Do you think a Warhammer 40k Dawn of War movie could be successful?

[don85259]

I'm thinking it could be, if done right, with a good director and
storyline. We certainly have the technology to do the special
effects right. I mean, we've had such average sci-fi flicks as
Event Horizon and Starship Troopers. Even Doom was made
into a middling movie at best. Why not W40k-DoW?

I'm imagining a storyline kind of like Ridley Scott's Kingdom of
Heaven (damn good movie, BTW). In fact, there are quite a
few similarities between the Crusaders of around 1100 AD and
the Imperium/Space Marines.

What story should be told if such a movie could be made?
Say you are going to be the director. Who would you cast
for the roles?

Should it be Space Marines versus Chaos?

Here's my idea:

I already have a vision for the opening scene: The Imperial
Battleship Retribution fleeing a massive Chaos invasion:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ms/wowcopy.jpg

I would cast Jeremy Irons in the role as the Inquisitor and
Liam Neeson as the commander of the Imperial Guard. I
would cast Russell Crowe or Eric Bana as Captain Gabriel
Angelos of the Space Marines. I would then cast Al Pacino as
the Chaos Lord Bale, and Edward Norton as the Librarian who
eventually defects.

As for the story, I'm not so sure I would use the same story
from the PC game. It might be good, but there may be better
scripts to tell, like a space-going version of Kingdom of
Heaven.

What say you?

I think such a movie would kick ass!

--don

[THR1LLHOUSE]

as much as i would want it to be cool it would likely flop like so many other games that had movies. if it were to be made i would rather see a cg animated movie over a real life movie simply because most of the WH 40K universe would have to bo cg. it would give the movie a cleaner look to have all of it cg then to have a few actors tossed in front of a green screen.

that and im sure GW would require huge amounts of money to be paid to them for the use of thier franchise similar to how they charge insane amounts of money for thier models.

[Odsox]

I've got too many niggly bits to rant about, and I don't like to rant, so I'll keep it short.

No Eric Bana. Eric Bana is bad for you.
Edward Norton, (Fight Club, American History X, right?) while badass, doesn't project the Librarian image. Christopher Walken, on the other hand..
No-one other than Christopher Lee is allowed to play the Inquisitor, if one is that badly needed. I decree it.
No Ian McKellen. The poor man needs a rest.

Other than that, I'd pay to see it. Warhammer 40,000 - Dawn of Hollywood

A Good Soldier Obeys Without Question.

[Moe]

The problem with this is, you can either make it more mainstream (at which point the WH40k fans will be outraged because the movie isn't true to the fluff) or you can make it for die-hard fans (the movie will then turn into a financial nightmare, because not enough people will watch it).

[don85259]

To Odsox: Ooh, I like your ideas. Christopher Walken would make a hellacious Librarian. Christopher Lee would make a very rich (very good) Inquisitor, although I think he is pushing the upper limit of age. For that matter, Christopher Plummer would make a good Inquisitor as well, but both are well into their 70s now. As much as I like them (Shakespearean-trained actors tend to be intense like that), I think there are younger actors that could pull off those roles.

Eric Bana was very good in Munich and in Troy. I could very easily see him as a SM Force Commander.

To Moe: What specific things are you referring to (this tension between being faithful to the source material and losing mainstream movie-goers or catering to the moviegoers and pissing off the faithful)? I'm curious as to what you think needs to be nerfed about the W40k universe in order to make the movie commercially successful.

--don

[Fixer]

Could always try and pester Peter Jackson to make it. He's currently involved in the Halo movie I hear. Also, he's met with a bunch of the guys at Warhammer world, even had a miniature of him cast in Hobbit form.

I imagine a good 40k Movie a cross between the Lord of the Rings in scope (Large scenery, epic plots, massive battles) and the darkness and introduction to a new world that the original Matrix movie.

[BigTexTruckin]

As cool as it would be, I doubt we'll ever see a big screen major picture. More likely we will see fan made movies as the 3d software gets more capable and user friendly. There are a pretty good number of movies made with the Hl2 engine and gary's mod, some are actually pretty funny and are worth checking out. But back to DoW...

What we need are some people skilled with XSI or 3DS max to try making a 40k movie using the hl2 engine. Its not going to look like final fantasy, but its a start.

