Why has Hollywood never embraced 40k

[Deadlift]

Yes we had that Ultramarines movie, and the very awesome looking Inquisitor coming, but I am talking BIG BUDGET Hollywood style movie.

The background of 40k is easily as rich as any other sci-fi based IP. There is just so much lore and fluff to draw upon. Why has Hollywood ignored this huge potential for making money. Surely a movie would appeal to non players too. A 40k blockbuster style film with a decent director would be great. As long as they avoided too much of the deeper fluff then it could appeal to anyone with an itch for action/sci fi movies. I mean big budget too, Micheal Bay style stuff.

I hear Peter Jackson plays 40k and is a big fan, and we know its not just a kids game. So why hasent it been done (properly) yet ? And will it ever ?

[Learn2Eel]

The trouble would be marketing it to a large audience, which is what Hollywood feeds on. WH40K is the epitome of 'grimdark' - i.e. violent, gory, excessive, etc.
Telling a compelling story would also be an issue, the majority of cinema-goers would have either no or very little idea about any of the forces/ideas/themes discussed in the movie. Whilst any movie can have a good story, it needs to be marketable, and unfortunately a movie that if done right will either be MA 15+ or R 18+ (Australian age ratings) probably wouldn't attract anywhere near the same interest as a PG or M +15 movie.
It would also be difficult for them to do a story that hasn't essentially already been done. If they ever did a movie of the scale, it would almost inevitably involve Space Marines, Orks and a subplot of corruption via Chaos.

By the way, did you ever see that really old WH40K movie? I forget the name, I think it was called Inquisitor or something similar as well. I saw a few scenes and immediately understood why GW never talk about it. Lol, it is that bad. Seriously, there's like twenty different shots of the same ship coming out of warp-space at the start of the movie. It's so bad it is quite hilarious.

[gcsmith]

The trouble would be marketing it to a large audience, which is what Hollywood feeds on. WH40K is the epitome of 'grimdark' - i.e. violent, gory, excessive, etc.
Telling a compelling story would also be an issue, the majority of cinema-goers would have either no or very little idea about any of the forces/ideas/themes discussed in the movie. Whilst any movie can have a good story, it needs to be marketable, and unfortunately a movie that if done right will either be MA 15+ or R 18+ (Australian age ratings) probably wouldn't attract anywhere near the same interest as a PG or M +15 movie.
It would also be difficult for them to do a story that hasn't essentially already been done. If they ever did a movie of the scale, it would almost inevitably involve Space Marines, Orks and a subplot of corruption via Chaos.

By the way, did you ever see that really old WH40K movie? I forget the name, I think it was called Inquisitor or something similar as well. I saw a few scenes and immediately understood why GW never talk about it. Lol, it is that bad. Seriously, there's like twenty different shots of the same ship coming out of warp-space at the start of the movie. It's so bad it is quite hilarious.

The bad one is Ultramarine. Secondly there are a lot of interesting films. Heck they could pick up the horus heresy. Get a nice series of stories and can introduce people to the universe.

[Psychosplodge]

Yes we had that Ultramarines movie, and the very awesome looking Inquisitor coming, but I am talking BIG BUDGET Hollywood style movie.

The background of 40k is easily as rich as any other sci-fi based IP. There is just so much lore and fluff to draw upon. Why has Hollywood ignored this huge potential for making money. Surely a movie would appeal to non players too. A 40k blockbuster style film with a decent director would be great. As long as they avoided too much of the deeper fluff then it could appeal to anyone with an itch for action/sci fi movies. I mean big budget too, Micheal Bay style stuff.

I hear Peter Jackson plays 40k and is a big fan, and we know its not just a kids game. So why hasent it been done (properly) yet ? And will it ever ?

Well when you look at (was it bay) they did to the transformers there's your problem, GW are very possessive of their IP, and hollywood would want to do too much of their own thing. Why bother when they can just make there own and do what they want?
I still think an animated (not cgi) would offer the best option for a film. but then you have to find a good story/subject to set it apart....

