While I hope and pray for a Brothers' War movie, or The Thran, it would probably instead focus on the neowalkers, maybe Jace as the primary protagonist.
- Expect at least a trilogy. They will most likely resolve the story nicely by the end of the first movie in case it bombs, but leave a pseudo-cliffhanger ending to continue into "Episodes" 2 and 3 should the movie be a hit
- Probably will focus on the Neowalkers, like the poster above mentioned it will probably focus on Jace. The Neowalkers are the face of the brand for the time being. Audiences identify with human characters, so Chandra, Liliana, Garruk, Gideon also probably likely. A handful of non-human characters for flavor, but they won't be the main characters.
- Ravnica, which seems to have usurped Dominaria as the "standard plane", will probably be the main setting, or Shandalar which could be a standard fantasy world.
- Planeswalking is a core characteristic of Magic, so there will probably be multiple planes involved. It will be cool to see how they render the Blind Eternities, and distinguish that it's NOT the same as space travel. The concept of planes could be mistaken for planets in a galaxy.
- If the marketers are smart, they'll release 1 movie per year a la LoTR/HP, and could tie the movies in with the most recent sets
- I can see them doing something similar to X-Men/Marvel movies... one big bad per movie that tie into an overall larger plot, with a roster of Planeswalkers coming and going in the battle (like how the mutants varied from one X-Men to another)
- I can see them downplaying the concept of mana and the bonds with lands... maybe even downplaying the act of casting a creature and focus more on the planeswalking/spell slinging.
It'd be interesting to see if the movies are considered canon and reflected in the story in the cards, or if they take place within an "alternate multiverse".
This could go the way of the Resident Evil movies where they make their own broken main character then every other established character plays second banana.
All they've done is acquire the rights. Plenty of properties get acquired without anyone actually making the movie...sometimes for years. Look at the Thor movie. The concept was first developed in 1991, was picked up/dropped by several studios, until 2008 when Kenneth Branagh signed on to direct. That's almost 20 years in development hell.
I'm not holding my breath for this.
There's not a great track record for these kinds of things. Comic Book movies and LotR-style Fantasy, sure. But keep in mind that Comic Book movies took years to evolve into the mainstream, and many of those characters had a well-known public presence, even if people didn't know much about them, they "knew" about X-men, and Mutants, and Kryptonite.
That's not really the case with MtG. You could liken it more to Lord of the Rings, but Magic is much more "fantasy". Lots of spells and splashy effects and monsters this way and that. It's less down in the mud and the dirt like LotR...especially if they choose to focus on someone like Jace. I find it hard to believe that the average movie-goer would choose to watch a flick about the whiny, mopey, mind-mage like Jace. Remember how people were turned off by Hayden Christiansen's whiny, mopey Anakin Skywalker? And that dude actually cut people up with a laser sword.
The unfortunate truth is that there's just really not a good track record with these sorts of magic-intensive movies. We've got Harry Potter, but that has a strong literary source (and immense fan-base) to draw details and support from. MtG's literature has always been mediocre--at best--and it doesn't have nearly the same widespread appeal as HP (unfortunately, in my opinion).
We're much more likely to get something along the lines of the Percy Jackson series...or Eragon...or Dragonball: Evolution...or Avatar: the Last Airbender (M. Night Shyamalan).
Though I do hope I'm wrong, I just...don't want to have my expectations too high.
especially if they choose to focus on someone like Jace. I find it hard to believe that the average movie-goer would choose to watch a flick about the whiny, mopey, mind-mage like Jace. Remember how people were turned off by Hayden Christiansen's whiny, mopey Anakin Skywalker? And that dude actually cut people up with a laser sword.
The unfortunate truth is that there's just really not a good track record with these sorts of magic-intensive movies. We've got Harry Potter, but that has a strong literary source (and immense fan-base) to draw details and support from. MtG's literature has always been mediocre--at best--and it doesn't have nearly the same widespread appeal as HP (unfortunately, in my opinion).
We're much more likely to get something along the lines of the Percy Jackson series...or Eragon...or Dragonball: Evolution...or Avatar: the Last Airbender (M. Night Shyamalan).