[Chris]

What I would predict from a hollywood 40k movie would be something like;

A badass space marine commander (Vin Disel), a sexy eldar farseer (Jessica Alba) and dumb but loveable ork (Michael Clarke Duncan) are forced to settle their differences when an evil chaos sorcerer (Christopher Lee) discovers an artifact that could destroy THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE ZOGM.

[don85259]

^ Interesting. Vin Diesel could certainly pull off a SM commander, but if they have his character doing anything sexually with the Farseer, that would certainly qualify (as Moe said) as catering to the masses while butchering the W40k faithful. It's my understanding the Eldar can't stand humans and think they are only marginally better than the Orks or the "vile servants of Chaos." Also, I like the other bit of casting, but Duncan has to be bad-assed all the way. None of this lovy-dovy garbage, or trying to make Orks out to be like Shrek. Uggghh.

--don

[SHAGPUSS]

I would like to see WH40K done in the style of "A Band of Brothers" mini series. Following a suad of IG through some conflict on a far away earth like world.

The trouble with WH40K is that all about the blood and guts and warmongering. It could easily turn into a 2hr bloodfest, something akin to the opening 10 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan".

Its a shame the "Aliens" film has been done, the story could easily been adapted to the WH40K universe.

Does anyone think Sean Connery would make a good Marine commander?

[BadLlama]

This woulod be cool in a CG version like Final Fantasy as said earlier. I would definatly pay to see it if it is anything like the opening intro to DoW... best beginning intro movie ever.

[IBBoard]

Like Moe said, it'd be a good idea, but it'd never work because they couldn't balance it properly between fans and sales. There might seem like a good base of fans, but it's no-where near enough for a film not to flop.

[Chuck Norris]

if they took the time and money needed, maybe. Of course the best thing to make it of would be either a black crusade or the Horus Hersey, most likely the latter simply because it has many characters and is simply BAD ASS.

[DougyM]

A story line escapes me completely....

But if i was to pick a cast for certain roles....

Sean Pertwee: Imperial gaurd commander.
Patrick Stewart: Imperial gaurd commisar. (Gaunt ripoff)
Sean bean: Imperial Captain. (sharpe with a lasgun)
Kate Becinsale: Assasin (black leather)

James Spader: Chaos commander (non marine)
Micky Rourke: Chaos champion (just like marv but more bulky)
Daniel Craig: traitor gaurd commander (still semi mentaly stable... stops non fans from wondering why chaos are screwed up)

[Old Painless]

"I mean, we've had such average sci-fi flicks as
Event Horizon and Starship Troopers"

You sir, are a heretic. Event Horizon is ace.

If they do a 40K movie properly there will be several repeat visits from the die hard fans, i went to see doom 3 three times and it had bugger all to do with hell, and i was pissed too.

They need to realise that these cult game films need to be true to the original game, what is the 'effin point otherwise.

GW sells millions of quids worth of miniatures each year, any decent director will say "well, we have all the characters and models/sets made for us already, lets just bring it to life and make it cool as FCUK" not hard really is it? Concidering most cool films have no background or characters/settings before the script is written what amazingness could they perform.

Take Hellboy for example, they delayed making it for 10 years so they could get it jst right with the right actors etc, thats what GW needs - a fan sympathetic guy/gal to do the franchise justice, and kick some serious ass too i might add.

[Adonis]

They need to realise that these cult game films need to be true to the original game, what is the 'effin point otherwise.

It needs to be true to the game only if the people who are watching it are the ones that actually play the game or are familiar with it. People need to take into consideration that not everyone is knowledgable with everything that has to do with WH40K. Bogging down the story with tons of die-hard fanboy details will cause audiences, who are not familiar with WH40K, to lose interest. Not to mention causing the studio to lose revenue due to poor ticket sales and bad reviews of of the movie. Like Dow and WA, a movie needs to be friendly and acceptalbe to the masses, not just to fans.

I will agree with THR1LLHOUSE, though. If a movie were to be considered for production, the best route would be to make it a CG movie. It would be easier to impliment the necessary characters, visual details, and environments that make up the WH40K universe.

[Khabbi]

movies today dont have to be good , hollywood just spamms out useless movies with bad storylines , bad acting , and if they run out of ideas they just do a remake ,everybody still goes to the cinema , they dont know why , but they do

is there a puking emoticon ? too tired to search for it

[Esa]

It wont be a success because it is based on a big "cliche", so to speak.