[daboarder]

mostly its the back story, to indepth to go into int the space of a single movie.

They have however unashamedly ripped parts out of 40k wholesale for years.

everything from event horizon to starshiptroopers

[Learn2Eel]

The bad one is Ultramarine. Secondly there are a lot of interesting films. Heck they could pick up the horus heresy. Get a nice series of stories and can introduce people to the universe.

I didn't really watch that old movie, I just saw the first couple of scenes and stopped watching it because my insides were hurting from all the laughter. I'm sorry, if a 40K movie is making me laugh that much at the terrible editing, acting and size proportion issues then there is something really wrong. It may have turned out to be a good film, mind you, but I don't think I could watch it after that. How is a human Inquisitor the size of a Space Marine. Argh I'm struggling to stop laughing again lol.

I didn't mind Ultramarine, it wasn't that good but it was ok to watch. Rampant silliness though.
They could definitely do a lot of great stories, the problem is making one that would appeal to a wide audience whilst doing justice to the franchise, something GW would definitely be insistent on.

[Wolfshade]

I imagine if they did one, it would be easier for the audience to access if it was through imperial guard sort of thing, I think any of the gaunt's ghosts would make fantastic films.

[Learn2Eel]

I imagine if they did one, it would be easier for the audience to access if it was through imperial guard sort of thing, I think any of the gaunt's ghosts would make fantastic films.

Agreed, a Space Marine perspective would probably be a bit too alien (ironically). Imperial Guardsmen are at least rank and file, have proper lives (as much as you can really get for humans in 40K I guess) and aren't superhuman warrior monks with lots of very unique and non-human traits. It would be much easier for the audience to relate to a unit of Imperial Guardsmen fighting in a war for survival than observing the events of a tactical squad.

Though it is a video game, Space Marine did this quite well I thought. Whilst the story was hardly spectacular (aforementioned subplot of Chaos behind alien invasion), the characters were done about how I would expect and they didn't go too far into the background of the Space Marines themselves. It was mostly just focused on the events of the battle itself.

[DarkLink]

Peter Jackson might play it, but most people don't have the slightest clue what 40k is. If they couldn't get the Halo movie off the ground, how would they ever get Dawn of War approved? In Hollywood, movies get made into crappy video games, not the other way around.

[Mr Mystery]

Rumour/legend has it that GW have been approached multiple times. The problem seems to be GW not wanting to license off any marketing type rights.

[Wolfshade]

Peter Jackson might play it, but most people don't have the slightest clue what 40k is. If they couldn't get the Halo movie off the ground, how would they ever get Dawn of War approved? In Hollywood, movies get made into crappy video games, not the other way around.

Like Doom, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mortal Combat et al.

[Psychosplodge]

The street fighter film is so bad it's good...

[Deadlift]

Super Mario with Bob Hoskins, can't beat it :)

[Psychosplodge]

But Luigi ends up with peach? it's all wrong...

[Wolfshade]

I am sure there is some slash fiction that will sort the pairings out for you

[Psychosplodge]

Probably, but fan-fiction is a step below mos-eisley

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I've never understood why people wanted -films- of 40k? It would likely be butchered by Hollywood and look terrible with mass amounts of cartoony CGI and of course it would be PG13 as hollywood are not going to spend that amount of money on something that will be limited to an R-rated audience. I'm no fanboy but I think GW are completely right to not sell out to Hollywood.

The best way, I think for 40k to be on screen would be through a TV series. Imperial Guard or Inquisitors would be the best bet. Think of something along the lines of "Band Of Brothers" but instead of Germans as the antagonists, you've got chaos renegades or something akin to that. You could even do Gaunt's Ghosts this way, plus the gritty realism of Band of brothers mixed with the gothic style of 40k would surely look great. Ten hour-long episodes would also be far more fitting than a single 90 minute film as well and have more space to tell a good story. So yeah, I'd rather see an HBO series.

