Avernum Movie directed by Uwe Boll-Starts January 2014!!

[Valdain the King]

Uwe Boll to direct Avernum-The Lost Labyrinth !

 

Very interesting. I doubt Jeff will go along with it as it won't make him much money. Boll has a tax shelter fund in Germany, and thus he gets basically 50% back from the government. So the question is how much would Jeff get if the movie flopped. The other question is will Geneforge and Avadon get made into movies too.

 

I think that Michael Moore should play Emperor Hawthorn because he's short and hobbit-like. Erika's a tough one and I think that Lucy Lawless would do that well as she is devious in other shows. Make her a ginger and you got a recipe for success.

 

If they do Avadon they should make Redbeard some scot with anger and grit filled in him. They could make Miranda be Hennesy from death race as she was a real you know what in that movie.

 

They could make Sevelin an easy choice-Just pick the NRA President as he owns weapons, has some training but is a coward through an through.

 

Moritzkri could be Ian Mckellan no doubt as he is a nut.

 

Carsta-Arl would probably have to be Mr. T as he looks like him.

 

So what does everyone think, will the parts be much different after the movie is made? And how much of the money will go to Jeff?

[nikki.]

Yeah, none of this is true. If you have some kind of evidence, then by all means I'll eat my words.

 

Besides, Avernum would make a pretty terrible movie.

[Valdain the King]

But why would Avernum make a bad movie? Jeff would still be getting 25% of that movie when it bails so its all good.

[Goldengirl]

Yeah, none of this is true. If you have some kind of evidence, then by all means I'll eat my words.

 

Besides, Avernum would make a pretty terrible movie.

 

Plot spoilers ahead on why Avernum would make a bad movie.

 

 

 

Avernum would make a pretty lousy movie. The creation of personalities for the PC's would almost certainly take up a lot of time in a movie that has to somehow include ending the war with the Slithzerikai, defeating Grah-Hoth, assassinating Hawthorne, and discovering the route to the surface. Who knows how many other details would be deemed to be major quests that needed inclusion. There's just too much detail and too little focus for a good movie to be made from it.

 

 

I believe I'm referencing an idea Alorael had, which is that Avernum would make a pretty good TV series. The exact reason it would make a lousy movie (so many unrelated quests) would be the exact reason it'd make a great TV show. Writers wouldn't have to clobber the audience with details about the back stories and personalities of each party member all at once, either.

 

I feel like the plot of Avernum 2 would be much better transferred to the format of a movie, with some creative licensing. The aforementioned TV series could continue in detailing all the other events of the Empire War. There's plenty of detail, and some of the stuff that gets cut from that hypothetical movie could be featured there. Avernum 3 and 4 probably would be back to the TV show, again because of lack of central focus. Vahnatai plagues are too regional to form a strong plot line. Avernum 5, though, has enough central focus to make a good film out of it. I'm unsure about Avernum 6.

 

Of course, these are all just my flights of fancy.

[Alorael at Large]

I stand by my TV idea, and I think it would work just as well for later games. A film would have to introduce caves and Avernum, then the Empire and their invasion, then the vahnatai and Crystal Souls, then a bunch of quests, Garzahd, and so on. It would be a crowded film, probably too exposition-heavy. But as a series these things could move with better pacing.

 

 

It would have to run on characters, of course, which means the games are next to worthless as a template, but it could work.

 

—Alorael, who could maybe see an abbreviated Nethergate as a feature film. Or, ideally, two braided feature films from the two perspectives. Strip out a lot of the questing, cut it down to just one or two fetch/steal objectives before the finale, and play up the clash of cultures and you get something interesting.

[Valdain the King]

I stand by my TV idea, and I think it would work just as well for later games. A film would have to introduce caves and Avernum, then the Empire and their invasion, then the vahnatai and Crystal Souls, then a bunch of quests, Garzahd, and so on. It would be a crowded film, probably too exposition-heavy. But as a series these things could move with better pacing.

 

 

It would have to run on characters, of course, which means the games are next to worthless as a template, but it could work.

 

—Alorael, who could maybe see an abbreviated Nethergate as a feature film. Or, ideally, two braided feature films from the two perspectives. Strip out a lot of the questing, cut it down to just one or two fetch/steal objectives before the finale, and play up the clash of cultures and you get something interesting.

 

Do you have any preferences for cast if it was made the way you said? I still think Michael Moore would be ideal.

[Alorael at Large]

No cast preferences. It's so far removed from reality that I wouldn't bother thinking about it, and the primary cast would need characterizations before getting people to play those characters.

 

Of note, Michael Moore is not much of an actor actor; he appears only very rarely outside his own documentaries. I'm also not sure where you're getting the Hobbit-like, since I always got the impression that he's a big guy. The internet puts his height at six feet even. I'm not sure that's inappropriate for Hawthorne, but that's not really how I picture him at all.

 

—Alorael, who would just like to make sure the effects budget is up to snuff. Caves aren't cheap or easy. Neither are spells, dragons, vahnatai, or all the other crazy stuff in Avernum.

[Trenton.]

The thing about Avernum is that there is EVERYTHING. Over what has to be 200 side quests and the entire story ark is a long one. That's what we're forgetting about here too. What movies do well. Cut. Content. Out. It doesn't really have to be crappy with budget and all if they cut out most side quests and even a few major one. No movie has the exact same plot as the book. Video game in this point. I can honestly say that the Slithzerikai War needent be included. The main point is the Empire invasion. That's it.

 

Of course, if they did a series about the entire six games, then that is 36 new characters to make up so.