Well, just look at the other movies based on games (and vice versa) and you get the idea.

[Compeador]

It wont be a success because it is based on a big "cliche", so to speak.

Well, just look at the other movies based on games (and vice versa) and you get the idea.

Good point.


And while conceivably a W40k movie would be awesome, there's SO MUCH story in it that you'd have to confine it to one thing that leaves out the rest of the w40k universe.

[OrionAssante]

I would rather see Warhammer as a miniseries like how Band of Brothers turned out. It could have different episodes dealing with completely different things so people could get an overall look at how the universe works.

[Adonis]

OrionAssante: Warhammer or Warhammer 40K?

A mini-series might go over well. When the Starship Troopers movie bombed, a CG mini-series came out, which, IMO, was alot better and more true to the book. It just might work out.

[chapter1001]

does anyone have the specs on how much the finla fantasy movie cost? with a CG you still have hollywood voices too, so Bana or Ian or whoever could lend a voice to a look alike cg character without the huge set production costs. Secondly, look at the INTERNATIONAL fan base, the die hards around the world, which is how it would have to be released, would flock to this, even if its only a sliver of the fluff, say 13th crusade. Theres enough of us fans to say f- the tone down stuff and give us hardcore 40k

[don85259]

^ Over $100 million if I recall correctly.

--don

[chapter1001]

well $100 mil and how much did it make in the box office? the returns on it may not have been blockbuster but it was still f-ing well done

[CrossOrion]

Horus Heresy.

Its a self written movie right there, it practically heralds the W40K universe.

[chapter1001]

ill have to agree, start a petition!!! the heresy would be ten times easier than the 13th crusade now that i think of it, its very black and white, IG/SM vs. Horus and the traitor legions

[Shinova]

The 40K verse is not only too big for a feature film, but there's also no one 'central' story you can concentrate on.

Star Wars is big, as the tons of novels show, focusing on and telling the story of the Star Wars universe from different characters, and even different timelines. But the core story has always been Luke and Vader, and Anakin Skywalker's path to redemption and Luke's rise from a farmboy to Jedi knight. This way, the cast and crew have a focus, a single concrete story around which to build and concentrate their creative minds and efforts.

I guess the closest thing to a central story you could get to is the rise of the Imperium, and the following Horus Heresay and its conclusion. Still, it's still not the definitive 40K story. It's important backhistory, but it's still just that; backhistory. At least with the Star Wars prequels there were characters that had major roles throughout the whole saga, like Anakin and Obi-wan.

Look at Knight Yellow's post for example:

Sean Pertwee: Imperial gaurd commander.
Patrick Stewart: Imperial gaurd commisar. (Gaunt ripoff)
Sean bean: Imperial Captain. (sharpe with a lasgun)
Kate Becinsale: Assasin (black leather)

James Spader: Chaos commander (non marine)
Micky Rourke: Chaos champion (just like marv but more bulky)
Daniel Craig: traitor gaurd commander (still semi mentaly stable... stops non fans from wondering why chaos are screwed up)

You know you're lacking a creative focus to concentrate your efforts around when all you can come up with for the central characters is 'Imperial Guard commander' or 'Chaos commander'.

This is why 40K is bad to make into a movie, and still bad to make into a series. You could make a series about the Imperial Guards, then make another about a Space Marine chapter, but there's still no central beacon or tale that the audience can relate 40K to. And there's only so much money in the world.

When you think Star Wars, you think Luke and Vader. When you think 40K, you think Horus Heresay, Fall of the Eldar, Space Marines, Tyranid invasion, Gaunt's Ghosts, Eisenhorn, and on and on and on. That's 40K's unfortunate problem in this situation.

40K's an awesome universe. There's so much there to tell with the games and novels. But you can't make it into a movie or series without some kind of central story or epic that can, in a single work of motion picture or literature, fully define what 40K is and embody the spirit of 40K.

[OrionAssante]

OrionAssante: Warhammer or Warhammer 40K?

40k.
The first episode would ideally be a prologue for the rest of the series, told as a storyboard styled narrative explaining the events of how earth progressed through history right up to the emperor taking over and unifying earth, the first crusades of the imperium and eventually the Horus Heresy.

