Waiting for "Elite Dangerous - The Movie"

[SergMx]

You should go watch Firefly immediate. You are not credible talking about space shows if you have not watched it. Not to mention the rest.

I watched a long time ago the Firefly series and the movie too. I'm not sure what that has to do with it.

There are examples of the opposite, Doom, Warcraft and the same Fallout.

 

[Cosmo]

There are examples of the opposite, Doom, Warcraft and the same Fallout.

The Fallout series (2024) on Amazon Prime had a budget of $150 million and did well. The Warcraft movie (2016) was pretty good, but didn't make enough money. Production costed $160 million + $110 mil for marketing. It needed to make $400-500 million to break even. So they cancelled a sequel.

An Elite live-action season 1 could have a lower budget than Fallout. The Elite movie budget should be lower than Warcraft to increase the chances of a sequel. Some directors make great movies with a low-mid budget.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

wow so the marketing of a film doesnt cost a million miles from the cost of making the damn thing in the 1st place?
I cant help but feel that there would not be far cheaper ways or marketing a movie than spending that kind of money on it!.

 

[lysan]

A TV series would be ideal, but talented writers aren’t easy to come by. The Expanse succeeded because it had skilled writers and a strong foundation to build upon. However, producing a high-quality sci-fi show today would likely cost around $5 million per episode, so if one is ever made, it had better be exceptional right from the start.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

A TV series would be ideal, but talented writers aren’t easy to come by. The Expanse succeeded because it had skilled writers and a strong foundation to build upon. However, producing a high-quality sci-fi show today would likely cost around $5 million per episode, so if one is ever made, it had better be exceptional right from the start.

IF there was ever a movie or TV series about Elite, I'd like to see it in the style of 'The Expanse' with a bit of lightheartedness of 'Firefly'. Besides the challenges of being a relatively unknown franchise and high production costs, the production would need to have a good (better: unique or at least: not boring) story grounded in the Elite universe. Which is a big challenge because it needs to be compatible to events in-game/in lore.

1. If a screenwriter wants to pursue a story in the style of 'The Expanse' they would need to be tied to major events of galactic impact and I can only think of the first or second Thargoid war. Next challenge is: Who would be the protagonists? CMDR Jameson's may work for the first war but the second war was won by many people = us players. Whose story to tell here? Particularly as the Thargoids appear only as ships. That's not enough for a show which has to attract more than us few thousand players. Salome's story is a good one but probably not enough to fill more than 5-8 episodes.
2. Alternatively going the route of 'Firefly/Serenity': This would allow a group of protagonists in the way we players represent. Challenge here: Why would the Elite franchise be needed? Such stories can play in any sci-fi universe and do not require the special background of Elite lore. It would be even a backpack for the producers to be tied to the design of ships, stations, etc. without bringing any value.

 

[Born Free]

You should go watch Firefly immediate. You are not credible talking about space shows if you have not watched it. Not to mention the rest.

and the movie Serenity

 

[lysan]

IF there was ever a movie or TV series about Elite, I'd like to see it in the style of 'The Expanse' with a bit of lightheartedness of 'Firefly'. Besides the challenges of being a relatively unknown franchise and high production costs, the production would need to have a good (better: unique or at least: not boring) story grounded in the Elite universe. Which is a big challenge because it needs to be compatible to events in-game/in lore.

1. If a screenwriter wants to pursue a story in the style of 'The Expanse' they would need to be tied to major events of galactic impact and I can only think of the first or second Thargoid war. Next challenge is: Who would be the protagonists? CMDR Jameson's may work for the first war but the second war was won by many people = us players. Whose story to tell here? Particularly as the Thargoids appear only as ships. That's not enough for a show which has to attract more than us few thousand players. Salome's story is a good one but probably not enough to fill more than 5-8 episodes.
2. Alternatively going the route of 'Firefly/Serenity': This would allow a group of protagonists in the way we players represent. Challenge here: Why would the Elite franchise be needed? Such stories can play in any sci-fi universe and do not require the special background of Elite lore. It would be even a backpack for the producers to be tied to the design of ships, stations, etc. without bringing any value.