[Wolfshade]

And where would you rate clop?

[inquisitorsog]

Rumour/legend has it that GW have been approached multiple times. The problem seems to be GW not wanting to license off any marketing type rights.

Ah, ye olde tragedy of the anti-commons. Rights holder(s) don't want to give up a slice of the pie so no one gets any of the pie.

Anyway, after the atrocity that was the D&D movie, I'm happy to not see 40k movies. Few are the game movies that aren't pure grox spit.

That said, a movie doesn't need hardly any backstory to be included. We've got the standard boiler plate in the front of every Black Library novel. Include that as a Star Wars-esque scroll and move on to the movie.

[Psychosplodge]

With all other fan fiction lol, best avoided...
I think A Gaunt's ghosts series in the style of Sharpe would work best, or some sort of Inquisition mini series.

You can always have the Chaos cultists speaking German, and subtitle them, plus then you can put an epic industrial soundtrack together.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

plus then you can put an epic industrial soundtrack together.

Let me do it ! half my music is 40k inspired anyway. Plus I'm cheap :p

[Wolfshade]

Sean Bean for Gaunt!

[Psychosplodge]

That's why we need to have an animated series so we can get anyone to the voices, Have Bean voice Rawne, and get Patrick Stuart for Gaunt...

[Defenestratus]

Sean Bean for Gaunt!

Gaunt doesn't die fast enough to be played by Sean Bean.

[wittdooley]

The best way, I think for 40k to be on screen would be through a TV series. Imperial Guard or Inquisitors would be the best bet. Think of something along the lines of "Band Of Brothers" but instead of Germans as the antagonists, you've got chaos renegades or something akin to that. You could even do Gaunt's Ghosts this way, plus the gritty realism of Band of brothers mixed with the gothic style of 40k would surely look great. Ten hour-long episodes would also be far more fitting than a single 90 minute film as well and have more space to tell a good story. So yeah, I'd rather see an HBO series.

Yep, agreed here. But I dont think it has to be Gaunt's Ghosts or something like that. I think Horus Heresy could work INCREDIBLY well. All the themes of brotherhood and treachery and whatnot are there. Sure, theres that pesky problem with having pretty much no females, but.. whatever, right?

As Game of Thrones continues to be successful, HBO may branch out into Sci Fi. But who knows.

[Defenestratus]

Yep, agreed here. But I dont think it has to be Gaunt's Ghosts or something like that. I think Horus Heresy could work INCREDIBLY well. All the themes of brotherhood and treachery and whatnot are there. Sure, theres that pesky problem with having pretty much no females, but.. whatever, right?

As Game of Thrones continues to be successful, HBO may branch out into Sci Fi. But who knows.

If you pay attention to what the producers of GoT are saying - the budget they have for the series is very "hamburger" and not "filet". In other words, its a TV sized production budget for a series that really, to be done right required a LOTR sized production budget. Its the reason why season one had an entire battle scene missing - and the wolves don't make as much of an appearance as they should. I shudder to think how bad its going to get as the seasons progress into the later novels where there are more and more "special effects" requried - and a lot of us GoT fans are hoping that GRRM doesn't write the last two books to conform with the HBO series budget.

Sorry, off my GoT fanboy soapbox.

Short version: A TV series would be seriously low budget. You'd need a compelling story to make it work with characters that the audience cares about and relates to. A space marine or an Ork would show up about once a season.

[Wolfshade]

Hence the suggestion of something of the size of the Sharpe series, although they were supposed to take part in huge battallion and army sized battles very rarely do you see more than a dozen people on screen at once. The fighting isn't the compelling part, it is how the main characters interact.

[eldargal]

Keep Hollywood the hell away from 40k, thank you.

[Psychosplodge]

It's why you employ cheap far eastern animators and dub it...

[Wolfshade]

Keep Hollywood the hell away from 40k, thank you.

How about Bollywood?

[eldargal]

Bollywood does Fall of the Eldar could work...

How about Bollywood?

