Posted by Amish Boy on August 25, 2000 at 10:22:15:
New Line Snags "Dungeons & Dragons" Attention Dungeon Masters, you now have a reason to come out of your parents' basements. Dungeons & Dragons: The Movie is coming to your local gigantaplex in December. In a move to placate fantasy buffs who can't wait for the similar-themed Lord of the Rings trilogy, New Line Cinema this week announced it has secured domestic distribution rights to Courtney Solomon's D&D flick. Based on the classic fantasy-adventure role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons stars Thora Birch, Marlon Wayans, Justin Whalin and Richard O'Brien (of Rocky Horror Picture Show fame) as an unlikely group of heroes who team up to defeat an evil wizard (Jeremy Irons). It's executive produced by Hollywood heavyweight Joel Silver (The Matrix.) "For millions of people worldwide, Dungeons and Dragons has been the ultimate fantasy game for than 25 years, and this film will deliver for die-hard fans as well as those who have never been exposed to this epic world of magic, sorcery and adventure," adds Mark Ordesky, New Line's chief of acquisitions. Of course, die-hard fans have been hoping for a Hollywood version of the venerable sword-and-sorcery game for years. Sure, there was the Saturday morning cartoon version, but until Solomon came along, D&D'ers had to suffer through a string of weak movies--Ridley Scott's Legend (with Tom Cruise chasing unicorns), Ron Howard's Willow and the recent Sean Connery-voiced Dragonheart, among them--that were pale imitations of the hugely successful fantasy franchise. (This, despite the fact that D&D is a billion-dollar industry, with more than 400 novels in 18 different languages, a line of toys, fantasy art and scads of thriving fan conventions.) But New Line has single-handedly resuscitated the long dormant genre by bankrolling Lord of the Rings and now has snapped up rights to the $35 million Dungeons & Dragons. "With New Line's great track record releasing genre films, and their experience with The Lord of the Rings, I think they are the perfect match for Dungeons & Dragons," says Solomon, who's also producing the project. Financial figures were not disclosed, but Daily Variety reports the deal was worth upwards of $5 million. The film is scheduled for release in December, a full year before the first Rings installment is due. New Line has optioned the rights for a prequel and a sequel in hopes of creating a franchise. The studio also nabbed cable, pay and network broadcasting rights, and struck a deal with Hasbro for a 25th anniversary line of toys. The fact that the film was ever made is a bit magical. Dungeons and Dragons owes a large debt to the persistence of the Toronto-born Solomon. Having first outlined the idea for a D&D movie in high school, he took out an option at the age of 21, but it wasn't until he secured independent financing from a backer in Hong Kong, that the dream finally became a reality. "This is the first film I've done," says Solomon, now 29, who's busy finishing up post-production on the movie. "I did a three-minute scene to get Joel [Silver] interested, then we came out, did the script, and got investors." While the film promises its share of amazing special effects--including a spectacular dragon duel in the skies--Solomon says the real focus will be on telling a great story and making the characters "likeable," and not like the hollow blockbusters you see today. "If the audience likes the movie, then that's the payoff," Solomon adds. "We try to give you lovable characters and a story but do it better and different than most Hollywood movies."