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[Neonivek]

Shame there's no books set in 40k.
If such things existed, some of those could probably be converted into decent films.

Probably very few as is the nature of the 40k universe. But I am sure there are a few. It would just need only 2 factions, no space combat, and only a few mass combat set pieces.

And the enemy cannot be Orcs, Necrons, or Eldar... And there needs to be no demons in the narrative.

I'd thing Battletech could probably do it more elegantly.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

The fact that it's all backstory is what makes it perfect. It's a sandbox with form.

Anything, big or small, could fill out a 40k film. Emergence of the Tyranids. Crime thriller on a Hive World. Journey of a psyker to Terra and back. Political machinations of a Rogue Trader dynasty. Sector cut off by a warp incursion. Life on a world that goes back and forth between the Imperium and the Tau. Young impressionable Imperial gets caught up in a chaos cult, inch by inch.

All of those could be made into entire movies. The level of detail that could be used is amazing, if only Geedubs weren't such jackasses.

[Neonivek]

. The level of detail that could be used is amazing, if only Geedubs weren't such jackasses.

Well... I don't blame them though.

The Unseen of the Battletech universe and the Unicorn Gundam have kind of shown that it can backfire.

As well the fact that comic books will completely bend over backwards to compensate for the movie, often bringing characters in the movies back to life, depower, or repower them to fit their movie persona.

They would have to print extra heroes for 40k that were in the movie.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

The first Eisenhorn book would be a great movie.

EDIT: Actually probably not, considering the... unknowable nature of certain architecture towards the end of the book.

[GiglameshDespair]

Shame there's no books set in 40k.
If such things existed, some of those could probably be converted into decent films.

It would just need only 2 factions, no space combat, and only a few mass combat set pieces.

And the enemy cannot be Orcs, Necrons, or Eldar... And there needs to be no demons in the narrative.

Explain why

[Tack]

The first Eisenhorn book would be a great movie.

EDIT: Actually probably not, considering the... unknowable nature of certain architecture towards the end of the book.

And yet it's a game.

[spazyak]

The first Eisenhorn book would be a great movie.

EDIT: Actually probably not, considering the... unknowable nature of certain architecture towards the end of the book.

And yet it's a game.

and a shit one at that

[Neonivek]

Shame there's no books set in 40k.
If such things existed, some of those could probably be converted into decent films.

It would just need only 2 factions, no space combat, and only a few mass combat set pieces.

And the enemy cannot be Orcs, Necrons, or Eldar... And there needs to be no demons in the narrative.

Explain why

High concept as well as being CGI heavy in what I assume isn't going to be a CGI movie.

Plus the fact that modern audiences do not like to mix fantasy and sci-fi. Even Starwars isn't immune to that nowadays.

---

I mean Starship troopers did it... But that movie was a Satire of the United States war economy and propaganda... and predicted the War on Terror.

[MrRoboto75]

Shame there's no books set in 40k.
If such things existed, some of those could probably be converted into decent films.

Probably very few as is the nature of the 40k universe. But I am sure there are a few. It would just need only 2 factions, no space combat, and only a few mass combat set pieces.

And the enemy cannot be Orcs, Necrons, or Eldar... And there needs to be no demons in the narrative.

That second(?) Ciaphas Cain book where he was on some ice world that was actually a necron tomb or something.

There's only 2 major factions (and Orks but they're mostly just the justification for CC to be there), no space stuff really, and the only real massive combat is at the end, the rest is just small fights in ice caves and such.

[Neonivek]

Yeah that definitely sounds do-able MrRoboto75.

[nenjin]

Warhammer 40k would face the EXACT same problem as all other games... in fact possibly even worse. Since its story is ALL backstory... It has no REAL narrative or story just set pieces. A movie would have to invent a story OR bend over backwards trying to make the backstory into a viable story.

Depends on the author. Some 40k authors know how to actually write characters who have motivations and aren't automatons. Lots of other authors parade out faceless clone characters who say and do the rote things with the required # of combat scenes per book written in such and such a fashion....

Basically, 40k's fluff paired with a good screenwriter who knows how to craft interesting, small narratives could make it work. But I agree the sheer weight of backstory that has to be convincingly communicated to someone who knows nothing about 40k is a big problem. It's the kind of movie that would be 2 hours long and the first 30 minutes would be exposition.

The reason I think people shy away from a full-scale movie production of 40k is....the themes.

-Incredible amounts of Jesus allegories.
-One mustache away from a full blown Nazi reference.
-Extolling the virtues of:

• Fascism.
• Racial purity.
• Intolerance.
• Xenophobia.
• Religious fanaticism.
• Extreme violence.
• Genocide.
• Hatred.
• Self-mutilation.

-Daemon worship.
-Copious amounts of human sacrifice.
-Debasement.
-Humans enslaving humans as a matter of course.
-No compassion.
-No happy endings.
-No lessons to teach other than "Defy" and "Survive."
-No romantic side plot.
-Grim march of eternal grimness wot is grim.
-Hyper, almost cartoonish masculinity.
-Old timey dialog.

