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[FunkMiller]

Last night I watched Palm Springs on Amazon, and a couple of weeks ago I watched Boss Level. Both movies do a good job with the old time loop formula, as done most famously in Groundhog Day. And watching them got me thinking about the way someone should make a Dark Souls movie. Given that the main gameplay loop of the Souls games is to die over and over, repeating what you've done before, and resetting every time at the bonfire, the time loop movie formula would suit a movie adaptation really well. Mix in some fantasy lore, some big set pieces, cast a decent actor as the chosen undead, and you've probably got yourself a movie concept that would appeal to the general audience, and Dark Souls game fans alike.

Just a thought.

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

 

[tsumake]

Last night I watched Palm Springs on Amazon, and a couple of weeks ago I watched Boss Level. Both movies do a good job with the old time loop formula, as done most famously in Groundhog Day. And watching them got me thinking about the way someone should make a Dark Souls movie. Given that the main gameplay loop of the Souls games is to die over and over, repeating what you've done before, and resetting every time at the bonfire, the time loop movie formula would suit a movie adaptation really well. Mix in some fantasy lore, some big set pieces, cast a decent actor as the chosen undead, and you've probably got yourself a movie concept that would appeal to the general audience, and Dark Souls game fans alike.

Just a thought.

Perhaps Planescape Torment’s narrative might be a better approach?

 

[T8SC]

A Dark Souls movie should be of equal quality to the game. So it should star Melissa McCarthy.

 

[pr0cs]

Edge of tomorrow - esq

 

[AJUMP23]

They should not make a Dark Souls movie.

 

[funkygunther]

Edge of tomorrow - esq

A way more fitting comparison than Groundhog Day.

 

[420bits]

Nothing should be like GoT, that shit went south REALLY fast after s2 / s3.

 

[Nobody_Important]

Imagine the bruises on the backs and shoulders of the stunt people from all the rolling.

 

[Mistershine.]

So a mash up between a classic movie and a mediocre TV show?

 

[Dav-Kripler]

So I'd thought about this for years and the thing about dark souls is this. You are playing a character that is trying to survive the aftermath of a series of events that already happened. The intro clearly indicates that everything of relevance happens before your involvement. You're just traversing the ruins and piecing together the backstory of the world through hints left here and there like an archeologist.

I guess what I'm saying is if there were to be a movie about dark souls it should be about the intro. As in lord gwyn and his quest to unite the divergent forces of nito, seath, the witches, etc and maybe flip between him and the"furtive pygmy" ... There is obviously a great deal of story there that would make incredible cinema... But again it all happens before the game starts.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

You can say this about any video game to movie adaptation. I think that was the whole point of Boss Level. That these Groundhog Day story gimmicks are very similar to game over screens in video games.

The gimmick has kinda been done to death at this point though. So probably best not to include it for a while.

 

[RoboFu]

It will be .... third rate actor mysteriously awakens in a strange world... with machine gun...

 

[AV]

Game of Thrones because it's the first fantasy thing that came to mind...? It's absolutely nothing like DS

 

[Soodanim]

So I'd thought about this for years and the thing about dark souls is this. You are playing a character that is trying to survive the aftermath of a series of events that already happened. The intro clearly indicates that everything of relevance happens before your involvement. You're just traversing the ruins and piecing together the backstory of the world through hints left here and there like an archeologist.

I guess what I'm saying is if there were to be a movie about dark souls it should be about the intro. As in lord gwyn and his quest to unite the divergent forces of moto, death, the witches, etc and maybe flip between him and the"furtive pygmy" ... There is obviously a great deal of story there that would make incredible cinema... But again it all happens before the game starts.

I like this more than the idea of a Dark Souls movie about the game itself. Dark Souls is an example of a game that doesn’t work as a movie in its current form because of how it tells the story (it almost doesn’t). I can’t think of a way that lore in item descriptions would translate to any other medium in a way that keeps the soul (sorry) of the IP alive. Books would be the closest, but would lack plenty. Better to tell a story about the only true story shown to us.

 

[SJRB]

Just give me 120 minutes of this, please.

 

[PSlayer]

If they ever make a Dark souls movie/tv show i think it should be a prequel with Gwin as the protagonist.