[onehp]

uwe boll - Hi, I think ill be making ze 40k movie!

[Psycho06]

...good acting
good dialogue
good script
good directing
fantastic special effects
and...

NO "Warhammer 40k Showcase".

In other words, don't try to cram the entire history / scope of the 40k world into one movie. And DON'T make it a 2 hour Games Workshop advertisement for their entire range.

Take the X-Men approach. A simple, yet exciting action movie that introduces the audience to the very basics. Expand the races and reveal more of the Horus Heresy with subsequent movies.

[Bota99]

I think it would work best CG and be something that would appeal to the mainstream. i.e. not really following the fluff real closely.

Even then, I just don't see it playing to a wide enough audience to be close to doable.

But we can still dream

[TigerVX]

I agree that the Horus Heresy would be undoubtably the most ideal movie for 40K that could be. I also agree that CG is the way to go, we all love the DOW opener and even graphics like that look pretty awsome, something similiar to that could probably easily pass in the movies. The problem really is the cost and the high risk of the enterprise, it could end up like another run away hit like the LOTR or just another junker like so many of the movies coming out right now. Also I believe FF in total cost 40 million, with DVD sales they just managed tor break even with about 43 I think.

[don85259]

^ Nope, Final Fantasy bombed at the box office and cost well over $100 million to make. Courtesy of IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0173840/business

Budget: $137 million
Gross: $85 million worldwide ($32 million in U.S.)
Rentals: $79 million

When you factor in things like interest lost on the money spent, advertising, etc. the movie probably just broke even with the rental market.

Given most would argue that CGI is the way to go, that's an expensive way to do it, apparently.

Other sci-fi movies:

Event Horizon:
Budget: $70 million
Gross: $46 million worldwide ($26 million in U.S.)
Rentals: unknown

Starship Troopers:
Budget: $95 million
Gross: $120 million worldwide ($55 million in U.S.)
Rentals: $25 million (U.S. only)



--don

[Dorkdav]

What I would predict from a hollywood 40k movie would be something like;

A badass space marine commander (Vin Disel), a sexy eldar farseer (Jessica Alba) and dumb but loveable ork (Michael Clarke Duncan) are forced to settle their differences when an evil chaos sorcerer (Christopher Lee) discovers an artifact that could destroy THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE ZOGM.

You have the right idea Chris. Though I would make some changes. For a change of pace, Vin Disel is actually a Choas Lord. We keep Jessica Alba as the hot barely-wearing-clothes eldar Farseer that helps the Force Commander save the day. But the most interesting part of the movie is that you never see the Force Commander's face since he has a helmet on. So for the entire movie they are fighting Chaos, you never see his face.

But in the final battle with Vin Disel the Force Comamnder's power armor fails and he has to take it off.(which he can do almost instantly in the movie) And the crowd is like "OMG he is dead without his power armor." but as he finally removes his helmet you see that the Force Commander is none other then Chuck Norris. Then the crowd will be like "OMG!! Chuck Norris!!!!1!, Vin Disel is fuking d3ad!!!" And Chuck Norris round-house kicks Vin Disel into a volcano. Then the Farseer chick that has fallen in love with Chuck Norris though out the movie runs to Chuck Norris with her arms open, ready to embrace her hero. Then Chuck Norris round-house kicks her into a volcano.

Then throw in the mandatory politcal message. Like Chaos invaded a desert planet to get fuel for their war machines.

I can see academy awards fly to this movie like Lord of the Rings.

[TigerVX]

^
Oh sorry, I looked it up some more and you're right, infact its one of the biggest movie bombs ever

[shadowmage]

I would do the aliens rip off and do the space marines vs genestealers in a space hulk - loved that board game.

Or the eldar doing something - banshees, swooping hawks, striking scorpions, all the anti-grav vehicles cool.

[LowBrow]

Does anyone get the impression that if one ever created a story set within the WH40k universe, being as massive as it is and, actually tried to do anything really big that would make the story epic, say, the emperor rising from the golden throne, or a chaos invasion of terra, it would piss off a lot of the crazy hardcore fans of 40k?

While doing something smaller yet more in tune with the 40k fluff like a battle for control of a crucial planet in some distant galaxy where a few races were involved like, chaos, sm, orcs and the like might seem a little bit.... what else is new, i could create this backstory b4 logging onto a multiplayer game of DoW at home instead of having to sheel out 10 bucks to see it in theaters kinda feeling?