[Psychosplodge]

Maybe 40K the musical?

[Deadlift]

Keep Hollywood the hell away from 40k, thank you.

People said the very same thing about LOTR over a decade ago, they turned out just fine. Ok there were a few tweaks here and there but for the main part they were popular movies.

I think someone like Jackson who is also a big fan of the game could do 40k justice. As for the rating, I think a rating of 15 could do the bloodshed just fine. I am sometimes amazing at the film ratings nowadays compared to 20 years ago.

[Wolfshade]

Bollywood does Fall of the Eldar could work...

I am imagining eldars with beards...

[eldargal]

I would say LOTR was very much the exception. There are only a handful of people I would trust 40k with and the chances of them being involved would be remote. It's also worth noting that LOTR had to go through some truly, truly horrendous animated films before it got the PJ trilogy. Films so bad I know it turned some people off LOTR for life.

[Deadlift]

I would say LOTR was very much the exception. There are only a handful of people I would trust 40k with and the chances of them being involved would be remote. It's also worth noting that LOTR had to go through some truly, truly horrendous animated films before it got the PJ trilogy. Films so bad I know it turned some people off LOTR for life.

Much like 40k :)

[eldargal]

The LOTR animated films had a cinematic release and make the 40k CGI film look absolutely brilliant in comparison.:p

[Psychosplodge]

Nothing could make the cgi "space marine" look good.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Yep, agreed here. But I dont think it has to be Gaunt's Ghosts or something like that. I think Horus Heresy could work INCREDIBLY well. All the themes of brotherhood and treachery and whatnot are there. Sure, theres that pesky problem with having pretty much no females, but.. whatever, right?

As Game of Thrones continues to be successful, HBO may branch out into Sci Fi. But who knows.

Indeed, I would go further and say basing it on any existing stories would be a BAD idea. Adapting stuff for the screen can have a variety of problems, and sometimes you have to make cuts or changes - if you start from teh ground up you can write stuff with TV in mind and cut out any potential budgetary problems. While I have no TV experience, I do have experience with this particular problem : in the past I had tons of ideas and stories and then realised I could never actually film any of it (eg entire galaxies being used as ammuntion in an extra-galactic dimension war) so instead I went back to the drawing board and wrote stuff specifically to be filmed and now I'm finally in the set building stage so...so far so good.

Also, to prove I would do a 40k soundtrack justice, I came up with this :
http://soundcloud.com/chrisctan/broken-habitat-black-crusade

if your speakers/headphones blow up, don't say I didn't warn you....

[Psychosplodge]

I expected heavier :p

Necromunda provides a good background for a smaller cast tv series...

[inquisitorsog]

I expected heavier :p

Necromunda provides a good background for a smaller cast tv series...

Not to mention it also provides the possibility of using sound stages throughout.

Other than that, I think Caiaphas Cain provides the most accessible character for general audiences w/in the Black Library. Cain stories tend to be less grimdark while not really betraying the setting overmuch. Further, if they kept the same idea of it being memoirs, it allows the series to jump around. The anthology-with-same-characters approach has worked for Dr. Who, Sliders, Quantum Leap and many other sci-fi series.

Then again, remember:
We have 5000 odd years of human history plus all kinds of pre-history, yet the History channel focuses on fake shows centered around haggling or truck driving.
SyFy features wrestling on Friday night.
Firefly: one season. Jersey Shore: six.
that's the state of US television.

[Chris Copeland]

They have however unashamedly ripped parts out of 40k wholesale for years.

everything from event horizon to starshiptroopers You've got it backwards, mate. Go read Starship Troopers by Heinlein. The folks at GW should write the Heinlein estate a check every time they release a Space Marine or Tyranid product. :)

[fuzzbuket]

2 things:

1) hollywood has approached GW MANY MANY times, howerver GW has always refused because a) hollywood wants to put a romantic plot in (see the leaked tmnt, transformers, thor, jumper) for why thatd be a bad idea and B) because GW dosnt like IP getting massacred

2) go check out THE LORD INQUISITOR fan film. really its all you need . ever.

