Warhammer 40,000 on the silver screen

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2007-10-08 03:38pm

Forgive me if this has been done before, but i was wondering about this...

Is a movie set in the grim darkness of the far future doable in a manner that appeals to the mainstream AND sastisfies most of the Fanbase? And if so, how would be the best manner of doing said movie.

Zor

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2007-10-08 04:02pm

I believe that Games Workshop has stated that they have no intention of making any WH40K movies. But if you were to do it, you'd have to choose a plot that conveys all the setting in one go. Perhaps a trilogy. I'd like to see The Last Chancers made into a trilogy but you'd probably have better luck and appeal with Space Marines.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-10-08 04:03pm

I think a 40K film would probably be made at some eventual point in the future, maybe within ten or fifteen years. It's just something that strikes me as a simple inevitability, though not anytime soon, because the property is still in a pretty small niche compared to others.

The best way of doing the movie would probably be as a motion-capture CGI production, like Robert Zemeckis' upcoming Beowulf, due to the physicality and overall unrealism that's prevalent throughout 40K, and for the sake of simplicity because of how much would end up being executed with CGI in the first place.

RIPP_n_WIPE · Post by **RIPP_n_WIPE** » 2007-10-08 04:07pm

Sure it's doable but the problem with holywood is that producers are not going to want to make a movie true to the story. They'd make one that'd appeal to an audience to make a buck.

The best movies would be done by fans however due to the game workshop fan work policy, unless something was designed to be done with the support or approval of the games workshop you can't make it. That's what put the Damnatus project under.

Personally I don't think that the Warhammer 40K uni can be done well unless you do something completely in cgi, simply because of ALL the aliens, powers, and etc. Especially with scale. Considering that the average human is about 5'10" and than you have, o a space marine at upwards of 9', daemons, psyker powers and the like, a live action production would have so much cgi it'd probably be better to do the whole thing in it.

RIPP_n_WIPE · Post by **RIPP_n_WIPE** » 2007-10-08 04:08pm

damn, everyone ALWAYS beats me!

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2007-10-08 04:18pm

Make it like the 'Star Wars' prequels, e.g., follow the life of a certain character.

In my idea, the first movie will introduce us to a normal boy. He's in school, learning about the divinity of the Emperor, when xeno (Dark Eldar, Necrons, Orks, whatever is appropriately menacing onscreen) attack his homeworld. Space Marines arrive to fight off the xeno, and the boy, learning that his parents were killed in the attack, begs the Space Marines to take him with them. The middle of the movie shows the training the boy undergoes to become a Space Marine, and it ends with the boy serving as a (scout, Space Wolves Blood Claw, Black Templars Neophyte) in battle against the xeno who orphaned him.

The second movie will show how the young (scout, Blood Claw, Neophyte) matures as he becomes older, and the internal conflicts he faces against Chaos. After a huge battle near the end of the movie, the (scout, Blood Claw, Neophyte) is promoted (to Battle-Brother, Gray Hunter, Initiate) for his courage.

The third movie will be one long battle that ends with the Space Marine being promoted to (Brother-Sergeant, Wolf Guard, Sword Brethren). The Space Marine reflects on his progression from orphaned boy to his current state, and thanks the Emperor for guiding him.

RIPP_n_WIPE · Post by **RIPP_n_WIPE** » 2007-10-08 04:23pm

Yeah my link kinda messed up

http://uk.games-workshop.com/legal/cana ... /#cannotdo

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-10-08 04:40pm

If the film was one to take the route of following a single character, I would prefer that character be something more interesting like a Guardsman or Inquisitor: a soldier of the IG in particular would allow the film to follow the narrative and production methods of conventional war films.

The prospect of watching a fucking kid grow up to be a Space Marine in a Prequel Trilogy pastiche doesn't strike me as particularly engaging.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-10-08 04:42pm

Cpl Kendall wrote: But if you were to do it, you'd have to choose a plot that conveys all the setting in one go.

I strongly disagree. There is simply too much material for you to try to cram everything in. You have a galaxy to deal with. Tell a good story and fit in what you can fit in. You don't want an unfocused story or masses of dull exposition. In Star Wars we saw and learned as much about the universe as was needed for the story and that hooked us. You want the same thing for 40K.

Last Chancers is a decent model for a story that would translate well on the big screen.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2007-10-08 04:48pm

Imperial Overlord wrote:

I strongly disagree. There is simply too much material for you to try to cram everything in. You have a galaxy to deal with. Tell a good story and fit in what you can fit in. You don't want an unfocused story or masses of dull exposition. In Star Wars we saw and learned as much about the universe as was needed for the story and that hooked us. You want the same thing for 40K.

Last Chancers is a decent model for a story that would translate well on the big screen.

Well I basically meant that you wat to convey how shitty the galaxy is in the story, you want to set the mood properly. I mentioned The Last Chancers as a trilogy I'd like to see because it conveys the universe well and it's a great story. There's no need to explain the whole Horus Heresy and the entire backstory in one movie or trilogy.

RIPP_n_WIPE · Post by **RIPP_n_WIPE** » 2007-10-08 04:51pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Imperial Overlord wrote:

I strongly disagree. There is simply too much material for you to try to cram everything in. You have a galaxy to deal with. Tell a good story and fit in what you can fit in. You don't want an unfocused story or masses of dull exposition. In Star Wars we saw and learned as much about the universe as was needed for the story and that hooked us. You want the same thing for 40K.