A Expanse type show would be fine, you could even make it like GoT as there are plenty of political background stories going on in the Elite universe, we don't need one protagonist, it could just like the Expanse and GoT follow multiple story lines that interconnect somehow, problem is the writers.

 

[SergMx]

It would be even a backpack for the producers to be tied to the design of ships, stations, etc. without bringing any value.

All right, here we go. I'm a fan of Elite, played 1-2-3 and now I'm old playing ED. Maybe I didn't translate your phrase correctly but then some Citizen can also be considered a normal game

 

[SergMx]

A Expanse type show would be fine, you could even make it like GoT as there are plenty of political background stories going on in the Elite universe, we don't need one protagonist, it could just like the Expanse and GoT follow multiple story lines that interconnect somehow, problem is the writers.

I watched the Andor series and I liked it. I remember trying to watch the series Expance, but I didn't like it, maybe I didn't watch enough?
Does it have the same scale as Elite and Star Wars?
Like Conflict Zone, where everything is crawling with ships?

 

[TLY400]

Well...there are very good science fiction series like The Expanse, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, but of course with intergalactic budgets. Then we have the example of some of the Star Wars series, where a large budget doesn't justify everything...in fact, for me, Andor, The Mandalorian, and Ashoka are the best, but the rest have spent millions and have been disastrous. Seeing what fan films have done with tight budgets, I would be more than satisfied if they did something with a good narrative even on a tight budget...and with a bigger budget, even if it was a cartoon like Cyberpunk Edgerunner that would boost game sales, that would also be incredible.

 

[Saltyseadog]

Don't know about a movie but here's a story. https://www.literotica.com/s/void-opals-and-a-slave

 

[Jinx Chrome]

A Expanse type show would be fine, you could even make it like GoT as there are plenty of political background stories going on in the Elite universe, we don't need one protagonist, it could just like the Expanse and GoT follow multiple story lines that interconnect somehow, problem is the writers.

a meaningful STORY is the core challenge.
To explain it with above examples:

• In 'The Expanse' it was mainly the protomolecule and how it affected the power balance of the solar system. Sense of wonder, political ramifications and personal stories were centered around it. The elimination of the protomolecule changed the balance of power greatly.
• In GoT, it was the invasion of the White Walkers, the birth of the Dragon Queen and how it affected the ongoing power balance of Westeros. Political ramifications and personal stories were centered around it. The end of the invasion and the death of the queen changed the balance of power - a bit.

Now to Elite:
What would you tell somebody when being asked what is happening in this universe if somebody asks you to explain the world of this game?

 

[Jinx Chrome]

All right, here we go. I'm a fan of Elite, played 1-2-3 and now I'm old playing ED. Maybe I didn't translate your phrase correctly but then some Citizen can also be considered a normal game

How is it a game? It hasn't been released, yet and we are talking about a potential movie/TV series.

 

[lysan]

a meaningful STORY is the core challenge.
To explain it with above examples:

• In 'The Expanse' it was mainly the protomolecule and how it affected the power balance of the solar system. Sense of wonder, political ramifications and personal stories were centered around it. The elimination of the protomolecule changed the balance of power greatly.
• In GoT, it was the invasion of the White Walkers, the birth of the Dragon Queen and how it affected the ongoing power balance of Westeros. Political ramifications and personal stories were centered around it. The end of the invasion and the death of the queen changed the balance of power - a bit.

Now to Elite:
What would you tell somebody when being asked what is happening in this universe if somebody asks you to explain the world of this game?