I suppose to sum up my point... does anyone think a movie like could be created in such a way to showcase an epic turn of events within the universe without alll the fluff heads saying OMG that so couldnt happen! while at the same time not making a movie where the story just seems like another day at the office for a SM chapter, a farseer or some chaos lord?

[FIG]

If this property got the treatment it did with the cinematic opening for Dawn of War and Blur Studios was behind it(they did show enthusiasm for making a feature film based on the Warhammer 40,000 in 3D magazine), then you can bet it would make money like hotcakes. The religious overtones would drive american action movie fans to theaters. I never played the table top game ever in my life but the cinematic and the game has me hooked.

[NathrakH]

The problem with this is, you can either make it more mainstream (at which point the WH40k fans will be outraged because the movie isn't true to the fluff) or you can make it for die-hard fans (the movie will then turn into a financial nightmare, because not enough people will watch it).

Lots of movies are made for fans and turn out to be huge cult classics and financial sucesses. Look at evil dead. or dawn of the dead.

The problem is that WH40k would need some SERIOUS special effects so that the orks, and chaos would be believeable. You couldn't do it small budget. You'd need somebody like peter jackson who actually "gets" the essence of the story to go to bat with the big boys for the money.

Also the fact that there probably wouldn't be any kind of love story would be a problem. Love isn't really a factor in WH40k, other than the bright love of the emperor (which kills millions every day ).

It could happen.

one BIG problem would be the unapologetic nature that Warhammer has towards......well war. If it wasn't grim and horrible it would suck.

[IBBoard]

Evil Dead and Dawn of the Dead probably just appealed en-mass to general zombie lovers.

Some of the ideas are interesting, although the Vin Diesel/Jessica Alba version would suck. Vin Diesel (from watching Chronicles of Riddick) would probably suit a Chaos worshipper

[Compeador]

OrionAssante: Warhammer or Warhammer 40K?

A mini-series might go over well. When the Starship Troopers movie bombed, a CG mini-series came out, which, IMO, was alot better and more true to the book. It just might work out.

Starship Troopers bombed?? NO WAY!! Awesome movie! Even better book, and the movie completely missed the skinnies, but still awesome nonetheless.

[Akranadas]

^ Nope, Final Fantasy bombed at the box office and cost well over $100 million to make. Courtesy of IMDB:

Budget: $137 million
Gross: $85 million worldwide ($32 million in U.S.)
Rentals: $79 million

When you factor in things like interest lost on the money spent, advertising, etc. the movie probably just broke even with the rental market.

Given most would argue that CGI is the way to go, that's an expensive way to do it, apparently.

Also that movie is aout 4 years old, techonolgy changes quickly, you should be comparing a W40k CGI movie to something like finding nemo, The detail levels would be about the same and so would the man hours,

[Brenil]

Well, I've thought about this before as well, here's my thoughts for whatever it's worth.

First off, in my humble opinion, I think the movie industry has been going downhill since the late 90s, only a handful of movies have actually been good in the past 8 years, I'm sure you can name them all from memory. In that is the problem, look at all the movies that have come out in the past year and are coming out this year... they fall into this catagory, in order of frequency:

1) Remake
2) Sequel
3) Garbage
4) Rare original movie that no one goes to see.

So what does this tell us? It means the creativity well is running dry. So, for better or worse, I believe a Warhammer 40k movie, good or bad, is definately a very real possiblity.

Yes, it could be Uwe (I make shit outside the bathroom) Boll, who makes it; in which case we should all find out where he lives and shove his direct to DVD collector's set straight up his tight ass. Yet... I digress... I believe it's very possible to make a good, if not great movie based on Warhammer 40k. People say it's doomed to failure because it's based on a game (tabletop); you fail to acknowledge that all the failures you speak of are these movies are made from video games.

Spliting hairs? I don't think so, if you look at all the video games made into movies, their storyline is very... skimpy at best, think of all the video game movies, Doom, Street Fighter (ugh), Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, and all the crap Uwe Boll films in his basement every month... all these games had very little if any storyline to follow.