[Kyban]

2 things:

1) hollywood has approached GW MANY MANY times, howerver GW has always refused because a) hollywood wants to put a romantic plot in (see the leaked tmnt, transformers, thor, jumper) for why thatd be a bad idea and B) because GW dosnt like IP getting massacred

2) go check out THE LORD INQUISITOR fan film. really its all you need . ever.

Nonsense, a lot of BL books have romantic plots...they just all end badly for those involved.:p

[wittdooley]

Good Point, Defense. I had forgotten how comparatively limited the GoT budget was for what they're actually doing. I guess when Blackwater was so damned awesome and the characters are so compelling, you tend to forget all the fancy stuff that is actually missing.

Question:
SyFy seems to do solid FX for their shows (I think BSG is a great example). Would it take that much more to do a 40k show correct? I think it could be done if you have the focus on a Rogue Trader or something of that ilk that isn't constantly in battle.

If we're going to do an Astartes type TV show, I'd take stylized CGI any day. There's plenty of quality kids CGI shows out there (Star Wars Clone Wars, Green Lantern, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train your Dragon) on TV that I have to believe someone could do that for 40k and do it well (enough).

[DarkLink]

Gaunt doesn't die fast enough to be played by Sean Bean.

Bean can play Justicar Thawn, and die over and over again but just come back.

[Bigred]

My contacts have indicated that as others have mentioned Hollywood has approached GW on several occasions about 40k movie rights.

But GW demands a level of control that Hollywood would never agree to. For example GW demands total control over the script and the right to scuttle the entire project at any point if it is not to their liking, while demanding a royalty and offering up no funding for the project. No backer in their right mind would cough up millions for that type of deal structure - so we end up with small budget low-risk jobs like the Ultramarines Movie.

I have been told directly by sources that the movie Event Horizon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119081/), was to be the first "big budget" 40k movie, but was reworked into generic sci-fi when a licensing deal couldn't be hammered out.

If you review the movie's overall mood, plot and themes, it does make a lot of sense from a 40k point of view.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

I don't think 40k's fanbase is really big enough to make or break a Hollywood movie, so a 40k movie would have to land mainstream appeal. A large amount of 40k's fanbase would probably watch a good looking gothic sci-fi whether it was branded 40k or not.

So why bother licensing 40k when I can make my own gothic sci-fi with no licensing fees, and without a miniature-making company having veto rights over a screenplay?

[Bigred]

So why bother licensing 40k when I can make my own gothic sci-fi with no licensing fees, and without a miniature-making company having veto rights over a screenplay?

Exactly, the audience numbers Hollywood deals with dwarf anything the 40K fanbase could ever turn out, so why would they bother. If GW isn't ever going to allow a female/romance thread, you are probably looking at the horror genre as the best remaining fit for the universe. But anyone can churn out a generic gothic themed sci-fi film for nothing these days and not have to pay a cent in licensing fees.

[Iceman]

mostly its the back story, to indepth to go into int the space of a single movie.

They have however unashamedly ripped parts out of 40k wholesale for years.

everything from event horizon to starshiptroopers


Actually, Robert Heinlein wrote the book Starship Troopers (on which the movie is based, although poorly executed) years before GW even existed.

[Gorechilde]

During my time with GW as a Blackshirt, this question came up many times in the corporate meetings in Vegas. We were told by the UK Command staff, that they had been approached many times for major movies and had even been to the point of signing on the dotted line for a movie, when they one sticking point that GW wouldn't budge on came up. Loss of control of the IP. GW doesn't want to see Ultramarine happy meals, Khornate slurpee cups, or any one the other massed produce movie tie or the other changes to the background. GW would have to give up the elements that are in the movie.