By the time the game starts every major event already happened...we are just free roaming in the aftermath.

Obviously Miyazaki needs to be in the writing team because only him knows really what is going on.

 

[Reality Czar]

Dark Souls is an example of a game that doesn’t work as a movie in its current form because of how it tells the story (it almost doesn’t)

It most certainly tells a story, the volumes of Vaatividya and lore videos can attest to that. There is lots of lore, tons of narrative, worldbuilding, etc. in this game. It just happens that it is not presented in the usual standard way. A game like TLOU presents it's story via themed level design connected by movie-like cutscenes. It will be easier for a movie or tv director to copy that story just because it is already presented in a visual way. But it does not mean the story is not there for Dark Souls. It is simply told in a less direct way.

The lore and story of Dark Souls could certainly be depicted in movies. It is not a hopeless task, it would require consultation with an expert like Vaati, but it can be done.

Flashbacks to the Sisters of Izalith, or Artorias and his Wolf, or Oolacile, can be intercut with the lead character traversing through the current lands, providing worldbuilding as well as cool visual and action setpieces.

The game has wonderful flow to it and I think it would make a good movie even just replicating the usual way through the game. The movie could start with the intro cutscene showing the various baddies and talking about the dark soul and all that. Then it starts in Undead Asylum, the camera panning across the floor, them replicating that opening shot in live action. The first action is a dead body hitting the ground of a dank jail cell with a cowering Chosen Undead in the corner - the lead character. He peers out into the light and looks up to see his savior. He investigates the body to find a key and uses it to escape his cell. Soon enough, he will come upon a dying Oscar who gives him his task (as well as the all-important Estus Flask). It would be very interesting to use the various characters in this game and have them show up at various points of the movie. Onion Knight in particular, I can easily see the movie having us walking through a forest and coming upon Sen's Fortress and meeting this guy outside and that being a scene in itself where you just hang out in this fantasy land with this quirky knight on some mystery quest. We can show the lead learning gestures as well by befriending NPC characters.

The real problem is, there seems to be so much lore in DS, you kind of will have to decide what to cut and what to keep. Probably focusing on Gwyn and his children and kingdom is a good idea. Then pick out a few of the better NPCs to interact with the Chosen Undead and elaborate on their stories. The Primordial Serpents, of course, will play a large role. The movie ending in the Kiln of the First Flame seems very appropriate and visually that would be a cool thing to see!

Feel like this is a movie I really would want to see! There is drama, tragedy, humor, everything in Dark Souls. So much there that could be mined for a great fantasy movie. Or a trilogy even.

 

[AJUMP23]

Maybe they could do a movie on the dragon knight guy. The son o Gwyn I think. Focus on that family dynamic and his sister.

 

[Dav-Kripler]

The adventures of Artorias and his trusty puppers

 

[Soodanim]

It most certainly tells a story, the volumes of Vaatividya and lore videos can attest to that. There is lots of lore, tons of narrative, worldbuilding, etc. in this game. It just happens that it is not presented in the usual standard way. A game like TLOU presents it's story via themed level design connected by movie-like cutscenes. It will be easier for a movie or tv director to copy that story just because it is already presented in a visual way. But it does not mean the story is not there for Dark Souls. It is simply told in a less direct way.

The lore and story of Dark Souls could certainly be depicted in movies. It is not a hopeless task, it would require consultation with an expert like Vaati, but it can be done.

Flashbacks to the Sisters of Izalith, or Artorias and his Wolf, or Oolacile, can be intercut with the lead character traversing through the current lands, providing worldbuilding as well as cool visual and action setpieces.

The game has wonderful flow to it and I think it would make a good movie even just replicating the usual way through the game. The movie could start with the intro cutscene showing the various baddies and talking about the dark soul and all that. Then it starts in Undead Asylum, the camera panning across the floor, them replicating that opening shot in live action. The first action is a dead body hitting the ground of a dank jail cell with a cowering Chosen Undead in the corner - the lead character. He peers out into the light and looks up to see his savior. He investigates the body to find a key and uses it to escape his cell. Soon enough, he will come upon a dying Oscar who gives him his task (as well as the all-important Estus Flask). It would be very interesting to use the various characters in this game and have them show up at various points of the movie. Onion Knight in particular, I can easily see the movie having us walking through a forest and coming upon Sen's Fortress and meeting this guy outside and that being a scene in itself where you just hang out in this fantasy land with this quirky knight on some mystery quest. We can show the lead learning gestures as well by befriending NPC characters.

