Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Dragonlance movie!!!!!!!!!

Courtesy Ben Williamson, I have just received the awesome news that there is going to be a movie based on Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first book in the Dragonlance chronicles. (Presumably, the other two books in the Chronicles will follow.) I am so there! By the way, the movie will be animated. It's supposed to come out at some point in 2007. I am so stoked! This is incredible news!

By the way, if there were going to be a live action Dragonlance film, Angelina Jolie should play Kitiara.

Some of the voice acting talent is pretty reasonable: Kiefer Sutherland as Raistlin, Lucy Lawless as Goldmoon. I've never heard of many of the other people (though a couple are a bit familiar), but that's fine. I'm really looking forward to this!

11 comments:

Lemming said...

Yeah, and Orlando Bloom could totally play Lauralanthalasa!

Mason said...

OK, let me name a few more stars for my big-budget, live-action Dragonlance film:

If you want go for minor stars, that midget from Seinfeld could play Flint. But we really need to get Jack Nicholson to play that role.

Jim Carey can play Tasselhoff, though he would have a tendency to ham up that role way too much, so we might have to look elsewhere.

Hugh Jackman in pole-up-ass mode can play Sturm.

Also, I'm afraid Laurana's part is already being played by Scarlet Johansson, so Orlando is just going to have to play Fewmaster Toede or something.

Lemming said...

I agree w/ Hugh Jackman for Sturm -- I haven't really given it any thought since he hit the scene a few years back. The Rock seems the obvious choice for Cameron, but I wonder if there's someone better.

As far as Lauana being played by Scarlet Johansson, hell, I wouldn't complain if she played all the parts. You can never have too much.

John Rhys-Davies is the obvious, natural fit for Flint, (I really don't see Nicholson in the role), but that would make the Flint/Gimli distinction even fuzzier.

And now back to the gag suggestions:

To save on the special effects budget *and* take advantage of a ridiculous looking face to begin with, cast Tom Cruise as Tass.

Want to reach a completely different crowd? Cast Rob Scheider and Adam Sandler as the twins -- I'll let you figure out which way around.

If you go that route, the only real option for Tanis becomes Dennis Leary.

At this point, things are broken enough that you can cast Steve Martin as Fizban and Beyonce as Silvara.

Mason said...

The Rock would be a good pick for Caramon, but I don't know if he's the best choice either. I'd have to ponder it a bit. Maybe the Governator can play Riverwind?

I've got Woody Allen cast as Fizban. (Hell, when I was reading the books for the first time, I very quickly thought of Woody Allen when I first witnessed Fizban's antics.)

I was purposely avoiding parallels regarding actors who played "analogous" roles in LoTR.

Raistlin is a tough one. Maybe David Carradine but without martial arts? I think he could do the voice.

Also, I need to find a spot for Keanu somewhere. All sorts of hilarity would ensue with him in just about any of these roles, and I can't decide which one would have the greatest comic effect.

Lemming said...

Comment go poof!

Mixed feelings about Woody Allen. I can only distinctly remember his performance from Curse of the Jade Scorpion, which I found really annoying. I suspect he could do it well, though. Not sure...

I agre wrt LotR, but come on, he's just so right for it.

David Carradine for Raistlin? That is so win.

Actually, one of the joke suggestions I was thinking about was Keanu as Dalamar. Eh? Eh?

Mason said...

The character of Dalamar never appeared in the Chronicles, so you'll have to wait for the movies based on the Legends series.

Although the David Carradine--Keanu Reeves mentor--student relationship would amuse me greatly.

Curse of the Jade Scorpion is not a fair metric to use for judging Woody Allen. Watch one of his other movies that people like a lot better and if you don't like his shtick there, then ok. People tend to either really like him (like me) or really hate him, but that particular movie isn't really the right one to use for deciding.

I know: Keanu could play Lord Soth.

Anonymous said...

Hmm, I'm disappointed. A proper treatment of the Dragonlance books would be in the style of The Gamers, with frequent cuts between the fantasy action and the geeks with d20s sitting at a table.

Also, anything with Michelle Trachtenberg in it has some serious problems right from the start. Die Dawn, die!!! (To say that I was disappointed with the ending of Buffy Season 5 is quite the understatement)

Mason said...

On numerous occasions, I have heard excellent things about The Gamers and have been meaning to see it. (The short version of the canonical description is that it's the movie that the "official" D & D movie should have been.)

I don't think I've ever actually seen (or heard) Michelle Trachtenberg in anything, so I have no opinion on this other than to indicate that choosing actors from "geek-centric" shows and movies is a nice gesture.

Anonymous said...

The Gamers is awesome, I really should get myself a copy someday. One of the telescope technicians brought it up one night when we were fogged out - a very good way to pass the time.

Choosing people from geek shows is fine, but they should be the good people (Emma Caulfield, Alyson Hannigan, Amber Benson, Seth Green, James Marsters, Danny Strong, Tom Lenk, Eliza Dushku, or Juliet Landau, for example). The introduction of Dawn is one of two potential "jump the shark" moments, and the one I personally find most convincing. Perhaps I can put it in "80s child" language by saying that Dawn is to Buffy as Wesley Crusher is to Star Trek:TNG. :-) Michelle Trachtenberg may be a fine person (as I've heard Wil Wheaton is), but they are forever tainted by the abominations they played at the start of their careers.

Mason said...

I think Alyson Hannigan may be a bit out of their price range at the moment. ("There was this one time, at band camp...") She will forever be the "Band Camp Girl" to me.

Granted, Wheaton's character was annoying, but that wouldn't cause any problems for me if he's cast in a movie (not that that will happen any time soon). He had a column in Dungeon magazine for a couple years. When he attends Cons, he apparently also joins in on the gaming.

Anonymous said...

Justin is right that Michelle Trachtenberg was the wrong choice to try to draw the Buffy audience. On the other hand, Dawn was annoying largely because she was written that way--as Buffy's annoying little sister, she succeeded perhaps too well--and because the introduction of the character was disruptive to the established dynamics between the other main characters. So Trachtenberg herself is probably not inherently annoying (I can't confirm this, not having seen her other work), and would probably be fine in a different role.