[MaltonNecromancer]

Let's see: a universe that explicitly has no heroes to cheer for; humanity is a fascist wonderland where totalitarian values are not just embraced, they are celebrated; humanity has embraced a religion that cheerfully and overtly mocks the Christian faith, and actually has it written in-canon that this insane Catholic mockery was written by Satan (well, Lorgar); where humanity's cheapest resource is life itself, and the generals have fully embraced the Soviet doctrine or "drown them in our own blood" and the army isn't a place for heroes, just victims; where women are only slightly less invisible than people with african skin tones; and of course, finally, a universe where gore and violence exist by the bucketload but yet are targetted at a young male demographic that can't even watch the incredibly tame "Ultramarines" CG film?

No, I can't see any problems with selling 40K to the mainstream.

Hollywood will never, NEVER EVER make a 40K film because everything that attracts us to it makes the rest of society go (and I quote yahtzee here):


I thought I was a cynical child, that's why I spent so much time in imaginary fantasy worlds where life was fun and adventurous and I didn't have to write essays for school. I couldn't imagine how many levels of cynicism you'd need to be operating on to want to spend your escapist fantasies in a universe that has been completely [EXPLETIVE REDACTED] over by [EXPLETIVE REDACTED]. It just seems like such a juvenile concept, like it was pitched by a thirteen-year-old boy while hopping up and down on an examination table waiting for a doctor to grimly fill a large, ominous-looking syringe.

I love 40K, but I also appreciate that as a setting, it is completely insane.

That's actually one of the main reasons I love it, but it also means no-one mainstream will ever want a part of it.


I have been told directly by sources that the movie Event Horizon, was to be the first "big budget" 40k movie, but was reworked into generic sci-fi when a licensing deal couldn't be hammered out.

If you review the movie's overall mood, plot and themes, it does make a lot of sense from a 40k point of view.

Event Horizon, as far as I can tell, might as well be official 40K canon. It's just set well, well before even the Horus Heresy. If you assume it's the story of the first warp-capable ship, only they hadn't developed Gellar fields yet, it's pure 40K from start to finish.

[inquisitorsog]

No, I can't see any problems with selling 40K to the mainstream.

Event Horizon, as far as I can tell, might as well be official 40K canon. It's just set well, well before even the Horus Heresy. If you assume it's the story of the first warp-capable ship, only they hadn't developed Gellar fields yet, it's pure 40K from start to finish.

For all the reasons you mention, I think really the only angle you can take on 40k going main stream is to do Caiaphas Cain. The Cain series is far more light hearted than anything else in the universe.

Event Horizon is all we need to know about how most of the universe would be received. Other than dedicated horror, Cthulhu and 40k fans, Event Horizon is pretty well reviled by anyone I talk to. I hate Event Horizon too... I just recognize it's potential place in the 40k universe as that first warp jump like you mention.

[MaltonNecromancer]

Agreed.

If you're going to sell the mainstream on 40K, it's basically either got to be like "Idiocracy" (normal guy plays straight man to black comedy of 40K universe), or like "Dredd" (big, dumb action, leaving out all the po-faced sincerity, so the universe simply forms a pretty backdrop for guns going off and not a lot else).

In all honesty, I've not enjoyed any 40K stories since I was 14, so the lack of a 40K film is no great loss for me. I've got "Boardwalk Empire", "Game of Thrones", "Fringe", "Homeland", "Adventure Time" and a whole bunch of other excellent stories to keep me amused. It'd be nice if they did a 40K film for the kids at school, though. They'd love it.

[Uncle Nutsy]

I can buy the fact that GW would not want to licence anything to Hollywood/want too much from Hollywood, and I think it has a little to do with the stigma that anything tabletop is equated with overweight, smelly shut-in boys (even though we know that's not true).

[Chris Copeland]

I can buy the fact that GW would not want to licence anything to Hollywood/want too much from Hollywood, and I think it has a little to do with the stigma that anything tabletop is equated with overweight, smelly shut-in boys (even though we know that's not true).
Dude, that's SO TOTALLY true! Haven't you seen this crowd? :)

[DarkLink]

Actually, Robert Heinlein wrote the book Starship Troopers (on which the movie is based, although poorly executed) years before GW even existed.