How would you explain the world of the world we live in? you pick a story you want to tell and go from there, the power game between the different powers, that is kind of GoT, then you create some characters who struggle at the bottom of the food chain and bring them together (The Expanse type) and let the story write itself, again only something a good writer can do that that's not me. However you got wars, diplomatic crises, back stabbing, Empire, slave trade, drug trade, aliens, there is enough for a lifetime of stories.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

A TV series would be ideal, but talented writers aren’t easy to come by. The Expanse succeeded because it had skilled writers and a strong foundation to build upon. However, producing a high-quality sci-fi show today would likely cost around $5 million per episode, so if one is ever made, it had better be exceptional right from the start.

The cost is ultimately the tricky bit, definitely. There are sci-fi stories you can tell with a much lower budget, but if you want enough CGI and other effects/location budget to do the sort of flashy spaceships, planets which aren't a gravel quarry in Wales, etc. that Elite's setting and aesthetic implies, the requirements add up pretty fast.

- if Frontier had spare tens of millions they could likely spend them a lot more productively and with a clearer return on direct development of Elite Dangerous
- if someone else has spare tens of millions it's not really clear what they get from the Elite setting that they'd want to spend some of them on licensing it (I think most of the licensed book authors covered their costs, but none of them are millionaires as a result either because the Elite fan base just isn't that large)

What would you tell somebody when being asked what is happening in this universe if somebody asks you to explain the world of this game?

Partly you don't need to. Star Trek was very popular but rarely focused on the galactic big picture of how the diplomatic relations between the various major powers were going, or involved new technologies with galaxy-changing implications. They came up occasionally but a lot of the stories were "the ship visits a new planet and stuff happens to them there" episodes without (at least in the original series) any long-running plot. Occasionally you find out things about the wider galaxy as a result, but all the work to tie those off-hand references into a more defined setting happened later. Lots of sci-fi series have worked in a similar way.

Avoiding looking too much at the wider setting details is probably a good thing for Elite fiction - it works fine if you're just dealing with that "weird things which happen to a pilot" sort of story, and the (rarer) attempts to tell epic sci-fi stories of galactic politics and war start running into plausibility issues very quickly because the high-level setting as shown in-game is complete nonsense. Which, sure, you can agree not to ask questions about in the interests of enjoying the work as-is, but it certainly means the setting isn't adding any value to the story.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

How would you explain the world of the world we live in? you pick a story you want to tell and go from there, the power game between the different powers, that is kind of GoT,

the power game is a nice background but not a story driver in Elite. I mean, look at it - we have some really bland politicians in Elite and almost no movement over a decade.

then you create some characters who struggle at the bottom of the food chain and bring them together (The Expanse type)

by accident, this group of people was involved into the biggest change in the solar system: getting into contact with the protomolecule. We don't nothing similar likethis protomolecule in Elite (the elusive Mars artifact, perhaps). Without the protomolecule, the story of the Roci and her crew would not have filled an entire season! I'd rather say a group of people like in Serenity. But let me emphasize again: Why on earth would I, as a producer use the burden of Elite universe create my TV series in it when it brings more design limitations than opening up new possibilities?

and let the story write itself, again only something a good writer can do that that's not me. However you got wars, diplomatic crises, back stabbing, Empire, slave trade, drug trade, aliens, there is enough for a lifetime of stories.

Aliens? Have you seen aliens in E: D? The last aliens I remember were the felines and lobsters in Elite 1. I've only seen their ships and drones.

I love the Elite universe like it is: a huge sandbox, playgorund for us players. None of us is really important in a way that we change the fate of the galaxy. We aren't Holden or Shepard or Skywalker. We are the Mal Reynolds and Zoes here and this is a pretty cool thing.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

Partly you don't need to. Star Trek was very popular

No - it was not popular. It became popular some years later thanks to syndication. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek

but rarely focused on the galactic big picture of how the diplomatic relations between the various major powers were going, or involved new technologies with galaxy-changing implications. They came up occasionally but a lot of the stories were "the ship visits a new planet and stuff happens to them there" episodes without (at least in the original series) any long-running plot. Occasionally you find out things about the wider galaxy as a result, but all the work to tie those off-hand references into a more defined setting happened later. Lots of sci-fi series have worked in a similar way.