I mean, the list goes on. A 40k movie for a serious producer/studio is an enormous gamble. The potential for bad PR is huge. We've gone from the days of groups of parents freaking out about satanism to a hyper yet superficially aware populace that is hyper-opinionated about appearances, gender equality, morality.....

It's a potential landmine because it's not a sure thing it will take with general audiences, and it's an IP that doesn't rely on the same things as, say, comic books.

While I dearly love 40k, I think it's easy to think as a fan that it could be for a lot of lovers of sci-fi and fantasy. Truth is, it's a pretty nasty piece of work by modern standards.

Still, I think if someone did 40k subtly enough, increased of charging face first into the camera with it, it could draw people in. It's not possible to fit all of 40k into one movie, at all. And so if you ease audiences into it it might work.

As a fan though, my biggest reservation is the cheese factor the IP brings. It reads a little cheesy sometimes and, like, the Ultramarines movie showed me that you can't simply translate 40k lines into speech and have it sound right. For video games it's fine to be over the top but a full length movie has to be believable. I'm playing Battlefleet Gothic Armada right now and while the voice acting is quality.....I picture it in a movie and it comes across as hammy as fuck.

Like....imagine you're watching this dank, serious rendition of 40k in a movie when....the Orks burst on the scene and start jabbering in cockney for comic relief. We forgive a lot of that as fans, as gamers because it's just part of the IP. Dunno if that works for a movie. I know Orks can be done dank as fuck. It'd just take a good writer and director to see that and pick the right tone overall for the movie.

and a shit one at that

Shit because of the format and mechanics I'd like to add, not necessarily the story.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

High concept as well as being CGI heavy in what I assume isn't going to be a CGI movie.

Plus the fact that modern audiences do not like to mix fantasy and sci-fi. Even Starwars isn't immune to that nowadays.

You should look into being a film executive, those might be some of the most arbitrary concerns I've ever heard in my life!

Seriously, you can't just mind-read "what audiences want" like that. It's a shell game.

[Neonivek]

Mind you I should say that I think Videogame movies can work and am still astounded that "Angry Birds" TO DATE is the best videogame based movie (and it makes me cry and cry and cry)

But we are talking about 40k in respect of other games.

You should look into being a film executive, those might be some of the most arbitrary concerns I've ever heard in my life!

Ohh yes it definitely is arbitrary and unfortunately that is the sort of hoops it would need to jump through.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Basically, 40k's fluff paired with a good screenwriter who knows how to craft interesting, small narratives could make it work. But I agree the sheer weight of backstory that has to be convincingly communicated to someone who knows nothing about 40k is a big problem. It's the kind of movie that would be 2 hours long and the first 30 minutes would be exposition.

I maintain my position that you don't need to do this at all. The opening spiel tells you all you really need to know. Far future, star empire, only war. Everything else can be delivered organically or left to audience exploration after the fact. The first few films would need to softball uncontextualized references, but I think MCU proved you can get away with not being a bleeding expository wound. Just look at Civil War, it managed to do things like reference Cap's "No, you move" speech without being all wink wink about it and had a brutal fistfight between two of the most popular people in the series.

The only ultimate rule for fiction is "be interesting", audiences will eat this shit up as long as studios can get their heads out of their asses long enough to try something even remotely outside their comfort zone.

The reason I think people shy away from a full-scale movie production of 40k is....the themes.

I mean, the list goes on. A 40k movie for a serious producer/studio is an enormous gamble. The potential for bad PR is huge. We've gone from the days of groups of parents freaking out about satanism to a hyper yet superficially aware populace that is hyper-opinionated about appearances, gender equality, morality.....

Honestly, I think our culture needs this. We've been shying a bit too close to the "media as morality plays" side of things in the past decade or so. You'd swear we were trying to resurrect the Hay's Code for how taboo villainy is. Wolf of Wall Street got away with it in a big way because: a) it followed rule zero and was interesting, but also b) because many people honestly dream of that life, even if they had to be evil to achieve it.

A mainstream 40k would have to be that rarest of things, not just counterculture but dark counterculture, which counterculture is so afraid of because of how it resembles how standard culture demonizes it. I think it can be done, 40k is no more an endorsement of fascism than Dune is. And it would go a long way to keep explicit parallels down (no Nazi rally shots). People can come to understand that the Imperium most resembles a fascist state through osmosis, so long as it's not shoved in their face I think the risk of controversy is fairly low.

Moreover, as we've seen more of in 5th and 6th edition, the presence of grimdark does not require an absolute void of bad things. Indeed, it is all the more tragic that the people of the Imperium are recognizably still carrying the spark of humanity in the face of all the horrible things to do to keep it, and how doomed they are anyway. The Imperium is evil because it oppresses it's people, but it's also good because it's kept humanity alive and (for certain values) free. People should be unsure of if they want to root for the Imperium, or for Chaos, or for alien slave cucks the Tau. That's part of why it's interesting.

[MrRoboto75]

Yeah that definitely sounds do-able MrRoboto75.

Basically

The only real breaking issue is one of the main plot points of the story no longer really exists in the current Necron fluff/codex (Necron Pariahs).