Conversely, Warhammer 40k has spawned numerous novels, fan fiction, video games, and other such things. Warhammer 40k is very much similar to Star Wars and Lord of the Rings more so than any other video game movie. Therefore, if done right, it certainly wouldn't suffer the same fate as such pieces of crap as Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne (bwahaha), ect.

As for how would you make a movie in Warhammer 40k? Same way you write a novel for it. You don't have to tell the entire history, universe, or everything else, look at Star Wars, it's very deep and creative, but the movies didn't over tell the story, they let people use their imagination with the information given throughout the movie.

Personally, I think seeing a movie version of the novel 'Storm of Iron', would be a great singlar Warhammer 40k movie.

Whereas I think the best way you could make a true to Warhammer 40k movie, would of course be the mother of all wars, The Horus Hersey. Yet you could not make that in a single movie, it would require several movies to tell the story truthfully.

Horus Hersey movie would have to be a trilogy at least, following something of the lines of:

First movie: The Great Crusade, this sets the backstory for the Warhammer universe, developing the characters, namely Horus and the rest of the Primarches. Treachery in movies is never memorable, unless you effectively create an attachment to the characters, so people should care that Horus and the other Primarches fall to Chaos, so each Primarch would have to be fleshed out. Basically, this is the introduction to characters and Warhammer 40k as a whole.

Second movie: Contination of the Great Crusade while following the eventual corruption of the Primarches, the final part of the movie would be the battle of Istvaan IV, where fully half of the SM legions have turned traitor.

Third Movie: Siege of Earth, this would be the final epic movie that shows the forces of Chaos burning the galaxy on their way to earth and finally the siege itself. The movie would obviously end in a grand spectular duel between the Emperor and Horus, in the plane of reality and the warp. Best... duel... ever.

Of course, the likelyhood of that happening, probably low, least the way I'd imagine it.

But we can hope... I don't think it's too much to hope for. Peter Jackson would definately be the man to do it.

Yet as for actors, I find unknowns are generally better than well known actors. It's easy to imagine someone you rarely if at all know as a character, while having Brat Pitt and such in the movie would spoil the illusion.

CG would work as well, but so far CG only movies only work for comedies, even then... it's growing old.

[Akranadas]

Nice Post Brenil, rised some good points,

IMO, I think we'll see a Movie set in the Warcraft Universe before we see a w40k one

[Destraex]

Absolutely!!! I always wanted to see a beefed up version of Aliens

[Aliasalpha]

I, like most of you, would like to see a 40K movie or series (Band of Battle Brothers?), preferrably a CG one but not the supermegamassiveawesomeOMGWTFBBQ detail that fools you into thinking it's real but takes 3 months to render each frame, good 3D but still more simplified cartoon style than reality-faking because at it's heart, 40K is a fairly cartoony universe.

I think any plot couldn't possibly encompass the entire scope of the universe and nor should it TRY to. I mean look at the Alien series, who knows anything about Weyland Yutani (who even knows that that was the name of "The Company" except major nerds?) and when it gets right down to it, how does that lack of knowledge affect the story? No way, that's how. There's a megacorp giving the orders, something went tits up on LV426 and there's probably something dodgy going on behind the scenes & that's all you know. After that it's a bunch of people trapped on a spaceship/outpost

For a 40K movie we don't NEED to know that the battle barges are guided through the warp by psychic navigators with the assistance of the deity like mind of The Emperor, we don't need to know that The Emperor (who from now on I'll call bruce since it's his real name & the inquisition savagely suppress it because it's not macho enough) was crippled in the fight for terra and now exists only by vast technology and the sacrifice of thousands of psykers per day. If there's any utterly essential backstory, it can be done with a star wars style text opening (obviously looking different, scrolling briefing or something) or a voiceover that forms part of the opening scene in a similar way to what they did with Serenity. I'd go for the latter, you could hear a bit of a rant about how great bruce is & what he sacrificed for mankind and instead of being a relatively boring voiceover over a static image like the imperial eagle at the start, it pulls out to reveal a chaplain giving an inspiring litany before a battle. Dramatically speaking it'd probably be good to be a battle that the marines are utterly slaughtered in by an enemy we don't really see to build tension, 'oh wow, if they could do THAT to bruce's finest they must be super nasty. It's gotta be the Necrons, no the tyranids, no chaos with thousands of traitor marines.' [pointless bias as a Dark Angels player]Obviously if they're being slaughtered they must be crap therefore it's logically the ultramarines, space wolves or blood angels.[/pointless bias as a Dark Angels player]

