Potential for a W40K TV series or film

[Golf33]

I'd be keen to watch Commissar Cain brought to life, of it was well cast and acted. The series idea above would be excellent.

 

I must admit I do find the unremitting, depressing grim dark a bit hard to take. I much preferred the rather more humourous take on things of the early 2000s (I can't speak to anything earlier as I didn't get involved in the hobby until then).

[Sete]

War for Armaggedon the anime. ;)

With castlevania style.

[Exilyth]

Some game of thrones like series following the exploits and intrigues of various inquisitorial subfactions could work - for showing the frontlines as much as for showing imperial politics, everyday life in the imperium and with ordo xenos or rogue traders maybe even some interactions with xenos (which could be interrupted by deatchwatch to get back on track).

[Wulf Vengis]

Adeptus Arbites or Inquisition anime done in a similar storytelling style to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex or Cowboy Bebop or Jin Roh: the Wolf Brigade; wouldn't be too bad.

 

It all depends on the anime house producing it. For example I wouldn't want Toei/Funimation doing Ciaphas Caine too much disconnect from their usual faire would just ruin the series.

 

However you get the house responsible for the original Bio-boosted Armor: Guyver or the OG Berserk series to do a grimdark series ad youre sitting on a gold mine.

[Matt_149]

I think one of the best books that can be adapted and is nicely stand alone would be helsreach. Introduces space marines, orks, titans, human soldiers, the tech of the 41st millennium but not all of the crazy super dark stuff, shows the,simple, desperate struggle of man Vs alien. Would work well as a serial or a stand alone.

[Guest Triszin]

We could also do a "black mirror" style show on netlfix.

 

where every episode is a standalone showing different galactic snippets of life in the 41'st millenium

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

If I were able to make a tv series, I would make a castlevania style deathwatch show. Between Inquistitors and the different chapters you could introduce alot of the background and show the setting off. That said I think GW would be better of with AoS show. A lot of 40ks themes aren't ok in real life. 

[Matt_149]

Yeah, cyber cherubs for example....

[Apothecary Vaddon]

IMO animated would be the way to go, but not true Japanese style anime. Hybrid western/Japanese style or more western, a la DCAU. Much less cheaper than 3D, which could be done but in order to reach TCW quality it would be...very expensive. Not as expensive as a live action show but significantly above what an 2D animated show would cost.

[DukeLeto69]

Anyone who thinks a W40k TV series using computer animation couldn't work should check this out...

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/349741-fan-short-astartes-episode-2/

[Slave to Darkness]

Band of Brothers style show based on Vracks.

[Boldthreat]

Anyone who thinks a W40k TV series using computer animation couldn't work should check this out...

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/349741-fan-short-astartes-episode-2/

That short clip was better than the entire Ultramarines movie.

[Evil Eye]

On the subject of 40K anime, here's some totally-not-incredibly-silly ideas based on existing series...

 

>Little Wych Academia: An utterly incompetent but endlessly cheerful Dark Eldar lowborn joins the Wych Cult of Strife to be like her idol, Bloody Chariot. Alongside her are a fungus-obsessed Haemonculus in training and a Wych with a secret love of Mon-Keigh literature.

>Zoggin' Choppa Gorken Morkann: Sheemun the grot and Karminna Krushgob the nob discover an immensely powerful Deff Dredd in a cave and use it to take on the galaxy.

>Neon Genesis Dire Avengelion: A young Eldar boy is press-ganged into piloting a Wraithknight to fight against colossal Daemons invading his Craftworld, alongside an obnoxious Biel-Tan girl and a mysterious girl who is actually Slaanesh. Ends with The End of Dire Avengelion, in which Slaanesh falls in love with the boy and, despite initially consuming the entire Eldar race, restores them at his wish in a bittersweet ending.

>Pauldron and Backpack with Rosary: The most awful, foul-mouthed Sisters of Battle in the galaxy go on misadventures together attempting to bring the Emperor's justice to heretics, and failing miserably.

