You are chosen to direct a Fire Emblem movie. What would be the script?

[defensedefumer]

Imagine you are tasked to direct a Fire Emblem movie to attract newcomers to the franchise.

A) What would be the rough storyline?

B) Who would you cast?

C) How would your movie be different from yet another generic medieval fantasy flick?

Discuss in the replies below!

[Atlos]

A) Either Fe4 of Fe5

B) No clue

C) I might not have a good ending

[Gordin]

Well movies have to be around 2 hours so we can't choose 3h or sth bec that'd be incredibly rushed so I'll just choose sacred stones because it's short and would be an emotional rollercoaster

[Etrurian emperor]

I can't believe I'm saying it but I'd take something....urgh Archenean. 

The Archenean saga seem like decent movie materials. They are self contained while the scenarios are so common that anyone could relate to them after a brief introduction. 
Just make a combination of Camus and Nyna's story, and that of Hardin and Minerva. The former story shows how war affected the capitol and the later shows how it affects the countryside. And considering Camus story ends with Nyna being send to Hardin it makes sense to show what he was up to.

[Fabulously Olivier]

If live action, Sacred Stones. Short, intimate plot. The protagonists connection to their enemy would sufficiently set it apart. I'm not going to bother with extensive choices for casting, because I'm sure my choices would be terrible. But I do want to say Elizabeth Olsen as Eirika.

 

If animated/CGI, Path of Radiance, with each character's Heroes VA. Laguz transformations would not look good in live action/CGI blend.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Fabulously Olivier

[vanguard333]

If it has to be live-action, I would probably adapt Shadow Dragon into a three-part movie series like The Lord of the RIngs.

A) Part 1 would cover the prologue up to beating Jiol (which would be changed to happen earlier), then part 2 would end with retaking Altea, and part 3 would be Marth defeating Grust, Macedon, Gharnef and Medeus. I would use the movie format as an opportunity to expand upon the main characters using the outline that's already there in Shadow Dragon and Mystery of the Emblem. For some examples:

• Since the game had Jiol (and by extension Gra) betray Altea out of cowardice, Part 1 would have the climactic siege involve a duel between Jiol and Marth where Jiol reveals that he was threatened into betraying Marth's father by Gharnef (who would be mentioned in passing a few times, but this would be the moment that reveals his involvement in the war). Jiol still refuses to surrender, however, believing that he's doomed unless he kills Marth. He is ultimately killed, but Marth doesn't feel any relief from the traitor's death like he thought he would; instead he just silently weeps. A big part of Marth's arc in part 1 would be that he only sees the war in terms of reclaiming Altea and defeating Dohlr, and realizing that he needs to grow out of that mindset and see the larger picture of what's going on. This moment is the moment where that really sinks in. 
• I would give Medeus and Gharnef a greater presence in the story, even without them necessarily having to be on-screen. Gharnef would be popping in and out every now and then to try to manipulate things in his favour, and Medeus would be confined to Dohlr Keep (as leaving it would kill him due to him not being fully revived, which is the reason Gharnef intends to use the Aum Staff and a captured princess to accelerate his revival), but he would still have a few scenes before his big battle. One scene I had in mind was that we see him personally punish Camus for freeing Nyna, scoffing at Camus' reasons, and then convincing him to be loyal to his kingdom. This scene would be used to give insight into Medeus since we don't really get his backstory until Mystery of the Emblem, and here he would reveal to Camus, "I once picked my heart over my kingdom (when he became a manakete and helped Naga seal away the maddened earth dragons), and it led to my kin being sealed away and my people being trampled on by you humans." It would also expand upon Camus' "were my heart my master I would side with you, but I must think of my kingdom" reasoning for not siding with Marth and Nyna. 
• Speaking of Medeus, every scene with him in Dohlr Keep would have him and/or Gharnef noting, "Only three years left until the seal is broken" as a sequel hook for New Mystery of the Emblem, with Medeus at one point saying, "Why couldn't you just choose to become manaketes? Why then, of all times, did you let your pride cloud your jusgements?" This is to hint that Medeus and Gharnef both want to unleash the Earth Dragons upon humanity with them believing Medeus will be able to control or at least guide them. Perhaps, if a film of New Mystery were made, I would have Gharnef taunt Gotoh by screaming, "The seal is broken! [...] From the first day you taught me, Gotoh, I knew you were a dragon that lost your stone! How does it feel to know that everything you and Naga sacrificed was for nothing! Tell me, teacher! How does it feel?!"