Last Chancers is a decent model for a story that would translate well on the big screen.
Well I basically meant that you wat to convey how shitty the galaxy is in the story, you want to set the mood properly. I mentioned The Last Chancers as a trilogy I'd like to see because it conveys the universe well and it's a great story. There's no need to explain the whole Horus Heresy and the entire backstory in one movie or trilogy.

Indeed, a simple intro with a deep voiced narrator would suffice...

"War, darkness, corruption, chaos. These are the forces which plague mankind in the forty-first millenium..."

Teleros · Post by **Teleros** » 2007-10-08 05:29pm

Imperial Overlord wrote:Last Chancers is a decent model for a story that would translate well on the big screen.

I think Gaunt's Ghosts and / or something focused around an Inquisitor could work well. As usual though, the problem would be merging universe and movie, and we know how those usually end up

.

Indeed, a simple intro with a deep voiced narrator would suffice...

I think the intro text in those Black Library novels would work. Be great to copy the Star Wars scrolling text too

.

andrewgpaul · Post by **andrewgpaul** » 2007-10-08 05:49pm

I think seeing it inscribed in parchment made from the skin of a xenos byt a scribe-servitor would be better

Sidewinder, easiest way to do that is to simply film Space Wolf.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-10-08 06:03pm

A big problem with making a 40k film is just how bleak the 40k-verse is. That's a hard sell to Hollywood.

Rawtooth · Post by **Rawtooth** » 2007-10-08 06:22pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:A big problem with making a 40k film is just how bleak the 40k-verse is. That's a hard sell to Hollywood.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain anyone?

Ryan Thunder · Post by **Ryan Thunder** » 2007-10-08 06:35pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:A big problem with making a 40k film is just how bleak the 40k-verse is. That's a hard sell to Hollywood.

Might work with Tau, but they could be difficult to relate to.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2007-10-08 06:37pm

andrewgpaul wrote:Sidewinder, easiest way to do that is to simply film Space Wolf.

I like the 'Space Wolf' novels, but when I submitted my idea for a 'Warhammer 40,000' movie, I was thinking of a better way to inform the audience what kind of world the story is set in. Before he became a Space Wolf, Ragnar lived as a Viking would before the Battle of Hastings. That's why I decided to use a boy from a heavily industrialized planet, a worthy target for attacking xeno.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-10-08 06:38pm

Ryan Thunder wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:A big problem with making a 40k film is just how bleak the 40k-verse is. That's a hard sell to Hollywood.
Might work with Tau, but they could be difficult to relate to.

Too Communist.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2007-10-08 06:44pm

Rawtooth wrote: Commissar Ciaphas Cain anyone?

I'd be interested to see who they cast as Cain, Jurgen and Vail.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2007-10-08 06:48pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Rawtooth wrote: Commissar Ciaphas Cain anyone?
I'd be interested to see who they cast as Cain, Jurgen and Vail.

Maybe Jim Carrey or Steve Carell as Cain?

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-10-08 06:49pm

I'd like to see Jim Carrey do some more quality serious roles in films. (As opposed to some of the terrible serious roles he's had lately.)

I can actually envision Steve Carrel as a Commisar, funnily enough.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2007-10-08 06:56pm

Sidewinder wrote:
andrewgpaul wrote:Sidewinder, easiest way to do that is to simply film Space Wolf.
I like the 'Space Wolf' novels, but when I submitted my idea for a 'Warhammer 40,000' movie, I was thinking of a better way to inform the audience what kind of world the story is set in. Before he became a Space Wolf, Ragnar lived as a Viking would before the Battle of Hastings. That's why I decided to use a boy from a heavily industrialized planet, a worthy target for attacking xeno.

That's hardly more than a scenery change, which really has little effect on the plot as a whole or any bearing on telling a good story of what Warhammer is about. Space Marines are such a minor part of 40k anyway, it's not a really good perspective to tell from.

Simply railroading the plot on what's basically Star Wars 1 and two stretched to six hours minus any development or payoff of Anakin's struggle to deal with loss would not be a good way to do it.

I second Spanky's suggestions for different reasons; it should be from the perspective of the common man at the very bottom or a great man at the very top, having to deal with the horrors of the galaxy and the disorganized mess of the Imperium.

Teleros · Post by **Teleros** » 2007-10-08 07:13pm

Rawtooth wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:A big problem with making a 40k film is just how bleak the 40k-verse is. That's a hard sell to Hollywood.
Commissar Ciaphas Cain anyone?

As much as I'd enjoy it, I don't think it would have the same appeal outside the fanbase. Simply put, few people know what an Imperial commissar is supposed to be like, which is part of the part with Cain.

Ezekyle Abaddon · Post by **Ezekyle Abaddon** » 2007-10-08 07:30pm

If you are going to have someone at the very top of the pole why not try and show the sheer seperation between them and the normal people who trudge to work in hive manufactories.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2007-10-08 07:40pm

Ezekyle Abaddon wrote:If you are going to have someone at the very top of the pole why not try and show the sheer seperation between them and the normal people who trudge to work in hive manufactories.

Like the Necromundia series? If you want to show the seperation between the top and the bottom, you can't get much better than the difference between Colonel Schaeffer and Kage in The Last Chancers. I mean the Colonel is three hundred years old and has the benefit of rejuv tech and gets to live the life of an officer, while Kage either spends his time in a cell or on suicide missions in a penal legion.