Though I do hope I'm wrong, I just...don't want to have my expectations too high.
There's two approaches to this: the dark, gritty style of Christopher Nolan or the over-the-top absurd pulpy goodness of Quentin Tarantino. A fusion of their sensibilities might prove the best approach. I've never read the Percy Jackson novels, but Eragon and Avatar didn't have much strong source material to begin with. Ari's Agents of Artifice, or the older Arena novel, are great sources to start with. AoA could lend itself to a Nolanesque approach in that we see how working with Tezzeret affects Jace's psyche. Then, scenes where Jace is out running errands for Tezzie could be wildly violent and borderline comedic as you'd see in a Tarantino film.
Arena has a bit of a Game of Thrones feel to it, which may make it the better choice. Heck, they could take Jace and stick him in Garth One-Eye's role in an Arena adaption. Tezzeret would be a secondary character, watching as Jace schemes and plots revenge against the Houses. Then, once Jace is prove triumphant, Tezzeret could come in, offer him a place in the Consortium, and then a sequel would follow the plot of AoA. Jace's guilt at the brutality he inflicted on the Houses of Estark would be a major plot point. It could work.
The trick is to keep focus on the characters rather than explaining mana, mana bonds etc.
I know it has been reported that an X-Men writer will man the helm of writing but I've also read somewhere that a writer that uses a generic name will do it, so I don't have high hopes for it now.
But if it does push into production, I do wish that this doesn't follow the route of the young adult novel movies -aside from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Harry Potter Series- the rest sucks.
And if they turn it into a family oriented movie where this kid discovers that he is a descendant of wizards and can summon monsters out of these magical cards (which the kid must go on an adventure and try to collect) by calling upon the powers of the hidden spirits in the forests, mountains, plains, etc. It won't work and would kill MTG's movie franchise immediately before it even began. On second thought maybe this will work but I just prefer the more mature stuff.
Anyway, having said all that; I'd say Innistrad is the best MTG storyline right now -that can be converted into a movie- and I do believe it will not suck because it's not too weird like Ravnica (audiences asking "why is it it like that?" is always a bad thing in movies), it's not apocalyptic like Dominaria, it is horror which is a very recognizable genre, and it has a happy ending which will convince people to see the next one. I just hope that if it does goes into filming and unto the scheduling of a release date, it will not coincide with the planned reboot of Van Helsing and Universal's idea to mash all their copyright monster into an Avengers-like universe movie. There will be huge competition.
Another that comes to mind is the Thran storyline, very simple setting (if compared to the other worlds in the MTG multiverse), it is dark and fantasy-ish enough and it will not give the impression that it is a LOTR rip-off.
I think many will wait for the release of World of Warcraft the movie on 2015 or 2016 and see whether sword and sorcery movies will still be a thing on a post LOTR/Hobbit world
Final thoughts: If this ever pushed through Guillermo Del Torro is the director that comes to my mind at first, his movie monsters are great.
Also, the planeswalkers IMO that would be interesting to see in the big screen are:
Expect it to be dumbed down, over-simplified, and have only superficial connections to MTG. Not a fan of the idea of people who don't know or really care about the game doing a big cash-grab wannabe like other franchises film.
I fully expect this movie to be worse than 2000's Dungeons and Dragons. I doubt it will even have the most tenuous connections to the actual storyline of the game.
What I half-expect is some contrived thing where a group of kids (ages 12-14) learn to use Magic cards to cast spells from the game in the "real world" and have to keep some evil force from breaking out of the cards (probably Yawgmoth just to add insult to injury).
Edit: Also, Marlon Wayans in his second appearance in a WotC property as Teferi, who mentors the chosen children in finding the heart of the cards or some crap. This version of Teferi is a red mage (or Mountain Mage in the movie's parlance, since the writers will pull the new player mistake of saying "mountain" when they mean "red mana").
Neowalkers are more likely. Wizards has to appeal to more contemporary times and the most recent player base, who happen to be quite large. I gather that many don't know or do not really care about the older lore especially when one considers the promotional focus WotC does nowadays. I get people yearn for the days of olde, but let's be realistic about it. Despite what good came from then, today's narrative and design goals are elsewhere.
