LootHunter: But that's exactly the point. Those who try to smear Cavill ARE Hollywood elite (or at least Hollywood elite wannabe), so they want to distance him from Hollywood as much as possible. After all, drugs, alcohol or mental issues are common and understandable addictions, they deserve compassion. Games? Much more videogames? That's something most people are still weary of.
Tokyo_Bunny_8990: Yeah. And somehow Ezra Miller still has a career despite doing heinous things. Hell, there are fictional supervillains that are less evil than Miller. Nevermind the fact that Hollywood still loves Polanski despite being a convicted p*** r*****.
Telika: It would break a bit the specificity of WH40k, though, and make it some sort of run-of-the-mill Doom, Aliens, Starcraft thingy. What's amusing with WH40k is this full-fledged, tongue-in-cheek, ironic fascism. Where every stance is outrageous, and badassery becomes its own caricature. There's something inherently satirical and hopeless that would be lost if one side is reduced to the conventions of general public consumable heroes. That's why I think that it'd require bastardization beyond the point of retaining its originality. This originality being situated in that commercially cumbersome place.
That being said, yes, it could become its own thing, and, who knows, a thing of value (like the movie james bond is fun in its own right, or the cartoon teenage mutant turtles can define a franchise of its own). But... well,
I mean...
Tokyo_Bunny_8990: It sounds like WH40k is similar to Starship Troopers in that regard. Audiences missed the point of that movie by a country mile though.
The tv show could be its own thing but I do think a cynical and dark storyline with no heroes could work. Might hurt Cavill's image after playing good guys like Superman (but would be good for his long-term career) and we do seem to be shifting to sci-fi being the new craze. Regardless, the story has to be good or people wont continue.
My impression of Cavill is that he would rather stay true to the franchise and have a smaller but dedicated viewership number than a billion mainstream viewers, since making it mainstream means pleasing the mainstream media, ... and we all know what they demand by now., and what the dire results are. He has experienced for himself directly what happens when you try to please the mainstream in Hollywood.
The fans do of-course understand the darker and more sinister themes of Warhammer.
Judging by recent movie events it's clear that the gap or discrepancy between mainstream movie critics and the actual consumers is probably the biggest it has ever been, nobody trusts their opinions anymore (apart from Hollywood and politicians). The mainstream critics opinions doesn't seem to have much if any effect on actual moviegoers or viewercounts, on the masses.
I think the Starship Trooper movie's mistake was that it did not go far enough at the start of the movie to make mainstream viewers understand the underlying theme or concept. Perhaps they could have marketed this idea better or clearer as well, before the movie's launch. So how they market Warhammer is crucial, its how you prepare or educate people who are unfamiliar with a franchise.
I'm thinking of the recent Dune movie as well. It too explores similar "facist" and hierarchal or feudal ideas, yet the director and writer managed to make the viewer accept or understand this from the beginning, what the movie is going for.
After the success of the Dark Souls franchise and related games, as well as shows like Game of Thrones, a larger number of people are more open to darker themed movies or tv-shows than when Starship Troopers was released.I think people are more "educated" in this regard, it's not as niche anymore to be into horror and more darker themes.