B) I would probably try to cast a lot of newcomers for the younger roles and more experienced actors for older characters like Jiol, Gharnef, and Medeus. I can't think of anyone specific that I would cast.

C) For one thing, since it's a Fire Emblem film, there would be a lot of heavy emphasis on the war. And, unlike Lord of the Rings where they're fighting Always Chaotic Evil Orcs, it is made abundantly clear that the heroes are fighting people; people who may not be opposing them by choice. Also, even if it's live-action, I would still want to maintain the aesthetic of the games as much as possible. For example, if possible to do so without it looking silly, I would give the characters their different hair colours. 

What do you guys think? Seriously; I would appreciate feedback since I'm currently writing my own fantasy war novel. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by vanguard333

[Topaz Light]

Hmmm... My answer would likely be different if I were allowed to make a Fire Emblem "TV" series (either animated or live-action), but if I were to make specifically a Fire Emblem movie, I'd probably want to pick something that'd require the least butchering and trimming to adapt into that format, while also being able to stand on its own as a story reasonably-well with minimal adjustments. That in mind, I can narrow it down to a few existing Fire Emblem stories that seem to me to be reasonably well-suited to this:

• Just Lyn's Tale, by itself, from Blazing Blade
• The Heirs of Fate DLC story from Fates
• The Cindered Shadows DLC sidestory from Three Houses

Another possibility that comes to mind would be making a story out of the first and fourth Archanea War Chronicles episodes and expanding on that; basically a Shadow Dragon prequel movie about Nyna that leads into the War of Shadows storyline. This wouldn't really have a very conclusive ending by nature, but I think it's a part of the larger story that could be told pretty competently and completely through a linear, non-interactive medium like cinema.

Overall, I think Lyn's Tale might be the best in terms of how well it could survive the translation to a different format, since the plot itself is fairly simple and doesn't require much exposition to make itself understandable, so less runtime would have to be diverted away from just telling the main story. It also has a main cast that's... small by Fire Emblem standards (15 main group members by the end including Mark and Ninian) and really only one major villain. If leaving them in is found to be an issue, it would be easy enough to replace the Black Fang with either bandits or Lundgren loyalists and excise Chapter 7x along with them. If I'm allowed to make it a series of multiple movies, I'd probably retain the Black Fang's presence in Lyn's Tale and expand the project out like so:

1. Lyn's Tale (Prologue to Chapter 10)
2. Eliwood & Hector's Tale - Through to the Dragon's Gate (from Chapter 11 to Chapter 19E)
3. Eliwood & Hector's Tale - Remainder (from Chapter 20E to the end of the game)

I'm not really sure about casting, since I'm really not well-versed in live-action film actors outside of the people who are kinda too well-known to not be aware of, like Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, etc. and ideally I'd strongly prioritize actors who could play the characters well over "star power", as it were. In an animated movie, all official voice actors would reprise their roles where applicable. Assuming the movie is being made in English originally, it would be fun to have the official Japanese voice actors dub over their characters for a Japanese voice track, if possible.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Topaz Light

[whase]

An entire Fire Emblem plot made into a movie, I just can't imagine that going well. Even cutting it into three parts won't work for me, because if the first part wouldn't have a satisfying end, there may never be a sequel.

I'm going to say something that may sound controversial; I believe Lyn's story would make for the best FE movie. It's not a complicated story, the cast isn't too large, and there won't be too many plotpoints that need to be cut out to make a self contained movie of 90-120 minutes. Only problem is Mark, let's just cut them out.

My opinion changes if it's a series instead of a movie. For a series I'd love to see Binding Blade.

Also, an FE movie would be different because it won't be yet another fantasy media using elves and dwarves, getting kind of tires from always the same fantasy "races".

[vanguard333]

1 hour ago, whase said:

An entire Fire Emblem plot made into a movie, I just can't imagine that going well. Even cutting it into three parts won't work for me, because if the first part wouldn't have a satisfying end, there may never be a sequel.

Also, an FE movie would be different because it won't be yet another fantasy media using elves and dwarves, getting kind of tires from always the same fantasy "races".