I sure hope that WotC makes sure the peeps do their research at least..
WotC is not in a position to make anyone do anything. The rights are sold. Fox can and will do whatever it wants. WotC was not even consulted regarding this: Hasbro sold the rights for the film. Just hope Fox doesn't ask Hasbro to order WotC to print cards with the actors photos on them as a marketing campaign. Ugh.
While The Brother's War/Wheatherlight Saga would probably be the best route to take with making a feature length MTG movie, there is a zero chance that it will be based on it. WotC would not base a Hollywood movie based on their flagship product to be about cards and lore that is almost a decade old.
It just doesn't make any sense from a marketing standpoint, to make a movie based on product that is no longer available.
WotC is not in a position to make anyone do anything. The rights are sold. Fox can and will do whatever it wants. WotC was not even consulted regarding this: Hasbro sold the rights for the film. Just hope Fox doesn't ask Hasbro to order WotC to print cards with the actors photos on them as a marketing campaign. Ugh.
You mean like they did as a tie-in to The Sorcerer's Apprentice? Which coincidentally starred Nicholas Cage, whom I fully expect to show up in this debacle as a human Nicol Bolas?
You mean like they did as a tie-in to The Sorcerer's Apprentice? Which coincidentally starred Nicholas Cage, whom I fully expect to show up in this debacle as a human Nicol Bolas?
according to AICN, they pegged Simon Kinberg to write the movie.
This is the guy who wrote Sherlock Holmes, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Unfortunately, he is also the guy who wrote XXX: State of the Union, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and most notably X-men 3.
I don't have a lot of faith that this will turn out well. I hope I am wrong.
What those examples mean is that his writing is entirely dependent on the direction as to whether or not they'll be fun action movies or dull uninspired ones.
You mean like they did as a tie-in to The Sorcerer's Apprentice? Which coincidentally starred Nicholas Cage, whom I fully expect to show up in this debacle as a human Nicol Bolas?
Please, someone make an edit of that Nicholas Cage "You don't say?" meme to look like bolas.
Wasn't Urza basically god by the end? Couldn't he solve the phyrexians by clicking his fingers?
The war for Mirrodin makes more sense to me.
TBH Wizards could make a new Phyrexians vs Something storyline for the movie and introduce planeswalkers by having Koth walk in and start breaking things. That'd be a pretty cool intro.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are.” Esmeralda Santiago Art is life itself.
Simplicity is the best way to go and not the direction most hardcore fans wanted to. A based-on-something movie will always be bad if only the hardcore fans would be able to comprehend it and not the average movie-goers (on which the success of the film hangs on).
No Urza storylines, those are way too hardcore, stretched out, and the characters are uber-powered. Might as well make a movie about Greek Gods warring with one another using humans as front-line soldiers and more people would understand and relate to it than Urza fighting his brother over artifacts.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Going back to Europe Tonight. will say goodbye to you all.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
What are your thoughts? What should it be about?
- Expect at least a trilogy. They will most likely resolve the story nicely by the end of the first movie in case it bombs, but leave a pseudo-cliffhanger ending to continue into "Episodes" 2 and 3 should the movie be a hit
- Probably will focus on the Neowalkers, like the poster above mentioned it will probably focus on Jace. The Neowalkers are the face of the brand for the time being. Audiences identify with human characters, so Chandra, Liliana, Garruk, Gideon also probably likely. A handful of non-human characters for flavor, but they won't be the main characters.
- Ravnica, which seems to have usurped Dominaria as the "standard plane", will probably be the main setting, or Shandalar which could be a standard fantasy world.
- Planeswalking is a core characteristic of Magic, so there will probably be multiple planes involved. It will be cool to see how they render the Blind Eternities, and distinguish that it's NOT the same as space travel. The concept of planes could be mistaken for planets in a galaxy.
