Waiting for "Elite Dangerous - The Movie"

[Cosmo]

Sure, I liked Blakes' Seven too. Lots of corporate/military dystopia sci-fi settings exist.

Elite is absolutely space-fantasy, though. Every single question about "and how would this new technology affect people?" is answered with "mysteriously things would work exactly as they do in the 21st century, except the things which work exactly as they did in the 17th". It's a setting designed (and this isn't a complaint!) as a flimsy excuse for having personal spaceships.

Elite is absolutely not space-fantasy, it is far more grounded in reality, based on technology and science which makes it science-fiction. The aliens look and act alien rather than humans in costumes (star trek Klingon, Vulcan, Romulan, Andorian, Cardassian etc) There are no Jedi, Sith (Star Wars), spice superhuman powers (Dune), nor gothic knights with power-armor and fantasy deities (Warhammer).

Right, but then you're running the purpose the other way round - Elite is being attached to the movie for Elite's benefit, rather than for the movie's benefit, and Frontier definitely does not have the spare cash to part-fund a big budget sci-fi movie with top name directors and writers as a publicity stunt.

No, Elite is a rich enough universe that stands out as a setting for sci-fi stories. Again, Frontier would sell a license for a movie, live-action or other type of production. Such as Games Workshop does not finance the live-action Warhammer 40k series (Amazon does). CD Project Red did not fund The Witcher Netflix series etc.

Games Workshop also sells licenses for video games and received much revenue in 2024: "Licensing revenue from royalty income increased in the period by a whopping £18 million (approx. $21.9 million) to £30.1 million (approx. $36.7 million). Earned income, which is the key figure here, was £26.1 million (approx. $31.8 million), up from £5.9 million (approx. $7.2 million), an increase Games Workshop said was mainly from Space Marine 2. 98% of Games Workshop’s total licensing revenue came from PC and console games (Space Marine 2 launched on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S)."

As for the rest of your long essay, agree to disagree.

The problem is no one outside this forum knows this property, there is no one outside this forum clamouring for media about this IP.

Lots, if not, most ED players do not use these forums. For example various Japanese manga were unknown internationally until they produced anime. Some were adapted as video games. You don't know who is clamoring for this IP. There are probably a couple since Elite is one of the most well known space game series.

 

[willisit]

A movie IN the Elite universe is possible. Much like Dune, The Expanse, Star Wars, Trek.. no reason why not... but The Expanse has a lot of parallels and struggled as a TV show, and worked much better than a movie would have. So.. I'd say, no - but I'm still to read the books, so I'm not seeing the "interesting characters" we'd have.

 

[Cosmo]

A movie IN the Elite universe is possible. Much like Dune, The Expanse, Star Wars, Trek.. no reason why not...

Seconded.

but The Expanse has a lot of parallels and struggled as a TV show, and worked much better than a movie would have. So.. I'd say, no - but I'm still to read the books, so I'm not seeing the "interesting characters" we'd have.

There's a couple of key characters in the Elite Dangerous timeline, as well as the Powers. Characters can be created for a live-action, movie, comics etc.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

Elite is absolutely not space-fantasy, it is far more grounded in reality, based on technology and science which makes it science-fiction. The aliens look and act alien rather than humans in costumes (star trek Klingon, Vulcan, Romulan, Andorian, Cardassian etc) There are no Jedi, Sith (Star Wars), spice superhuman powers (Dune), nor gothic knights with power-armor and fantasy deities (Warhammer).

[...]

Apologies when I contradict again but in current Elite Dangerous (with Odyssey) are NO aliens ever depicted. All we see are their ships.
Going back in time, the aliens which I am aware of are those (and some felidae)

Second: I want to have an explanation why there is gravitation of pizza boxes and trash in outposts. And I wont' accept 'magnetic boxes' nor 'so dirty that it sticks on the bulkhead'. Elite is lovely and nice but it had its fair share of handwavium.

 

[metatheurgist]

Elite is absolutely not space-fantasy, it is far more grounded in reality, based on technology and science which makes it science-fiction. The aliens look and act alien rather than humans in costumes (star trek Klingon, Vulcan, Romulan, Andorian, Cardassian etc) There are no Jedi, Sith (Star Wars), spice superhuman powers (Dune), nor gothic knights with power-armor and fantasy deities (Warhammer).



No, Elite is a rich enough universe that stands out as a setting for sci-fi stories. Again, Frontier would sell a license for a movie, live-action or other type of production. Such as Games Workshop does not finance the live-action Warhammer 40k series (Amazon does). CD Project Red did not fund The Witcher Netflix series etc.

Games Workshop also sells licenses for video games and received much revenue in 2024: "Licensing revenue from royalty income increased in the period by a whopping £18 million (approx. $21.9 million) to £30.1 million (approx. $36.7 million). Earned income, which is the key figure here, was £26.1 million (approx. $31.8 million), up from £5.9 million (approx. $7.2 million), an increase Games Workshop said was mainly from Space Marine 2. 98% of Games Workshop’s total licensing revenue came from PC and console games (Space Marine 2 launched on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S)."

As for the rest of your long essay, agree to disagree.



Lots, if not, most ED players do not use these forums. For example various Japanese manga were unknown internationally until they produced anime. Some were adapted as video games. You don't know who is clamoring for this IP. There are probably a couple since Elite is one of the most well known space game series.

GW sells the license because 40K is stupidly popular. Witcher is a popular book series that became a popular game. Sapowski sells the rights to make media. No one is buying ED's IP.

Manga was produced for the Japanese market. Anime was made for the Jap market because the manga was popular. It leaked to the rest of the world and gained more popularity.

There is nothing popular about ED. If they had made something more than an average game it might have been popular. No one is making any professional level media for ED, not even comics.

Frontier don't have the resources to finance this stuff themselves as a marketing exercise. No one is knocking on FD's door to pay them to use ED's IP. If they were Frontier would be talking about it in their Fin reports and press releases.

You said it yourself, Amazon is not knocking, AppleTV is not knocking, WB is not knocking, Netflix is not knocking. No one is.

 

[SergMx]

Apologies when I contradict again but in current Elite Dangerous (with Odyssey) are NO aliens ever depicted. All we see are their ships.
Going back in time, the aliens which I am aware of are those (and some felidae)
View attachment 414875

Second: I want to have an explanation why there is gravitation of pizza boxes and trash in outposts. And I wont' accept 'magnetic boxes' nor 'so dirty that it sticks on the bulkhead'. Elite is lovely and nice but it had its fair share of handwavium.

The world of Elite1 and the following Elites starting with Frontier, which were based on the real galaxy, are somewhat different.
I remember in the Dark Wheel novel, the pirates were trading Tharogoid children ...

 

[Phoenix_Dfire]

The thing about Elite is that us as players are really nobodies.

We're not Luke Skywalker, or Starbuck and Apollo, maybe Han Solo before he got involved in the Rebellion.

Any story would have to be small scale, personal. It's only in big groups that change to powerplay or the BGS is made (which is normal for a MMO).

Guess we're just one step up from a NPC. ;-)

 

[Jinx Chrome]

The world of Elite1 and the following Elites starting with Frontier, which were based on the real galaxy, are somewhat different.
I remember in the Dark Wheel novel, the pirates were trading Tharogoid children ...

Your memory is right. But my post was about explaining that there are no aliens depicted in Elite Dangerous. I replied to the poster who claims that: "'Elite is absolutely not space-fantasy, it is far more grounded in reality, based on technology and science which makes it science-fiction. The aliens look and act alien rather than humans in costume [...]"

 

[SergMx]

Your memory is right. But my post was about explaining that there are no aliens depicted in Elite Dangerous. I replied to the poster who claims that: "'Elite is absolutely not space-fantasy, it is far more grounded in reality, based on technology and science which makes it science-fiction. The aliens look and act alien rather than humans in costume [...]"

I see your point, that's why I wrote that it's all quite correct provided Elite1 is excluded from the list.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

I think Elite is too complex to make sense in a movie, but a limited series about the first Thargoid war could be excellent viewing, as the lore is already there and written

 

[Cosmo]

GW sells the license because 40K is stupidly popular. Witcher is a popular book series that became a popular game. Sapowski sells the rights to make media. No one is buying ED's IP.

Games Workshop sells the license because they are a capitalist corporation and it's easier to sell a license than to make it yourself. Games Workshop doesn't develop video games nor movies in-house. There is interest for various Elite adaptations. For example Reclamation by Drew Wagar was "The original and officially licensed novel based on Elite and Elite Dangerous by Frontier Developments."

Manga was produced for the Japanese market. Anime was made for the Jap market because the manga was popular. It leaked to the rest of the world and gained more popularity.

The manga was produced in Japan, but only became popular internationally when they adapted it to anime. It was not only meant for the Japanese market. So the lesson is something quite unknown can become popular when the adaption is good. Elite has enough lore and characters to turn it into a movie, anime, manga, comics etc.

 

[SergMx]

Games Workshop sells the license because they are a capitalist corporation and it's much easier to sell a license than to make it yourself. Games Workshop doesn't develop video games nor movies in-house. There is interest for various Elite adaptations. For example Reclamation by Drew Wagar was "The original and officially licensed novel based on Elite and Elite Dangerous by Frontier Developments."


The manga was produced in Japan, but only became popular internationally when they adapted it to anime. So the lesson is something unpopular and unknown can become popular when the adaption is good. Elite already has enough lore and backstory to turn it into a movie, anime, manga, comics etc.

I don't really remember at least one movie from the W40K universe, only cartoons.

 

[Cosmo]

I don't really remember at least one movie from the W40K universe, only cartoons.

Amazon Prime Video is producing a live-action 40k series with Cavill. There's also a couple of fan-made 40k movies. Similarly, Amazon financed the costs of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2 seasons).

I think Elite is too complex to make sense in a movie, but a limited series about the first Thargoid war could be excellent viewing, as the lore is already there and written

The Elite lore is not more complex than Warhammer 40k. Well Amazon, Netflix or HBO could make an Elite series.

Your memory is right. But my post was about explaining that there are no aliens depicted in Elite Dangerous.

The Thargoid ships, spires, barnacles are part of the aliens. Thargoids in person could be made by the studio artists for a live-action series. Fdev would approve the designs.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

I see your point, that's why I wrote that it's all quite correct provided Elite1 is excluded from the list.

Sorry for my misunderstanding!

 

[metatheurgist]

The thing about Elite is that us as players are really nobodies.

We're not Luke Skywalker, or Starbuck and Apollo, maybe Han Solo before he got involved in the Rebellion.

Any story would have to be small scale, personal. It's only in big groups that change to powerplay or the BGS is made (which is normal for a MMO).

Guess we're just one step up from a NPC. ;-)

And this is the contradiction with ED. We're nobodies that somehow decide who runs systems with our Uber side-gig and will soon decide which systems the human race will choose to colonise. DB had it right from the start, someone took it off the rails.

Games Workshop sells the license because they are a capitalist corporation and it's much easier to sell a license than to make it yourself. Games Workshop doesn't develop video games nor movies in-house. There is interest for various Elite adaptations. For example Reclamation by Drew Wagar was "The original and officially licensed novel based on Elite and Elite Dangerous by Frontier Developments."


The manga was produced in Japan, but only became popular internationally when they adapted it to anime. It was not only meant for the Japanese market. So the lesson is something quite unknown can become popular when the adaption is good. Elite has enough lore and characters to turn it into a movie, anime, manga, comics etc.

And another capitalist corporation will want to make money of the IP they buy off Frontier. They will want something that has brand recognition, something people will buy. ED does not have the same popularity as 40K, nor a Henry Cavill pushing it. It is a bad buy.

GW does not make movies or video games not because it is "easier to sell the license". They are just smart enough to stay in their lane - which is making miniatures war games. If you know GW you know they are greedy snakes that want all the money. If they could do it all themselves and take the money they would.

Drew Wagar is not Amazon, Netflix or Apple. He's not a corporation just one self-publishing writer. Anyone can write fanfic, just check the RP subforum.

Popular manga was made into anime in Japan. The popular anime leaked out because its reputation got out to the rest of the world. There are heaps of failed manga in Japan that goes nowhere - this is ED's level of popularity. For ED to even be considered for a movie it had to be a Helldivers 2 level hit - it's not.

The only way an Elite movie is getting made is if someone on this forum wins the lottery and for some reason decides to make an Elite movie. In that case I reckon Frontier will waive the license as long as they can review the script and make sure it's not totally crap. Buy your lottery tickets!

 

[Cosmo]

And another capitalist corporation will want to make money of the IP they buy off Frontier. They will want something that has brand recognition, something people will buy. ED does not have the same popularity as 40K, nor a Henry Cavill pushing it. It is a bad buy.

It doesn't have to be an already well-known franchise. Some buy licenses of lesser known franchises because they see the potential.

 

[Daniel Cloudsifter]

Elite Dangerous is a great universe and setting. I would compare it to the Star Wars universe.

The problem is the latter started with stories that built that universe and ED has a universe and "blaze your own trail." Yes, there are the PP figures, major events from Galnet, etc. But what will the narrative be?

I would love to see a well written series in this setting (like the Expanse), focused on a small group of commanders and ???? How they interact with the large events? Their dealings with various minor factions? That is the problem here: great setting but what do you want to focus on?

There are 20000 inhabited systems in the bubble alone! I have no idea how many BGS minor factions there are. There is a LOT to work with, but whomever makes a series (or series of movies) is going to need a focused narrative AND a way to introduce the audience to the setting. I truly wish someone would offer to license this universe and write a good series, but I doubt it will happen.

One only needs to look at how Disney+ is wasting what they have with the Star Wars franchise (disclaimer: I am NOT a hard core fan of Star Wars). The Acolyte was boring and disruptive to their narrative. Skeleton Crew (the latest), expanded the lore slightly, but the end result was ??? Every character in that show - save for Jude Law's Jod and that owl creature - was boring. What the bad guys tried to do in the end was beyond dumb and the series ends with, not a cliff hanger, but a "what was the point of this series?"

Honestly, the only way I see this working is someone writing a very good novel series set in this universe - fully blessed as canonical by FDEV - with a tight focus on good characters and interesting story. Once that is done, then the film makers might pick it up and do something with it.

Elite Dangerous doesn't lend itself to a good translation like the Fallout games to Fallout series had. Those games had a strong narrative (not blaze your own trail sandbox), developed world lore, and the setting wasn't far removed from real life (alternate Earth/timeline but similar to real life). I'm not saying it can't be done with ED, but someone is going to have both the motivation and focus to do it. I think Drew Wagar's second book was the closest we've got with ED and a lot of people on these forums dismiss it. So again, I'm not optimistic.

 

[Markov Chaney]

It's a 400 page space opera* novel with 5 star reviews which all say it's a great read even if you never heard of Elite. That's all good news ...

... it's still only no. 4,079 in the charts. There's a whole lot of notable novels well above it that would have to be not made before anyone coming in with funding is going to look at this universe. That's exactly the point.

It would be interested to think about how say Andy Weir or Ernest Cline broke out of that cycle (I honestly don't know, hope someone here does!)

* according to Amazon

 

[krazmuze]

The thing about Elite is that us as players are really nobodies.

We're not Luke Skywalker, or Starbuck and Apollo, maybe Han Solo before he got involved in the Rebellion.

Any story would have to be small scale, personal. It's only in big groups that change to powerplay or the BGS is made (which is normal for a MMO).

Guess we're just one step up from a NPC. ;-)

And that is what Fallout show did. They took the archtypical characters a player could be . They did not have any named lore character from the games as a main, the characters was your pc. The game was only a setting. You had a trio with different stories that each played the way a character would. The fresh shelter escape looking for dad, the wannabe power armour squire and the ghoul wanderer not realizing he was seeking redemption.

That is far better than master chief showing his head and when that was not enough they showed his butt. Established chars Hollywood ruins.

There are so many factions and worlds use different settings on different worlds and careers interacting with lore setting is the way.

But Hollywood wants known ip that is a hit already. Amazon Prime can be more obscure with ip...and lower budget using game cut scene level cgi.

But I have no doubt iron man was not a success because dying comic book fans came to see it. The vast majority have no idea who these comic book chars are. They took obscure chars not a batman or superman that everyone knows. Nobody knew who the space raccoon and tree guy was either it was just a good movie

 

[o2thaZ]

(....)
Second: I want to have an explanation why there is gravitation of pizza boxes and trash in outposts. And I wont' accept 'magnetic boxes' nor 'so dirty that it sticks on the bulkhead'. Elite is lovely and nice but it had its fair share of handwavium.

Maybe they learned from the Chinese.
They have open containers with water in it and it doesn't float away.

Handwavium is real.