>Tyranid Friends: A lone Imperial explorator finds herself on a world surrounded by cute non-aggressive anthropomorphic Tyranids. Hilarity ensues.

[N1SB]

Hi Fraters, great discussion.  I haven't had much thought on the subject except what I wrote in http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/349245-gw-2018-annual-financial-report-and-analysis/

 

The Facts - GW's CEO publicly stated he and his command squad are really pursuing a GW IP film, and they are as shown by their global marketing head's new role

 

My Own Prediction, which I completely admit is speculation - it'll end up being a Netflix series because it's the more likely deal they can make...and that IMHO is a better thing as it's more achievable, with less expectations, and Netflix IMHO might actually have a longer lingering effect on exposing Warhammer 40k to a broader audience.  That's very relevant to GW's (and ours, for the sake of The Hobby's) interest, because licensing is actually a form of advertising and branding for GW.  So lower effort with bigger impact, I just reckon this may be what GW will end up with, and it'll still be a massive win for them.

 

So my thoughts, which are probably wrong:

 

 

+++ Inquisitor Series: the (no longer) obvious play +++

 

 

I myself mentioned an Inquisitor-related series because these sci-fi detective shows seem popular (Netflix's Altered Carbon and the upcoming Megacity One), but I agree with you:

 

I'm personally not so sure it would be a good idea. If I were in their shoes I'd wait and see how the Mega City One series pans out, for us fans it'd be great to see 40k in the flesh but on the flip side of that I'm not sure I want every aspect of the lore spelled out for me and how do you condense 40k into a series or single film? 

 

The other problem I can see is who is the target audience? WoW had an established audience in their player base and similar brand recognition to Warhammer but didn't do well at the box office outside of China.

 

Also how much do Hollywood get to interfere with the script? Do we want another Ultramarines level of success with a few CGI battle shots thrown in where we look back in a few years and say yeah the battles were cool but the story sucked and they ignored the lore?

 

Something made on a low-ish budget that was made for us through Black Library like that Hell's Reach fan made CGI on Youtube I'd be all over in a heart beat.

 

If they did do a big budget film I'd bet anything it's called Warhammer!

 

Judge Dredd is a good example of the pitfalls and problems a 40k movie would face. Like 40k it is a much loved and well established, violent, British, Sci-fi franchise. The first attempt at a big screen adaptation was the awful 'Judge Dredd' in 1995 and then In 2012 we got the vastly superior 'Dredd'. However, whilst the second film was critically superior to its predecessor and much more loyal to the source material it also made less than half as much money as the first adaptation (and this isn't taking into account inflation). This 'new GW' appears to be less sentimental with its IP than it has been historically. In fact, their rigidity with regards to their IP is why we saw very few video game adaptations in 40k's earlier years (it's also why the lore changes in Dark Imperium caused such a hoo-har). I worry that in order to create a viable 40k movie we will see a 'watering down' of the source material in order to appeal to a wider audience. This isn't to say that it's not possible to do both but it does seem like a tall order to me.

 

Those are excellent points.  I just thought a series with an Inquisitor's investigation was a great vehicle to show different sides of 40k, while holding on to viewers with an unfolding mystery.  But it would be running up against something like the new Dredd series, whose recent film I 100% agree was outstanding yet not that popular.  So I dunno, it may be a tough sell to movie or Netflix executives, I reckon.

 

 

+++ The Horus Heresy: the ideal scenario +++

 

 

I really dig what you guys said about people looking for the next Game of Thrones.  I think the Horus Heresy actually fills that role.  The early to mid-phases were basically a byzantine powerplay of intrigue and betrayal.  Moreover, the Primarch characters are, to new viewers, as recognisable as superheroes.  Everyone has their own coloured costume/power armour.  They have names that match their designs; Ferrus Manus has iron hands and Angron's really angry.  Then it also touches on GW's poster boy, the Space Marine.

 

This is an easier sell to movie/Netflix execs, I reckon, because it has a proven track record that they understand: it's been a series of 50+ books now.  Every new idea carries risk, which is why we see so many remakes I'm lead to understand, and the novel series with writers they recognise (like Dan Abnett who made Guardians of the Galaxy what we basically see in film form now) reassures them.