- If the marketers are smart, they'll release 1 movie per year a la LoTR/HP, and could tie the movies in with the most recent sets
- I can see them doing something similar to X-Men/Marvel movies... one big bad per movie that tie into an overall larger plot, with a roster of Planeswalkers coming and going in the battle (like how the mutants varied from one X-Men to another)
- I can see them downplaying the concept of mana and the bonds with lands... maybe even downplaying the act of casting a creature and focus more on the planeswalking/spell slinging.
It'd be interesting to see if the movies are considered canon and reflected in the story in the cards, or if they take place within an "alternate multiverse".
I'm not holding my breath for this.
There's not a great track record for these kinds of things. Comic Book movies and LotR-style Fantasy, sure. But keep in mind that Comic Book movies took years to evolve into the mainstream, and many of those characters had a well-known public presence, even if people didn't know much about them, they "knew" about X-men, and Mutants, and Kryptonite.
That's not really the case with MtG. You could liken it more to Lord of the Rings, but Magic is much more "fantasy". Lots of spells and splashy effects and monsters this way and that. It's less down in the mud and the dirt like LotR...especially if they choose to focus on someone like Jace. I find it hard to believe that the average movie-goer would choose to watch a flick about the whiny, mopey, mind-mage like Jace. Remember how people were turned off by Hayden Christiansen's whiny, mopey Anakin Skywalker? And that dude actually cut people up with a laser sword.
The unfortunate truth is that there's just really not a good track record with these sorts of magic-intensive movies. We've got Harry Potter, but that has a strong literary source (and immense fan-base) to draw details and support from. MtG's literature has always been mediocre--at best--and it doesn't have nearly the same widespread appeal as HP (unfortunately, in my opinion).
We're much more likely to get something along the lines of the Percy Jackson series...or Eragon...or Dragonball: Evolution...or Avatar: the Last Airbender (M. Night Shyamalan).
Though I do hope I'm wrong, I just...don't want to have my expectations too high.
There's two approaches to this: the dark, gritty style of Christopher Nolan or the over-the-top absurd pulpy goodness of Quentin Tarantino. A fusion of their sensibilities might prove the best approach. I've never read the Percy Jackson novels, but Eragon and Avatar didn't have much strong source material to begin with. Ari's Agents of Artifice, or the older Arena novel, are great sources to start with. AoA could lend itself to a Nolanesque approach in that we see how working with Tezzeret affects Jace's psyche. Then, scenes where Jace is out running errands for Tezzie could be wildly violent and borderline comedic as you'd see in a Tarantino film.
Arena has a bit of a Game of Thrones feel to it, which may make it the better choice. Heck, they could take Jace and stick him in Garth One-Eye's role in an Arena adaption. Tezzeret would be a secondary character, watching as Jace schemes and plots revenge against the Houses. Then, once Jace is prove triumphant, Tezzeret could come in, offer him a place in the Consortium, and then a sequel would follow the plot of AoA. Jace's guilt at the brutality he inflicted on the Houses of Estark would be a major plot point. It could work.
The trick is to keep focus on the characters rather than explaining mana, mana bonds etc.
But if it does push into production, I do wish that this doesn't follow the route of the young adult novel movies -aside from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Harry Potter Series- the rest sucks.
And if they turn it into a family oriented movie where this kid discovers that he is a descendant of wizards and can summon monsters out of these magical cards (which the kid must go on an adventure and try to collect) by calling upon the powers of the hidden spirits in the forests, mountains, plains, etc. It won't work and would kill MTG's movie franchise immediately before it even began. On second thought maybe this will work but I just prefer the more mature stuff.
Anyway, having said all that; I'd say Innistrad is the best MTG storyline right now -that can be converted into a movie- and I do believe it will not suck because it's not too weird like Ravnica (audiences asking "why is it it like that?" is always a bad thing in movies), it's not apocalyptic like Dominaria, it is horror which is a very recognizable genre, and it has a happy ending which will convince people to see the next one. I just hope that if it does goes into filming and unto the scheduling of a release date, it will not coincide with the planned reboot of Van Helsing and Universal's idea to mash all their copyright monster into an Avengers-like universe movie. There will be huge competition.