Well, apparently the movie was actually an independent, original script that was adapted to be a Starship Troopers movie, or something like that. It was intended to be a satire action movie.

But Starship Troopers did come long before GW. Starship Troopers wasn't even the first Space Marine in Power Armor book, either. That, I think, was the Lensman series. Starship Troopers was more notable for its exploration of tactics and military culture than the idea of power armor.

[Poseidal]

I hope 40k is never infected with the Hollywood virus. It has already touched too many videogames; I don't want that dying abomination to wrap its tentacles around more things.

[Wolfshade]

Dude, that's SO TOTALLY true! Haven't you seen this crowd? :)

Don't forget Star Trek films were always popular...

[Herzlos]

...GW doesn't want to see Ultramarine happy meals, Khornate slurpee cups, or any one the other massed produce movie tie or the other changes to the background...

Yet the assorted stuff they sell at Warhammer World is no better, just Bugman themed.

[RGilbert26]

Yet the assorted stuff they sell at Warhammer World is no better, just Bugman themed.

Please show me the lunch boxes, crappy toys, action figures etc etc that is sold in Bugmans?

[DarkLink]

As cool as it is to hate hollywood, that's about the only place you're going to get a high quality production. It's not at all unreasonable to get a Lord of the Rings, rather than an Alone in the Dark. If it does turn out poorly, then whatever, no one else was going to make a decent movie. At least there was an opportunity, even if it was wasted.

[Durendin]

You don't need to explain any of the background for a movie to work other than the "It is the 41st Mil....!" blurb at the start of every Black Library novel just to give a foot-hold. It worked well for Star Wars in that I didn't need to know the entire background of Darth Vader and the Empire to get the gist of what was going on. Given that sci-fi and fantasy have moved from been the lesser genres to the de-facto mainstream comprehension of the story is the least of it.

If I were to see a 40K movie I'd be happy with something done along the lines of the DOW intros - high quality CGI animation with lots of action.


Starship Troopers was more notable for its exploration of tactics and military culture than the idea of power armor.

Arguably that's where "know no fear" comes from along with all the psycho and chemo training methods of 40K Marines comes from to!

[DarkLink]

Intense training is the norm for military forces, and Training From Hell (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrainingFromHell) is a long-standing trope in all forms of media. Starship Troopers wasn't particularly special in this regard, and it didn't include any forms of psycho/chemical brainwashing, just hardcore military training and a little in-universe propaganda.

[Durendin]

Starship Troopers wasn't particularly special in this regard, and it didn't include any forms of psycho/chemical brainwashing, just hardcore military training and a little in-universe propaganda.

I think you might want to re-read Starship Troopers again, specifically Epigraph, Page 1!

"I always get the shakes before a drop. I've had the injections, of course, and hypnotic preparation, and it stands to reason that I can't really be afraid."

[Hunter]

personally i feel like the next WH40k media adventure should be along the lines of the old inferno/warhammer monthly mag format as a tv series (mature rated) , an hour long in 3 bite sized stories or serials per episode , possibly each story done in a different stile (cgi and traditional)

Wouldn't it be SICK to see Deff Squadron animated ?

[Uncle Nutsy]

My contacts have indicated that as others have mentioned Hollywood has approached GW on several occasions about 40k movie rights.

But GW demands a level of control that Hollywood would never agree to. For example GW demands total control over the script and the right to scuttle the entire project at any point if it is not to their liking

If this was the end of it, I'd think hollywood was just being their selfesh selves again, trying to ruin another franchise.


while demanding a royalty and offering up no funding for the project.

until I read this and realized GW are being total bellends and ruining it for everyone. Not like it's unusual for them.


Seriously GW. If you want to benefit from a project, you have to pitch in first. It's the way of the world and no you're not that special. You take enough of our money already.