 

Another thing about this is, we know the Horus Heresy was an epic civil war, which is hard/expensive to film EVEN with CGI...but the series a lot of times is basically the Primarchs having meetings.  That's a lot easier to make, I reckon.  So you have all these meetings and maybe just a battle scene every few episodes and it'll still be really cool.  But I dunno, maybe it's the other way around now.

 

 

+++ The Titan Household: the Game of Thrones with giant mecha angle +++

 

 

This would be a personal favourite, I think.  Titans and their pilot nobility making powerplays, perhaps to the backdrop of the Horus Heresy, like Game of Thrones.  But when they have battle scenes, it's focused on giant mecha, because I think it's easier to animate just a few Titans really well and it'll seem much more epic.

 

It would be far easier to translate Titan pilots to film than Primarchs as they're just guys in fancy uniforms with maybe wires sticking out the back of their heads, they have the same type of byzantine maneuvering, and when they have fight scenes, it's just a few mecha with tiny soldiers running around that don't need as much detail.  It's more forgiving and gives them time to do a Primarch-centric 30k series properly, is just my thought.

 

But this might be a really hard sell to film/Netflix execs.  It's like a less prominent part of GW's IP than, say Space Marines and Primarchs.

 

 

+++

 

 

I dunno, TV and film is way more complicated and closed industry.  It's actually for that reason I'm thinking of these easier options.  Maybe GW will make another survey about this topic, if only to convince TV and film execs, and it's worth thinking about in case they do.

[Battybattybats]

A heresy era Titan story is a superb idea. One of the legions that split with some joining each side would be ideal, with interactions with Knight houses and other forces and leaders being great sources of drama.

 

We see some good examples in the novel Mechanicum. And a titan legion focused retelling of that story would be glorious.

 

If Titanicus keeps selling well there's the selling point of a current wave of popularity to ride too.

[Pacific81]

It's incredible to think (considering the far, far less popular fantasy/sci-fi universes that have been turned into series or films), that there hasn't yet been a 40k film of some description. 

 

The time of the 'fortress walls' though (where GW seemed content to fly in smaller and smaller circles) has thankfully come to an end though so I think it's far more likely these days. After all, GW can't sell its IP fast enough when it comes to video games, so it stands to reason a TV series of some sort is possible. 

 

My hope is they start with something like Eisenhorn, one of the classics that is 'story' first (and presumably could be a lot cheaper than something with great CGI marines fighting each other) rather than just some gratuitous violence. It would also be a great window into the 40k world. 

Dan Abnett also has experience of writing scripts, so could even do the adaptation himself. 

 

Judge Dredd is a good example of the pitfalls and problems a 40k movie would face. Like 40k it is a much loved and well established, violent, British, Sci-fi franchise. The first attempt at a big screen adaptation was the awful 'Judge Dredd' in 1995 and then In 2012 we got the vastly superior 'Dredd'. However, whilst the second film was critically superior to its predecessor and much more loyal to the source material it also made less than half as much money as the first adaptation (and this isn't taking into account inflation). 

 

I would hazard a guess though that it cost far, far less to make than the Stallone vehicle. 

[Rhivan]

I'd love to see a TV series and I feel there are a few different directions it could take as a good way to introduce the 40k universe. The ways being Inquisition, Imperial Knight, Rogue Trader, or Imperial Guard.  Now any of these I feel could work well but there are some key points I feel would have to be addressed first. The "main character" (or the introductory character) should be ignorant of most of the horrors of the 41st millennium (with a few being hinted at in the beginning) and over the course of first couple episodes something happens and calls the character to adventure joining either the guard, an inquisitors retinue, or as a hired on worker with a rogue trader.