The real problem is, there seems to be so much lore in DS, you kind of will have to decide what to cut and what to keep. Probably focusing on Gwyn and his children and kingdom is a good idea. Then pick out a few of the better NPCs to interact with the Chosen Undead and elaborate on their stories. The Primordial Serpents, of course, will play a large role. The movie ending in the Kiln of the First Flame seems very appropriate and visually that would be a cool thing to see!

Feel like this is a movie I really would want to see! There is drama, tragedy, humor, everything in Dark Souls. So much there that could be mined for a great fantasy movie. Or a trilogy even.

I like the idea of the flashbacks, but that just reinforces the idea that the lore is the only story worth telling. To clarify, I used ‘story’ to mean the Chosen Undead’s journey and ‘lore’ to mean everything else. If the story is there as an excuse to tell the history, maybe it would be better presented as a series with the intro of each episode being a few minutes of introduction to set up what we’re going to see. An animated series would at least gives them room to breathe as opposed to live action which would be terrible in so many ways, and in the right art style could be fantastic. An episode on each area would let the history of everything you suggested be told without major cuts.

Netflix would fund it.

 

[QuantumZebra]

Edge of tomorrow - esq

This ^

 

[DeliciousDoc]

A true dark soul movie would be constant trolling by the support cast coupled with people suddenly appearing behind you with a backstab followed by taunts. It would be a comedy.

 

[Raven117]

No dark souls movie.

dark souls is something that works BECAUSE it’s a video game. It pulls on the strengths of the medium much more than say, TLOU.

so yeah, nah.

 

[Dav-Kripler]

It most certainly tells a story, the volumes of Vaatividya and lore videos can attest to that. There is lots of lore, tons of narrative, worldbuilding, etc. in this game. It just happens that it is not presented in the usual standard way. A game like TLOU presents it's story via themed level design connected by movie-like cutscenes. It will be easier for a movie or tv director to copy that story just because it is already presented in a visual way. But it does not mean the story is not there for Dark Souls. It is simply told in a less direct way.

The lore and story of Dark Souls could certainly be depicted in movies. It is not a hopeless task, it would require consultation with an expert like Vaati, but it can be done.

Flashbacks to the Sisters of Izalith, or Artorias and his Wolf, or Oolacile, can be intercut with the lead character traversing through the current lands, providing worldbuilding as well as cool visual and action setpieces.

The game has wonderful flow to it and I think it would make a good movie even just replicating the usual way through the game. The movie could start with the intro cutscene showing the various baddies and talking about the dark soul and all that. Then it starts in Undead Asylum, the camera panning across the floor, them replicating that opening shot in live action. The first action is a dead body hitting the ground of a dank jail cell with a cowering Chosen Undead in the corner - the lead character. He peers out into the light and looks up to see his savior. He investigates the body to find a key and uses it to escape his cell. Soon enough, he will come upon a dying Oscar who gives him his task (as well as the all-important Estus Flask). It would be very interesting to use the various characters in this game and have them show up at various points of the movie. Onion Knight in particular, I can easily see the movie having us walking through a forest and coming upon Sen's Fortress and meeting this guy outside and that being a scene in itself where you just hang out in this fantasy land with this quirky knight on some mystery quest. We can show the lead learning gestures as well by befriending NPC characters.

The real problem is, there seems to be so much lore in DS, you kind of will have to decide what to cut and what to keep. Probably focusing on Gwyn and his children and kingdom is a good idea. Then pick out a few of the better NPCs to interact with the Chosen Undead and elaborate on their stories. The Primordial Serpents, of course, will play a large role. The movie ending in the Kiln of the First Flame seems very appropriate and visually that would be a cool thing to see!

Feel like this is a movie I really would want to see! There is drama, tragedy, humor, everything in Dark Souls. So much there that could be mined for a great fantasy movie. Or a trilogy even.

Complete tangent, but after rereading this... Imagine it in a "hardcore henry" style first person perspective your this portrayal