That's the reason why I said my Shadow Dragon three-part film would have the first part have Marth vs Jiol (the king of Gra who betrayed Marth's dad) as the climax, with the addition that Jiol claims he was threatened into betraying Altea by Gharnef, and the battle would make it sink into Marth that the war is a lot more than, "Defeat Dohlr and reclaim Altea". Do you think that would be a satisfying enough end if done well?

That is true, and I'm also tired of elves and dwarves, which is one reason I promised to myself that I wouldn't use elves and dwarves in any of my own fantasy stories that I'm writing; I would use faeries (the Celtic Folklore kind of faeries, not the butterfly-winged kind) and stuff like that that doesn't see as much use. 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Adapting an existing game is a pitfall. Fans will hate it on first trailer when we see the movie's star in a blue wig. Even worse if we see the star WITHOUT his blue wig. Make a new story with new characters. The one exception is if it's a story that falls within the lore of an existing game, such as the Scouring, the First Exalt, etc that doesn't involve the protagonists of said game. Moviegoers are used to doing their homework when it comes to Cinematic universes.

Doing an animated movie is yet another, bigger pitfall. 97% of the cast of Fire Emblem is humans, the rest are shape shifters that at least appear human outside of battle. Shooting humans is always easier and the result is better than drawing, animating, then voice acting them. And even among fantasy properties, costume design in Fire Emblem is way more tame than your average anime.

But if it was my movie, it's a totally original story and characters. Think of Fire Emblem's core elements: the pretty boy sword lord, the girlfriend with a secret to hide, a Macguffin that unleashes an ultimate evil ("some say it's called...the Fire Emblem"), and dragons in the final act. Hire an accomplished, senior actor as the Jeigan, and somebody that can really mug for the camera as the "gharnef" that summons the dragon. So that cast list in order is em... well the "Marth" really ought to be somebody unknown for this sort of movie, then Tessa Thompson (we've already seen her on a pegasis in the Marvel movies), Jeremy Irons, and Willem Dafoe. You need an adorably sassy manakete girl so that the little ones in the audience have somebody to connect with as she busts down a fortress. Two comedians that work well together as "Cain and Abel" and can ride a horse. Two young, sex icons as the snide archer and voluptuous thief/myrmidon woman that flirt throughout the movie but never end up together. I think when the costume designs are good in these medieval movies, the sexual energy on screen is inherent, so you gotta harness that at least a little for the teens in the audience. Also since it's a Fire Emblem movie, one major character must die by the end.

And if it's a tv series, take all my suggestions, but nix the expensive actors in favor of newer, younger, more diverse people that look good making out with each other. Because now it's a CW drama. Trust me it'd make millions.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Glennstavos

[Yexin]

2 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

The one exception is if it's a story that falls within the lore of an existing game, such as the Scouring, the First Exalt, etc that doesn't involve the protagonists of said game.

a movie which is a prequel to PoR and RD, focusing on Altina, Soan and Deghinsea fighting the Dark God, would be amazing imo

this way, you have a good reason why Ike, Micaiah & Co. aren't part of the story (although, knowing that the movie would have a pretty bad ending, you could let like Altina have something like a vision of a positive future with Ike, Micaiah & Co. just a moment before dying (this would not cause plot-holes because she wouldn't manage to tell anyone))

also, the whole story would fit the length of a movie, if well handled, because you have very few restrictions as to what you absolutely must show, everything else would be completely made up; plus, a prequel like this would probably make many fans happy

so yeah, that would be my FE movie

[Faellin]

Sacred Stones feels the best to adapt to a movie. Due to its length, and great character arcs in those short time windows with Lyon and Ephraim. And the whole route split isn't really long enough where it would be a problem to fit into a 2 hour movie.

Also a shadow dragon movie would work due to the simplicity of its story. But I would say sacred stones would be better due to better story and character writing.

3 houses and fates are just entirely out of the question because of their multiple story lines would just make it impossible to fit into movie form without skipping over major points of each route.

[Samz707]

9 hours ago, whase said:

An entire Fire Emblem plot made into a movie, I just can't imagine that going well. Even cutting it into three parts won't work for me, because if the first part wouldn't have a satisfying end, there may never be a sequel.

