried and yet, it was PG-13. You guys are aware that Saw-like scenes are ridiculously tiny minority of what is happening in M42, right? I’d be all over an animated 40k series with clone wars or rebels styling. No. Just no. Both were terribad garbage that ruined SW for most of older fans. Imagine random sanctioned psyker kid slapping Abaddon silly with a fish - that is exactly what this of a series did to Vader! Frakking My Little Pony managed to create scarier villains, had bigger stakes and better writing than the hacks that produced these - how they managed to do this with Thrawn, Palpatine, Vader, Dooku and Grievous in a roster (not to mention targeting older audience), I have no idea, but it was quite a achievement. Not that I am opposed to animated series, but please, not made in anglosphere. Go to France or Japan - both shown they can write serious, dark stuff even for kids and don't treat audience like morons, no matter what their age is. Something like Wakfu (or any number of war anime) would be perfect fit for 40K, getting it done in USA or Canada would most likely instantly ruin it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnboardG1 Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I thought both series had excellent character development and plot lines that didn’t treat their audience like idiots. As mentioned above, different strokes and all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triszin Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 A rogue trader style show would be the best to introduce it to adults. Ala Firefly meets Game of thrones have it lead into a major conflict, War for Armegeddon 4. slowly steep the rich history of 40k throughout the show, mention the primarchs, the emperor, initially as a religion then teh realization that they existed/exist. would allow to show how diverse the universe is. Treat space marines and orks like boogy men, have them only ever be seen from the eyes of mortal men until absolutely necessary to show stuff from there perspective -------- Director/s Neil Blonkamp, del torro, the guy that did "edge of tomorrow" ( how I imagine fighting nids/ necrons would be) props: WETA peter jackson is to whimsical for 40k, i dont think he could portray the grim darkness of it well, while del torro and blonkamp can ------- I'd rather if films were to be a thing, not focus on retelling stories written, have them be in line with new lore pieces coming out. if they were to retell something old first, I would say retell the story of the Tyranids, through Cryptmans eyes. him finding the black box on a fortress world now barren, him warning the imperium and the realization of what the nids are. but, I think blurbs like this would be awesome 8~min segments at the starts of epsiodes to show just how vast the universe is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sete Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Focus on regular humans, SM would make rare appearances. Inquisitor and retinue would be best bet. Add some chaos cults, some warp mumbo jumbo, some GSC and im sure it would be interesting. But keep Marvel fans away from it, because it would be too dark and gritty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarabando Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Necromunda, your looking for the next GoT well its got Houses full of political intreague and violence and bewbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeLeto69 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 Necromunda, your looking for the next GoT well its got Houses full of political intreague and violence and bewbs. Like it although I can see those unfamiliar with the IP saying it is a Mad Max rip off (which it is of course) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slitth Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 A 40K movie or series? Well it should be amine in a style close to Dante's Inferno. Only way to do the over the top theme justice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Sacrifice Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I'd like to see a war movie, with elements of horror. It doesn't even need to have a huge budget. A film along the lines of an adaptation of Necropolis would be glorious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xwingt65 Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Live action isn’t the way to go initially, it is far too expensive. Put an animated series together in the vein of Clone Wars, featuring mostly a guard regiment, either taken from lore or made up from scratch, a core and colorful cast of soldiers, sprinkle in some various Imperium persona, like a Rogue Trader that has to transport them, some mechanicus an Inquisitor a Deathwatch squad etc. Make the show a mix of individual contained episodes and larger arcs. Will let them show off the breath of the 40k universe amd it’s inhabitants without costing hundreds of millions. Then if the interest from the mainstream masses is there, invest in a liveaction film. But honestly I think an animated show is such a no brainer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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