[Goldengirl]

I think we all realize that a movie would cut out side quests galore. However, even if a director got rid of all the side quests, there'd still be too many major quests to make a good movie, even if it was one movie per game. For instance, you mentioned removing the Slithzerikai War. Unfortunately, though, that's a critical component of the world of Avernum as a setting, as well as a pretty important plot point for future games.

 

You also mention story arcs, and to be honest, that's where I think Avernum as a movie falls apart most. The game doesn't really have an overarching story. Your party is dumped in the caves, they kill things and get attention for being good at killing things, and then a few powerful organizations in Avernum have them kill a few powerful foes. Avernum 2, what with the Empire War, makes a lot more sense as a film.

[Lilith]

you could merge the slithzerikai war and the grah-hoth thing into one plot easily enough -- rejig the story a bit so that it's about stopping Sss-Thsss from unsealing Grah-Hoth. the escape-from-the-surface-and-kill-the-emperor parts would probably have to wait for a sequel though

[Randomizer]

Break it up like Lord of the Rings and split the plot into segments:

 

Exile - Introduction of the characters leading up to the fight with Sss-Thsss.

Adventure - Destruction of Fort Remote through meeting Erika

Revenge - fights with Grah-Hoth and Emperor Hawthorne

 

Even then lots would get left out including finding an exit to the surface.

[Lilith]

folding the escape to the surface into the Hawthorne assassination would probably be the way to go; instead of getting teleported back to Avernum, they somehow make a daring escape from Hawthorne's private chambers (perhaps secretly assisted by Garzahd, who thinks a group of Avernite assassins running free on the surface would be a great way to spread paranoia and pro-war sentiment among Imperial citizens, setting the stage for Garzahd to be given extensive emergency powers and made de facto emperor and providing a sequel hook into Avernum 2)

[Aran]

directed by Uwe Boll

 

[Juan Carlo]

I think we all realize that a movie would cut out side quests galore.

 

I hope not. I want the first 30 minutes of the film to be nothing but killing giant CGI rats in a basement.

 

Seriously, though, I don't see the point of adapting Avernum. It's too generic and I've always found its plots to be not the reason to play those games. They are adequate as far as RPGs go but not much material there for a movie or TV series. I mean, obviously a good writer could make it interesting, but why bother paying for the rights to the games when you could just as easily set it in "generic fantasy universe number 2,457,876" and achieve the same effect? Its only distinctive or unique trait is that it's set in an underground world of convicts, but I don't think that's distinctive or unique enough to be worth paying for the rights to adapt it (not that the rights would be expensive or anything).

 

Geneforge, on the otherhand, would make an awesome serialized TV show (animated or live action). It's a unique universe with an interesting premise and there's lots of material there to mine for content (slavery, the ethics of creating sentient life, warring factions with distinct philosophical ideas, all the politics you could want). Someone like Ronald Moore (who did the Battlestar Galactica reboot) could do amazing things with a Geneforge TV show. Or, if you want to make an animated show, the people who did "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

 

Alternately, if Jeff ever wants to make 100 million dollars all he has to do is turn Geneforge into a series of young adult novels where a group of teenagers attend a school for shapers and slowly begin to question the ethics of what they doing, eventually becoming entangled in the faction wars/rebellion on various sides (pro or anti shaper). YA novels are huge right now and GEneforge has a brilliant universe within which to set them (with all the hard work of universe building already done in the games, so writing them shouldn't be that difficult). If the book was written at least half way decently publishers would be in a bidding war over it.

[Valdain the King]

I always thought Boll wasn't a great director but his payoff is excellent. He gets 50% of the money he spends back right away on top of the money he gets from each of his movies. Whats not to love. Jeff will get 25% of the profit!

[Juan Carlo]

I always thought Boll wasn't a great director but his payoff is excellent. He gets 50% of the money he spends back right away on top of the money he gets from each of his movies. Whats not to love. Jeff will get 25% of the profit!

 

Germany actually closed that tax loophole a few years back. Boll's still churning out unprofitable films like there's no tomorrow, though, so maybe he found a way around it.

[Valdain the King]

That's a darn shame. Maybe Boll can start with making a movie that he can make in a short while and is rushed. Seeing as Jeff hates Blades of Avernum, he can start with that and then see how it does. From there Jeff's Nethergate can come in. Basically you start with the less popular games as they can be finished faster.

 

 

[Callie]

I was confused by this thread title upon realizing it wasn't the first of April.

[adc.]

Wow, the internet is so slow that I thought it will be directed by Michael Bay.

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I have no taste in watching movies, I don't know who Uwe Boll is, and I like Geneforge better than Avernum. So I'm bound to the neutral side.

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-Nightwatcher

[Earth]

I don't know who Uwe Boll is.

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-Nightwatcher

 

german moviemaker whose films are either crap or ok and some (very few) are good.

[Death Knight]

Wow, the internet is so slow that I thought it will be directed by Michael Bay.

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I have no taste in watching movies, I don't know who Uwe Boll is, and I like Geneforge better than Avernum. So I'm bound to the neutral side.

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-Nightwatcher

 

I would say I'm a weirdo for my likes/dislikes so there is nothing wrong with you liking Geneforge more than Avernum

I like Avadon and Avernum the most and thats not the norm with Avadon being my fav. I like Geneforge as well but not as much as I used to.

 

Usually fans are either only like Geneforge series,

Or like Avernum only

Or Avernum and Geneforge with a dislike for Avadon

Or like all of his games..

 

Avernum and Avadon are two complete polar opposites. The only thing they have in common other than Geneforge is that you control party characters instead of monsters. Avadon is linear, Avernum remakes-nonlinear