I'm going to say something that may sound controversial; I believe Lyn's story would make for the best FE movie. It's not a complicated story, the cast isn't too large, and there won't be too many plotpoints that need to be cut out to make a self contained movie of 90-120 minutes. Only problem is Mark, let's just cut them out.

My opinion changes if it's a series instead of a movie. For a series I'd love to see Binding Blade.

Also, an FE movie would be different because it won't be yet another fantasy media using elves and dwarves, getting kind of tires from always the same fantasy "races".

I think Mark could work (Granted, with a personality transplant and turning him into a full on normal character essentially) with maybe him telling Lyn about Bern and other parts of Elibe while Lyn tells him about Sacae as a way of explaining the world (Alternatively, Ron Pearlman Narrator who turns out to be Merlinus as I shamelessly steal a joke my friend made "Wares, wares never changes.") 

I definitely think people should die, maybe not in Lyn mode but definitely some of the cast should die, Like maybe Fiora or Kent die, probably mostly "Would have appeared in FE6" Characters, since you never know if an FE6 adaption will be made so it'd be probably wise to make it easier for that.

Also I kinda like the idea (Admittingly biased since it happened in my playthrough and I thought it was cool) that Nergal should be about to kill Eliwood or something during that final battle but then Rebecca or some other lowly commoner with a ranged attack actually finishes him off and saves the day. (I think the "Power of Teamwork!" thing works better when it's actually possible for dumb regular people with a relatively regular weapon to make a big difference.)

If Ninian being revived is kept, this explicitly is what kills Bramimond. (maybe he actually dies quicker than Anthos in this version.)

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by Samz707

[whase]

18 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

That's the reason why I said my Shadow Dragon three-part film would have the first part have Marth vs Jiol (the king of Gra who betrayed Marth's dad) as the climax, with the addition that Jiol claims he was threatened into betraying Altea by Gharnef, and the battle would make it sink into Marth that the war is a lot more than, "Defeat Dohlr and reclaim Altea". Do you think that would be a satisfying enough end if done well?

Sounds like it could be done well enough, I guess I'm not too familiar with Marth's story anymore to really judge this. (Time to play FE11 again?)

18 hours ago, Yexin said:

although, knowing that the movie would have a pretty bad ending

I know Altina's story isn't the most happy one, but I wouldn't call it a bad ending. Also, Altina did not have any future-seeing powers, it'd be best to leave that to Lehran or their child.

I do wonder how that movie would pace though, sounds like the big fight would have to be in the middle of the movie for any of the politics afterwards to come into play. Or the battle would be before the movie and it's a romantic movie about the love between a Beorc and Laguz? Or mainly an action movie of Altina rising to the status of a hero ending in defeating Yune? How do you think this works best?

[vanguard333]

8 minutes ago, whase said:

Sounds like it could be done well enough, I guess I'm not too familiar with Marth's story anymore to really judge this. (Time to play FE11 again?)

Thanks for the input. 

I think Shadow Dragon would be best out of all the games because Marth's story is so barebones in the first game (it was really New Mystery that added a lot of worldbuilding and such, and that stuff can't really be put into Shadow Dragon because they were big reveals in New Mystery), which would give a good outline upon which I could expand and explore the stuff that's plot-relevant and leave out a lot of stuff that isn't. Stuff like the Pyrathi chapter could be completely removed without harming the film or upsetting fans too much. 

I do think Fire Emblem is far better suited to TV shows than movies, and if I could make a show, it would easily be an almost 1:1 adaptation of Path of Radiance, but this thread is asking about a movie, so I said what I would do if asked to make a movie. 

 

20 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

Adapting an existing game is a pitfall. Fans will hate it on first trailer when we see the movie's star in a blue wig. Even worse if we see the star WITHOUT his blue wig.

Who says it has to be a wig? A small studio whose name I can't remember is making a short film based on events in that recent fantasy novel Chronicles of Everfall: Shadow of the Conqueror, the protagonist in that book has blue hair, and they say in their videos about the short film's production that they've found a dye/tint that would have the effect without it looking silly.

[defensedefumer]

Personally, I was thinking that a film covering the first half of Path of Radiance would be suffice, with a reduced number of characters.

I can imagine Greil, played by Liam Neeson (or a similar mentor actor) leading his mercenaries with his son Ike, his daughter Mist, his crew of Titania, Soren, Rolf, Shinon and Gatrie. Titania shares some horror stories involving the 4 riders of Daein.

