Nyarlathotep5150
Mongoose
Does anyone else think, that with the release of Conan 3d right around the corner, that mongooses decision to give up the Conan license was probably a bad call?
[Conan] the upcoming Conan film
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Iron Guardian
Mongoose
Not necessarily, depends on how the film is received by the fans. If it stinks, that will hurt the license overall...of course, some fans might respond by playing it more to wipe the bad memory away. 
I would like to see the film succeed, at least amongst fans as I don't see it doing much with the general public. The teaser trailer doesn't look promising though. Perhaps a full trailer might help, especially if they can showcase the actor's charisma (assuming he has any, not familiar with him other than I read he was on Baywatch).
As I indicated on another thread regarding the future of the license, I still hope to see the Solomon Kane film though.
I would like to see the film succeed, at least amongst fans as I don't see it doing much with the general public. The teaser trailer doesn't look promising though. Perhaps a full trailer might help, especially if they can showcase the actor's charisma (assuming he has any, not familiar with him other than I read he was on Baywatch).
As I indicated on another thread regarding the future of the license, I still hope to see the Solomon Kane film though.
Iron Guardian said:As I indicated on another thread regarding the future of the license, I still hope to see the Solomon Kane film though.
This movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Kane_(film) ??
I don't know. I haven't seen SG Atlantis so can't say how good it will be. But it's no Arnold.
Iron Guardian
Mongoose
Yep, that film with James Purefoy. I have watched the trailer on Movie-List.com for upcoming films, and though it doesn't seem to follow canon, I still would like to see it. I am not expecting an A-list type movie, just a decent B-movie that captures the atmosphere and action of the stories without straying too far from REH's vision. The trailer gives me some hope as it already looks better than the usual crap I see on the SyFy channel here in the US.
Now back to holding out hope that the Conan movie won't be eye-gougingly bad...
Now back to holding out hope that the Conan movie won't be eye-gougingly bad...
I have seen SG Atlantis, and he plays you typical "proud warrior race", you'll find in most sic-fi shows. He dose stand-out, but the show is kinda boring, so its not hard to do. I have seen an (ambush TMZ) interview in which gives a strong impression that he whats to keep it true to Howard.
I notices even the most cynical fans note that the choice for titled role was a good one, but its the producers that everyone is concerned about. Hollywood is a fickle beast, and its ruled by executives, who think their own ideas are golden, even though everything they spout-out is shined polished shit!
Like with any movie adaptation, I'm holding my judgment until I see the movie, or get word that the producers had a shit-brain idea they are trying to force into the script.
I notices even the most cynical fans note that the choice for titled role was a good one, but its the producers that everyone is concerned about. Hollywood is a fickle beast, and its ruled by executives, who think their own ideas are golden, even though everything they spout-out is shined polished shit!
Like with any movie adaptation, I'm holding my judgment until I see the movie, or get word that the producers had a shit-brain idea they are trying to force into the script.
Iron Guardian
Mongoose
Oh, ok, I did catch some of SG: Atlantis and realize I have seen him now. I guess he could pull it off but you are probably right about the producers. :evil:
Very rare that any original work survives "Hollywoodization." A few do though there may be some meddling (LOTR trilogy* for example). Other's I believe that came out fairly well (and that I really liked) are Sin City, 300, The Watchmen, Bladerunner, Mystery Men, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. One upcoming film, said to be based on a "graphic novel" (though I have been unable to find said novel so far), is "Priest."...and of course, the Solomon Kane film I mentioned before.
* Still my favorite movie(s)
Very rare that any original work survives "Hollywoodization." A few do though there may be some meddling (LOTR trilogy* for example). Other's I believe that came out fairly well (and that I really liked) are Sin City, 300, The Watchmen, Bladerunner, Mystery Men, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. One upcoming film, said to be based on a "graphic novel" (though I have been unable to find said novel so far), is "Priest."...and of course, the Solomon Kane film I mentioned before.
* Still my favorite movie(s)
Movies, like the LOTR trilogy and Sin City where a labor of love, and their makers where hell-bent to make it right. Bladerunner is a strange exception, as it was WAAAAAAYYYY better then the book. If they kept true to the book, then the overly long titled movie - Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep? - would be as dull and boring as the novel, and without all the edgy Cyberpunk feel.
I have been hearing about the Solomon Kane movie, and news about it made reference to him battling a big ass CGI devil at the end of the movie. As awesome that that sounds, I cant help but to feel that the whole thing would just come off like one of those "big boss battles" you see ALLLLLL the time in video games. If I wanted to see that, I would just play a god damn video game! Plus, the Hulk movies have proven that you don't need fancy computer effects to make a movie great.
I have been hearing about the Solomon Kane movie, and news about it made reference to him battling a big ass CGI devil at the end of the movie. As awesome that that sounds, I cant help but to feel that the whole thing would just come off like one of those "big boss battles" you see ALLLLLL the time in video games. If I wanted to see that, I would just play a god damn video game! Plus, the Hulk movies have proven that you don't need fancy computer effects to make a movie great.
Nyarlathotep5150
Mongoose
Iron Guardian said:Not necessarily, depends on how the film is received by the fans. If it stinks, that will hurt the license overall...of course, some fans might respond by playing it more to wipe the bad memory away.