Another that comes to mind is the Thran storyline, very simple setting (if compared to the other worlds in the MTG multiverse), it is dark and fantasy-ish enough and it will not give the impression that it is a LOTR rip-off.
I think many will wait for the release of World of Warcraft the movie on 2015 or 2016 and see whether sword and sorcery movies will still be a thing on a post LOTR/Hobbit world
Final thoughts: If this ever pushed through Guillermo Del Torro is the director that comes to my mind at first, his movie monsters are great.
Also, the planeswalkers IMO that would be interesting to see in the big screen are:
1. Liliana.
2. Sorin.
3. Gideon.
4. Garruk.
5. Chandra
6. Ajani.
How To Keep Your FOIL Cards From Curling: http://youtu.be/QTmubrS8VnI
The Best Deck Boxes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEwgLph_Pjk
The Best Binders: http://youtu.be/H5IauASYWjk
This is the guy who wrote Sherlock Holmes, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Unfortunately, he is also the guy who wrote XXX: State of the Union, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and most notably X-men 3.
I don't have a lot of faith that this will turn out well. I hope I am wrong.
Click the pic for more info.
What I half-expect is some contrived thing where a group of kids (ages 12-14) learn to use Magic cards to cast spells from the game in the "real world" and have to keep some evil force from breaking out of the cards (probably Yawgmoth just to add insult to injury).
Edit: Also, Marlon Wayans in his second appearance in a WotC property as Teferi, who mentors the chosen children in finding the heart of the cards or some crap. This version of Teferi is a red mage (or Mountain Mage in the movie's parlance, since the writers will pull the new player mistake of saying "mountain" when they mean "red mana").
@_kaburi_ on Twitter
Special thanks to Serrot_29 for Catbug'mrakul!
WotC is not in a position to make anyone do anything. The rights are sold. Fox can and will do whatever it wants. WotC was not even consulted regarding this: Hasbro sold the rights for the film. Just hope Fox doesn't ask Hasbro to order WotC to print cards with the actors photos on them as a marketing campaign. Ugh.
How To Keep Your FOIL Cards From Curling: http://youtu.be/QTmubrS8VnI
The Best Deck Boxes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEwgLph_Pjk
The Best Binders: http://youtu.be/H5IauASYWjk
It just doesn't make any sense from a marketing standpoint, to make a movie based on product that is no longer available.
My Mafia Stats - My Helpdesk
G Omnath, Locus of Mana U Arcum Dagsson BUG The Mimeoplasm GW Gaddock Teeg X Karn, Silver Golem
You mean like they did as a tie-in to The Sorcerer's Apprentice? Which coincidentally starred Nicholas Cage, whom I fully expect to show up in this debacle as a human Nicol Bolas?
@_kaburi_ on Twitter
Special thanks to Serrot_29 for Catbug'mrakul!
Hey Now, the Sorcerer's Apprentice ended up being a really solid movie.
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/491
Just saying there's a precedent for tie-in Magic cards. I enjoyed the movie enough that I own it on BluRay.
@_kaburi_ on Twitter
Special thanks to Serrot_29 for Catbug'mrakul!
What those examples mean is that his writing is entirely dependent on the direction as to whether or not they'll be fun action movies or dull uninspired ones.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Please, someone make an edit of that Nicholas Cage "You don't say?" meme to look like bolas.
The war for Mirrodin makes more sense to me.
TBH Wizards could make a new Phyrexians vs Something storyline for the movie and introduce planeswalkers by having Koth walk in and start breaking things. That'd be a pretty cool intro.
Art is life itself.
It could be for example the battle of the planeswalkers against the Eldrazi, on a good timeline for the return to zenidkar.
Personally I'd like to see "agents of artifice" as a movie.... its got jace, its got ravinica its got bolas and a planeshifting battle to the death.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Problem is, so was Yawgmoth.
No Urza storylines, those are way too hardcore, stretched out, and the characters are uber-powered. Might as well make a movie about Greek Gods warring with one another using humans as front-line soldiers and more people would understand and relate to it than Urza fighting his brother over artifacts.