During the invasion of Crimea, Crimean Princess Elincia offers to pay for safe escort to the Begnion via Gallia. After a split vote, Greil accepts the contract. During a risky prison rescue led by Ike, they free a wondering swordswoman called Mia and she joins them. Greil is killed by the Black Knight in the rescue mission.

After burying Greil, Shinon and Gatrie leave as Elincia cannot pay them upfront. More stories of Greil is told by Titania. Finally the mercenaries escape an ambush by Daein soldiers led by Jill, but the ambush fails due to the unexpected presence of laguz. Isolated from her men, Jill surrenders to Ike and Ike allows her to join them.

The story ends when the king of Gallia, Caineghis, grants them passage to Begnion to meet Apostle Sanaki. He sends Lethe to accompany them. 

***********************************************************************************

If the movie does well enough, it can get a sequel.

Things that will make the movie unique would be the presence of laguz, and a grid-based map whenever a battle ensues. Furthermore, the hit percentages can be displayed during the fight scenes. The weapon triangle can also be introduced in the lore.

[joevar]

8 hours ago, defensedefumer said:

The story ends when the king of Gallia, Caineghis, grants them passage to Begnion to meet Apostle Sanaki. He sends Lethe to accompany them.

its always tricky for a movie nowadays to end with cliffhanger, unless the source is novel with so many recognition already. But i can see that happenng if Netflix pick it up
So im leaning towards tv/anime series, since you cant bring out personalities for the cast in short time, and differentiate it enough with another fantasy medieval adventure

[Mylady]

A) What would be the rough storyline?
Hentai

B) Who would you cast?
Everybody 

C) How would your movie be different from yet another generic medieval fantasy flick?

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

On 10/5/2020 at 1:08 PM, Glennstavos said:

Adapting an existing game is a pitfall. Fans will hate it on first trailer when we see the movie's star in a blue wig. Even worse if we see the star WITHOUT his blue wig. Make a new story with new characters. The one exception is if it's a story that falls within the lore of an existing game, such as the Scouring, the First Exalt, etc that doesn't involve the protagonists of said game. Moviegoers are used to doing their homework when it comes to Cinematic universes.

Doing an animated movie is yet another, bigger pitfall. 97% of the cast of Fire Emblem is humans, the rest are shape shifters that at least appear human outside of battle. Shooting humans is always easier and the result is better than drawing, animating, then voice acting them. And even among fantasy properties, costume design in Fire Emblem is way more tame than your average anime.

But if it was my movie, it's a totally original story and characters. Think of Fire Emblem's core elements: the pretty boy sword lord, the girlfriend with a secret to hide, a Macguffin that unleashes an ultimate evil ("some say it's called...the Fire Emblem"), and dragons in the final act. Hire an accomplished, senior actor as the Jeigan, and somebody that can really mug for the camera as the "gharnef" that summons the dragon. So that cast list in order is em... well the "Marth" really ought to be somebody unknown for this sort of movie, then Tessa Thompson (we've already seen her on a pegasis in the Marvel movies), Jeremy Irons, and Willem Dafoe. You need an adorably sassy manakete girl so that the little ones in the audience have somebody to connect with as she busts down a fortress. Two comedians that work well together as "Cain and Abel" and can ride a horse. Two young, sex icons as the snide archer and voluptuous thief/myrmidon woman that flirt throughout the movie but never end up together. I think when the costume designs are good in these medieval movies, the sexual energy on screen is inherent, so you gotta harness that at least a little for the teens in the audience. Also since it's a Fire Emblem movie, one major character must die by the end.

And if it's a tv series, take all my suggestions, but nix the expensive actors in favor of newer, younger, more diverse people that look good making out with each other. Because now it's a CW drama. Trust me it'd make millions.

Honestly I doubt that if there's ever a live action, they will wear coloured wigs. Their hair would be normal, not even dbz movie had wigs.  It will be similar to the live action trailer but with a better quality in... everything. 

Lyn is blonde here but I think in a serious live action of FE7 the actress would need to look Asian since she is Sacaen. But after all it's a fantasy ethnicity so they can look whatever the director want. They put a blonde girl so the developers don't care for this stuff. I think live action Fire Emblem with a good budget, good writing and good directors could be similar to game of thrones, regardless of the game adapted.