Star Trek was more ore less the first series which had that being a new, fresh idea ('planet of the week'). It took more than another decade until it became a phenomenon (The Motion Picture, Wrath of Khan) and two decades until new TV series (TNG) followed. "Elite - the series" would need to find new ground to be interesting. If I can think of an idea which hasn't been serialised to death, it may be the Guardian story (rogue AI, etc.). And even that isn't exactly new.

Avoiding looking too much at the wider setting details is probably a good thing for Elite fiction - it works fine if you're just dealing with that "weird things which happen to a pilot" sort of story, and the (rarer) attempts to tell epic sci-fi stories of galactic politics and war start running into plausibility issues very quickly because the high-level setting as shown in-game is complete nonsense. Which, sure, you can agree not to ask questions about in the interests of enjoying the work as-is, but it certainly means the setting isn't adding any value to the story.

Absolutely agree.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

No - it was not popular. It became popular some years later thanks to syndication. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek

Sure. But almost all new things fail, that's how it goes. Getting to be popular eventually (and getting a few series before then) is still a lot more success than most sci-fi had in the 60s.

(Doctor Who probably has a few years prior claim to "sci fi planet of the week story", as a similar low-budget success-on-its-own-terms where the big setting backdrop got made up a lot later)

Elite - the series" would need to find new ground to be interesting. If I can think of an idea which hasn't been serialised to death, it may be the Guardian story (rogue AI, etc.). And even that isn't exactly new.

The difference between "story which works in a 2 hour film / 6 episode TV series" and "story which works when told gradually over 10 years of a computer game" is so different anyway that using any of the in-game plots would likely be a big mistake. (Quite a few of the earlier in-game plots didn't work that well for the medium either, of course)

We don't nothing similar likethis protomolecule in Elite

If you want a galaxy-changing-tech plot with stronger connections to the current ED setting, then the invention of the FSD in the 3290s is the obvious one, I think.

Changing from hyperspace and in-system travel being slow, taking weeks or months just to cross the bubble ... to the invention of a new type of drive which allows inter- and in-system travel in a matter of minutes and potentially crossing the entire galaxy in a week or so even with the early models? That's the sort of new technology where the surviving protagonists, having failed to stop it, see the explosions of the first FSD-launched surprise military assault as the inter-superpower cold war suddenly goes very very hot and all sorts of massive social and economic changes are on the way too.

(And, obviously, end the movie before any of the in-game 3300s reveal that almost none of that actually happened and life carried on much as before)

 

[metatheurgist]

the power game is a nice background but not a story driver in Elite. I mean, look at it - we have some really bland politicians in Elite and almost no movement over a decade.

I think the narrative direction of the game changed somewhere. The line that kicked the game off was "Hengist Duval is dead". It's a weighty line filled with potential. Succession, succession wars, pretenders, the possible overturning of the long stable situation with the Federation. Instead what we got was a damp squib and the galaxy turned over to PMFs.

 

[Rubbernuke]

ED is so generic but also filled with interesting points you could do almost anything.

Just off the top of my head you could do a modern Blake's Seven from the standpoint of a rebel system at faction level. You could bring in passenger transport (prisoners), galactic politics (who actually cares about your plight), stealing a ship (erm...a bit SC there ), engineering it (thus meeting engineers and possibly the jobs you have to do to build rep), sprinkle in nice capsule episodes (say, come across the cannibal dredger people in a bargain gone wrong, decide (stupidly) to explore a colony ship that has something bad in it etc, Thargoid attacks, pirates...all wrapped up in EDs ships, locations and stations.

The issue would be writing convincing characters as the danger will always be making the ships the stars (given they are the iconic parts of the game).