[Nabterayl]

... maybe they don't want to benefit from the project at all? Come on, you're a writer. Would you sacrifice control of your favorite story just to see it on the big screen? I know I wouldn't.

[Herzlos]

Please show me the lunch boxes, crappy toys, action figures etc etc that is sold in Bugmans?

I was sure they had a Bugmas lunchbox, to go with the Bugmans bag, mug, bottle opener, notepad, fridge magnets, beanies, tshirts, hoodies, jackets, dice bags.

Ok no crappy toys or action figures, but still plenty of naff stuff with the Bugmans logo on it.

*I do own a couple of the mini's and a pint glass, though.

[DarkLink]

I think you might want to re-read Starship Troopers again, specifically Epigraph, Page 1!

"I always get the shakes before a drop. I've had the injections, of course, and hypnotic preparation, and it stands to reason that I can't really be afraid."

Oh, right, I guess they get a little, though the injections likely aren't much more than say the anti-motion sickness drugs that we've been giving airborne troops since WWII. But I seriously doubt a little hypnosis (which, if you know a little how hypnosis works, you know it can't magically brainwash you into some sort of psycho killing machine, in this case it's more comparable to chatting with a therapist) comes even close to comparing to what Space Marines go through. In fact, compared to Dune a little hypnosis is absolutely nothing.

[Durendin]

You've never read the Starship Troopers book, have you?

[Sainhann]

Two reasons:

First GW holds onto their IP like a Chaos Demon holds onto a soul.

Second if Hollywood made it they would want to put in a love story so that they can appeal to the females.

[Psychosplodge]

I resent that, you don't have to be female to appreciate a good love story.
10 Things I hate about you is possibly the greatest film ever made and that's a rom-com...

[Deadlift]

I resent that, you don't have to be female to appreciate a good love story.
10 Things I hate about you is possibly the greatest film ever made and that's a rom-com...

Good god man, what's wrong with you ? :)

[Psychosplodge]

Nothing? (Julia Stiles?)

Clerks is my second favourite film is that better?

[Deadlift]

Nothing? (Julia Stiles?)

Clerks is my second favourite film is that better?

I think Fanboys is better :)

[DarkLink]

You've never read the Starship Troopers book, have you?

And apparently you're incapable of realizing that sometimes people get slightly different interpretations out of the same story. Quit trolling.

[Mud Duck]

I resent that, you don't have to be female to appreciate a good love story.
10 Things I hate about you is possibly the greatest film ever made and that's a rom-com...

1999 version? Heath Ledger? Taming of the Shrew. Kinda hard to screw up Shakespeare, unless you try......

[Durendin]

And apparently you're incapable of realizing that sometimes people get slightly different interpretations out of the same story. Quit trolling.

I simply pointed out something which referenced my point from the first page of the book which you claim to have read but apparently missed completely and then you say I'm trolling? :rolleyes:

[Psychosplodge]

1999 version? Heath Ledger? Taming of the Shrew. Kinda hard to screw up Shakespeare, unless you try......

Yes that one. Though they managed to screw up Romeo and Juliet, and half of Shakespeare is screwed up already.

[RGilbert26]

Reading the new Chaos Space Marine codex yesterday and i came to the conclusion that you can only truly do a 40k film justice by making it an 18 and as Holywood are obsessed with PG13/12As for big blockbusters then i highly doubt one will get made. Just read what happens to the Space Marines who land on a Nurgle planet, that whole paragraph to me says 18 only.

[DF3CT]

Two reasons:

First GW holds onto their IP like a Chaos Demon holds onto a soul.

Second if Hollywood made it they would want to put in a love story so that they can appeal to the females.

Pretty sure Slaneesh titty demons would appeal to females.

[White Tiger88]

Pretty sure Slaneesh titty demons would appeal to females.

Till they saw the wang between the things legs......and the Wang Dreadnought.....and Cocaine powered landraider.... Ya slaanesh!

(Also charlie sheen would have to be in the movie.....That ******* is the spawn of slaanesh!)