9 Cautionary Tales for Board Game Publishers That Want to Make Movies

And Maybe TV Shows

Hello, board game publishers. I know you’ve seen the news about Asmodee’s move into entertainment. I know you’re following the development of the D&D and Magic: the Gathering movies. I know you’re dreaming that one day your board game will make you very rich in Hollywood. That said, I suspect that most of you are going to screw it up. So, I’ve gathered a few examples of what not to do while trying to turn your tabletop game into a blockbuster.

Phantom of the Opera

Andrew Lloyd Weber didn’t trust Hollywood to do his musical justice, so he kept it all in-house and produced it himself. Because he had Joel Schumacher on a creative leash and insisted he remain as true to the source material as possible, the movie looked terrible. What worked on stage didn’t work on screen. The same goes for tabletop games. What looks great as a miniature or box art might not look great on screen. When you draw Primarchs in power armor, you can cheat the proportions. With flesh-and-blood actors, those huge shoulder pads may need to be brought under control. Get out of the way and let Fox or Sony or whoever do what they do.