As for actual story, I'd stay away from the Horus Heresy because there's too many threads to show. Do you show the chaos gods throwing the infant primarchs through the warp and the crusade of reclamation? The subtle corruption of Horus from champion of Bruce to the pretender to the throne? Do you show the temptation & fall of several of the Dark Angels as they raced to defend Terra? The only real sure feature of the fight for terra would be the battle at the palace and the boarding of horus' barge (I admit that I'd love seeing sanginius being torn apart by Horus). I'd love to see a story that explained exactly what happened to the Dark Angels in the Heresy but I know that'd never make a good film, if they were making an hour long animated series set in the heresy then it'd be a good epsidoe as would so many other incidents from the same time. The ONLY way that the heresy could be shown with any satisfaction is over a large span of TV episodes.

A far better story for a film would involve an inquisitor as a major character investigaing and capturing/destroying a Blackstone Fortress or nasty evil talismanny thing. That way you could have him interacting with the Eldar to get the information on it and possible allies for the later fight, browbeating a governor into loaning him a guard army, getting marines into the fight... In short a movie would need talking as WELL as awesome shooties or it'd be a special effects extravaganza with no depth but that carved by bolter ammo into the flesh of the enemies of bruce. If you want an example as to why an effectfest isn't a good idea, watch Star Trek: The Motion Picture. You could also only set the film around humans because we all know that our poor little brains are FAR too limited to adapt to the idea that the hero isn't human and about the only humans likely to have social contact with everyone are inquisitors.

The real trick with a film adaptation of 40K is to make it accessable to the general action/war movie watching public but stock it with little details to reward the fans. The kind of thing where if they had a Cadian regiment fighting in the film, then they get the camouflage patterns right, it's make no difference whatsoever to Jonathon McWar-Movie but the cadian fan can say "Wow! They even got my army's colours right!"

[Belgarath001]

I think we'll see a Movie set in the Warcraft Universe before we see a w40k one

i agree with u here but i think the likelihood of either is extremely slim - just not worth the money it would take to make it.

[Aliasalpha]

I dunno, think of all the people who play WoW, most of them would go & that'd be a pretty large fanbase. Probably be a generic shitty sword & sorcery movie though.

[Moe]

To Moe: What specific things are you referring to (this tension between being faithful to the source material and losing mainstream movie-goers or catering to the moviegoers and pissing off the faithful)? I'm curious as to what you think needs to be nerfed about the W40k universe in order to make the movie commercially successful.

Let me put it this way - the reason why I don't play a lot of DoW is because I don't like the WH40k universe. Magic space elves and all that other stuff is not something that I fancy.
The TT game hobby is something of a niche hobby - outsiders only see geeky teenagers spending hundreds of dollars on small plastic models that look bloody ridiculous, which are then taken to a fight where every contestant is armed with a huge rulebook.

Unless you "dumb it down" a little, I think those who do not play WH40k or read the books won't enjoy it.

[NathrakH]

I find that the best things in life look "lame, geeky, and silly" to the masses.
The draw to the WH40k movie wouldn't have anything to do with DOW, space elves, or bloody ridiculous plastic models.

It would have everything to do with an epic space drama of never ending war. Look to the fluff.
One could easily draw up themes of the crusades (past and present), terrorism, mysticism, police state control, military states, xenophobic racism, fanaticism, possession, class warfare, ect.......with those same themes today.
The complexity and unique grimness of warhammer is what makes it so special outside the "silly" TT or funny looking space elves. Very few mythos are as completely dark and oppressive as warhammer.


That is the real appeal of all sci-fi!! Dealing with very real issues in a very dressed up and interesting way.
Look at the classic aliens. One of its largest themes from the late 70s was the idea that corporations would control our lives above and beyond the gov.
And low and behold, what do we have here in the year 2006? Exactly what was predicted in those crazy alien movies.

If warhammer didn't have the depth of fluff and fan activity behind it, nobody would care much at all. The folks at games workshop really know how to make intriguing conflicts, and these conflicts are ripe material for stories and movies.

They shouldn't dumb it down at all, just like peter jackson didn't dumb down tolkien. People respond well to being treated with respect when it comes to storytelling.


*indeed moe*