I don't really see this as the case. A new movie coming out will cause RPG players who are casually into Howard, but never played Conan (or in some cases were even aware of it. Its not a highly publicized game), to look it up. Plus, there will be people who are into Roleplaying, but not into Howard who will see the movie, like it, and look into the RPG on that basis. There will even be a group of people who aren't Roleplayers, who will see the movie, love it, obsess over it, and buy an RPG of it on that basis (This is prettymuch the entire driving force behind sales of the Smallville RPG).
It doesn't really matter if the movie is "pure" or not. It doesn't even matter if its good or not. A big budget, 3D, Hollywood, action blockbuster, will boost sales of any RPG related to it. If Mongoose had kept the License, they could have released a "New edition", maybe with some revisions and clearer rules in some areas, with pictures from the movie and made a bundle. Both from us hardcore fans, and a new crop of interest.
This concept is shown by D20 Star Wars. Nobody liked the prequels, but every one that came out was accompanied by a new edition of the RPG. And every time we saw a trailer for a new Star Wars movie it reminded us of the RPG and we started playing again. And most of those times, we picked up the new edition just to check it out (plus all those other people who bought it for those other reasons).
The only reason Wizards dropped the Star Wars franchise was because there wouldn't be anymore movies to help remind people and boost sales. This isn't even really a skeevy marketing ploy, since the reality is, most people have a very small amount of time to RP and for the most part that time is dominated by the "big two" (D&D and WoD). Those are the games that are easiest to find players for, the most accessible, and sadly, no matter how good any other game is. Nomatter how much better the rules and source material. For the most part, its eventually going to be crowded out by those two. Unless something comes along to remind people of it.
The way I see it, regardless of whether the movie is good, someone is going to make a "movie edition" of the RPG. If Mongoose had kept the license, they would have been in a prime place to be that someone. And they already have a good system and game to build off of, so Mongoose would have been perfectly situated to release a new revision of the game and cash in on a whole new set of customers as well.
Step three is profit.
Iron Guardian
Mongoose
I am not saying new versions wouldn't sell, I just think the level of sales would be modest at best. The original Star Wars were big blockbusters and thus made the merchandising easier as it attracted huge audiences. Lord of the Rings was also huge yet its RPG was on the market for maybe three years and from what I remember, was not a big seller in the long run. The Star Wars RPG's (West End, WOTC) I believe had longer runs (West End's version was on the market roughly 9-10 years IIRC). There could be renewed interest in the LOTR franchise with the Release of The Hobbit and thus , maybe a new RPG.
I like REH and his works too, but I believe the fan base and potential fan base will always be relatively small in comparison as REH and his comtemporaries of the pulp era are still fairly unknown to the majority of people out there. Among literary critics, they are generally considered "hack" writers as compared to Asimov, Bradbury, Tolkien, Dick, and other more well-known authors of the Fantasy/SciFi/Horror genres. Add in the factor of today's more youthful fan-base who judge these same genres on gore and/or SFX with more videogame-type influences to be popular...
With these kind of hurdles, I really don't see any of REH's works as getting better than B-Movie consideration at best, and modest merchandising sales levels. Heck, the RPG industry as most of us have known it is slowly dying in my opinion as more and more potential players are going the route of MMORPG's. The few younger players I have attracted to the "old-school" pencil/dice/paper route are still having trouble getting past the video-game mindset of playing.
I like REH and his works too, but I believe the fan base and potential fan base will always be relatively small in comparison as REH and his comtemporaries of the pulp era are still fairly unknown to the majority of people out there. Among literary critics, they are generally considered "hack" writers as compared to Asimov, Bradbury, Tolkien, Dick, and other more well-known authors of the Fantasy/SciFi/Horror genres. Add in the factor of today's more youthful fan-base who judge these same genres on gore and/or SFX with more videogame-type influences to be popular...
With these kind of hurdles, I really don't see any of REH's works as getting better than B-Movie consideration at best, and modest merchandising sales levels. Heck, the RPG industry as most of us have known it is slowly dying in my opinion as more and more potential players are going the route of MMORPG's. The few younger players I have attracted to the "old-school" pencil/dice/paper route are still having trouble getting past the video-game mindset of playing.
rabindranath72
Mongoose
There is a devil at the end, but SK does not battle it at all. He tries to avoid being pummeled to death, then he does something else. But battling it, no.Malcadon said:
SK is a quite decent film; almost good, actually. A few imperfections here and there, but overall quite enjoyable.
rabindranath72
Mongoose
Yep. I rented it on BD, so I suppose it's at least 1 year old.Malcadon said:
Iron Guardian
Mongoose
I believe it was first released in 2009 over in France or Spain IIRC, then released in the UK in 2010. Still awaiting SK over here in the States for any kind of release. Just find it hard to believe that no distributor will release it over here, even in a straight-to-DVD form. Must be either tied up in court for some reason, the filmmakers' holding out for a big-screen release, or some law prevents its release over here...or some evil conspiracy is involved...>cough< SciFi Channel >cough, cough< :twisted:
rabindranath72
Mongoose
doh! :shock: I had no idea it was only released in Europe. I am in the UK, and I watched it on BD last month, so it must have been released at least six months prior.Iron Guardian said:
