D&D: Wrath of the Dragon God Interview
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To learn more about Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God before its release on DVD next week, we fired off a dozen questions to the movie's co-writers, Robert Kimmel and Brian Rudnick. Our questions and their answers to follow:GB: For those who aren't familiar with Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, can you give us a brief description of the movie's storyline, setting, and characters?
Robert and Brian: The story is about Damodar returning as one of the undead to seek his revenge on Ismir. His plan is to release Falazure, the God of Undead Dragons, from his millennia long imprisonment inside a mountain. In return Falazure will fulfill Damodar¹s dream of vengeance. A party of five adventurers sets out from Ismir to stop Damodar¹s scheme.
GB: Does the sequel tie in with the original Dungeons & Dragons movie or is the storyline completely different?
Robert and Brian: This movie takes place one hundred years after the events in the first D&D. It¹s was originally conceived as a sequel but during the development process a decision was made to have this movie be more of a stand alone adventure, similar to a module in the world of D&D. We kept some of elements from the first few drafts, like Damodar and setting it in Ismir, but cut most of the other tethers to the first movie.
GB: How did you become involved with writing the storyline for the movie and what previous movie work have you done?
Robert and Brian: We had done some work for Silver and the Producer of D&D knew that Brian was a big fan of Fantasy and had experience as a game player. The Producer asked us how we would treat a sequel to the first movie. He must have liked our ideas because we were subsequently hired to write the screenplay.
GB: Tell us about your personal experience with the Dungeons & Dragons game. Have you played or DMed a lot of campaigns in the past? How about D&D computer or console games?
Brian: I started playing D&D in my early teens. At that time my appetite for anything related to Sci-fi or Fantasy was insatiable. I read everything -- Donaldson, Herbert, Brooks, Asimov, Howard -- you name it, I read it. Over the next few years I spent a lot of time in basements, drinking Mountain Dew, eating Chee-tohs and adventuring through places like the Demonweb Pits (died), Tomb of Horrors (died), and DMing my own campaigns. I kind of left D&D during my college years, but have recently picked it up again. I am now in a game with Cindi Rice, the Entertainment Agent for Wizards of the Coast (we worked together very closely on this project). In between I kept abreast of things by playing RPGs on the computer. Diablo II, Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur¹s Gate are my favorites.
GB: Why was the decision made to release the movie directly to DVD? Would you have liked to see it hit the theaters first?
Robert and Brian: Writers are not involved in distribution decisions.
GB: Briefly detail each of the main characters and the roles they play within the movie.
Robert and Brian: The main characters are Damodar, who returns as a Corpse Creature, Berek, a human fighter and Melora, a Mage who is studying to become a Mystic Theurge. The supporting Characters are Dorian, a cleric of Obad-Hai, Ormaline the Elf Wizard, Nim the Rogue, and Lux the Barbarian.