 

The Imperial Knight I feel has a little more flexibility in it's story direction where the other options can have a bit of a slower start, with the Knight ,viewers will be more familiar with the Medieval themes and they will be the grounding factors at first instead of being from a more peaceful place and the Knight is than thrown off to war (with Orks an Ork Waggh on their homeworld or perhaps a Game of Thrones Slaaneshi uprising on their homeworld being the main plot here)

[b1soul]

I think Inquisition is the best way to go.

 

You want to establish the flavour of the setting with the first series or film.

 

Nothing says 40K like the Inquisition. Main character is a Hereticus acolyte.

 

First arc innvolves putting down a secessionist conspiracy involving the ruling class of . I think this arc could focus on introducing the audience to the Imperium and how it works.

 

Second arc involves a genestealer cult. Third arc involves a radical inquisitor and daemons.

[Ishagu]

Rogue Trader is best way to go, as you ca have a crew that represents multiple Imperial organisations and can have run ins with the Inquisition and the various Xenos races.

[Montford]

Rogue Trader is best way to go, as you ca have a crew that represents multiple Imperial organisations and can have run ins with the Inquisition and the various Xenos races.

 

Have an Adepta Sororita on board who helps the crew while on the lookout for a minor sacred relic which was stolen and is rumored to be on the black market.

[Slave to Darkness]

Something like Ian Watsons Space Marine novel. Following Lex, Biff and Yeremi from life in the underhive, through their time in the scout company, then full battle brothers. Then we get to see gang fights, urban warfare with titan battles, random chaos stuff goin on and then a big finish inside a Nid hive ship.

 

Or as GoT, Vikings and The Last Kingdom are so popular adapt the Ragnar novels. We get to see life as a young raider on fenris, then seeing the Fang for the first time, then seeing what else is in the galaxy as a blood claw. Then all the political stuff when he was sent to Earth.

[Marshal Rohr]

I'm not a fan of tv adaptations for 40k, but this is a :cuss good idea. People start the series thinking its like Vikings and then it turns Sci-Fi. The way Westworld would cross genres.

[Joe]

Alternatively, base it around a Sister of Battle instead; start it off on some feudal monastery world and have her get picked up and shipped off to be inducted and all that.

 

I'd prefer to avoid Space Marines, really. 

[Guest Triszin]

Alternatively, base it around a Sister of Battle instead; start it off on some feudal monastery world and have her get picked up and shipped off to be inducted and all that.

 

I'd prefer to avoid Space Marines, really. 

show should start out in a hive world. have it be a political show with religious overtones initially, that slowly evolves into an all out war scenario.

 

The planet gets invaded, near the end of the 1st season. SPace marines are treated like demigod boogie men. Heretic cults could be the enemy initally, but the planet gets invaded, either by orks or by a heretic astra militarum army.

 

Nids should be saved for later in the season, would love to see a mini series based around cryptman and the planet of tyran before and during the first contact nid invasion

[pandion40]

If it’s live action it has to be smaller scale and a more personal story to keep the budget down, so Inquisitors or Rogue Traders.

 

If it’s animated you really need to go with Space Marines in my opinion, they’re the most attention grabbing and eye catching faction in 40k. I’d do a Deathwatch series, start the pilot following a raw recruit through the trails and transformation into a space Marine, probably from a generic chapter like an ultramarines successor. This allows you to explain the universe to the viewer as you explain it to the recruit since most Space Marine recruits are ignorant savages, the pilot covers a few decades and ends with our main character being sent to the Deathwatch.

 

The Deathwatch allows for much more varied characters and stories than focusing on one chapter, you could have a good looking and noble but aloof Blood Angel in his pretty Armour, then do an episode or 2 focused on the twin flaws of his chapter. Similar for a Dark Angel keep him mysterious for a bit then do an arc exploring the fallen. A gregarious and outgoing Space Wolf would provide a great contrast to the much more warrior monk feel of the other chapters.

 

It would also allow much more variety in the missions, assassinations, sabotage, relic retrieval and even being bodyguards to inquisitors and such. You could have smaller missions that only require one or two of the kill team to focus on characters or bring together multiple kill teams plus other forces for a season climax. You could also do flashback episodes to show the various members of the kill team with their chapters