Lord Inquisitor 3D Movie could be Licensed?
January 19, 2012 by brennon
A while ago we posted about a non-profit fan film being made called The Lord Inquisitor. The trailer (which you can see above) was spectacular but many assumed, as is normally the case, that Games Workshop would shut this down before it was even off the ground. It seems the tables however have turned.
Writing on the blog for the film, Erasmus detailed how he had been waiting for news from Games Workshop, expecting the worst. But he was pleasantly surprised to find that instead of wanting to shut down the project, they were in fact more interesting in getting behind it!
"So GW really wants to see this project finished and they want me to have a kind of license that allows me to make non commercial Warhammer 40.000 movies. I mean, how cool is that? I never thought that GW would be so cool to this project and this is beyond my expectations – now I don’t have to hide anymore with this project, but can look in a proper future for Lordi."
Erasmus goes on to say that while this is great news, nothing is set in stone yet. Games Workshop have fiddly IP protection at the best of times, but it would be fantastic to see this outstanding project make it to completion.
All we know for sure is that Warhammer 40,000 fans have been wanting a great film for their hobby. With the failed Bloodquest film over a decade ago, the Ultramarine film which didn't quite meet the expectations of its critics and countless closed down projects over the years this could be a glimmer of hope.
Have your say below in the comments. What do you think of this latest fortuitous turn of events?
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Fingers firmly crossed for this!
That change in attitude could be one of the biggest pro GW developments yet!
And the new Rulebook that is comming O.o . Maybe the Mayas are right about 2012 O_O.
Oh yeah, 2012 is when shit gone get real.
Also: The modeling, the animations… damn, this trailer is stelar. Not just stelar, the quality is like head -> Xplosion! If that guy menages to produce the whole thing in that standart he will win the internet.
Is it April 1st already?
Well, it’s a step in the right direction for them anyway
Awesome. Nicely done GW. This could make up for ultramarines the movie too.
Someone instituted a “Let’s Not Be Nobs” policy in regards to our IP and product? Congratulations to them for doing the right thing.
Of course, someone just got fired of course for the above policy change…
You may not believe me but i just though yesterday about it O_O. Maybe i’m a Pysker 😀
Amazing … they did not find some common sense, have they?
Yes please! If they could keep that production quality it’d blow the doors of Space Marine.
The big advantage Lord Inquisitor has is that he’s not German. That’s what stopped a public release of the the live action Exterminatus fan film, germany has some awkward IP laws that mean if you create something you own it entirely, so GW would have had an IP conflict that would mean going to court unless Exterminatus was never released.
Of course you can hunt down a copy of Exterminatus online if you try, but the crucial point is that it was never officially released by the original team.
I am very pleased to hear this news. GW have had a long policy of being jealously protective of their IP – and understandably so. It’s a big business. I think that in this particular case they have made the right decison to endorse this work by Erasmus & co as the production value of this project so far has exceeded many expectations. I own the collectors Ultramarines DVD and although it’s not unwatchable, I do agree it is still not what the fans had been hoping for. The screenplay was very basic and the scope of the 40k universe… Read more »
Looks like Games Workshop have learned from the Damnatus Debacle. That’s awesome, and I’d be fascinated to see what happen with GW and fan movies in future.
I think the Damnatus thing was more to do with German copyright law than that they were opposed to fan movies.
Looking good but I’m not expecting too much
As one of the 3d artists that has been working on the project with Erasmus for the last 2 years, this came as surreal great news. Everyone on the team is more motivated than ever with all the support the project has gotten from fans, and now GW. Now only if they hired us and we could do it full time instead of after our days worth of work at a studio already ^.^
-Ben
@dabenzstao8 I really hope it is all true and that GW wishes to give you the green light. I think you guys deserve it for all your hard work. Also it will be a sign to all us gamers that we can contribute to the 40k world and not be hit with IP notices every time.
I don’t think that will ever happen. It simply seems they are impressed by this particular work and are making a very rare exception because of the quality of the production thus far.
Looks really good but am I the only one bugged by the voice acting? Doesn’t fit 40k imo.
Yep, me too… It looks stunning, but the voice acting needs work….
This is fantastic news. Especially when a private non-profit guy can create something better visually than Codex Productions did for Ultramarines… Not to slate it but there was room for huge improvement.
Amazing looking visuals but the voice acting was just pathetic (even for an amateur production) and the writing even worse.
The story sounds ok though so if someone with two weeks of writers class could pick up and not make it sound like something a bunch of junior high kids wrote over the weekend it would be great.
if you follow us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/The.Lord.Inquisitor we address a lot of the fans comments in regards to storytelling and voice overs etc. Its a good way to stay updated on the project and where things are going. After a ton of emails in regards to the positions that opened up on the team i.e. story writer position, those concerns should be covered with the new team members. Originally the team was comprised of just 3d artists no one claims to be professional writers and Erasmus a German native tried his best to get something across as clear as… Read more »
visuals are good, acting was not the best so glad to hear you may have some solutions in the pipeline
could it be by looking at their latest financial forcast that GW are making less money by actually selling models, and more from the use of their IP? so getting as many movies/games etc on board could be a way for GW to continue
Really stoked to see this film has got more or less a green light. Very interesting to see how things develop 🙂
Well done to all involved so far!
A film exclusively about the Inquisition and inquisitorial forces… Welp, there goes all of my money.
it better not be as dry as the Ultramarines movie!
Has potential though!
Well, it could be the same thing as there was with the german fan made 40k movie “Damnatus” http://www.damnatus.com/
GW siad they are allowed to do it, there was even an article in the german whide dwarf about it, but after they have finished it GW forbid them to release it.
Wasn’t part of the reason for that to do with the way the Damnatus crew handled the use of the Aquilla, which lead to international copyright issues.
The voices aren’t British enough… everyfink else looks great!
OMG.
A single person is acheiving better results than the whole team of Ultramarines The Movie. oO
Please correct me if I’m wrong the article states: “they want me to have a kind of license that allows me to make non commercial Warhammer 40.000 movies”
Doesn’t this mean that he can put al his time in this project and make the coolest movie eEEEVVVEer , but he’s not allowed to make any money from it? Obviously he has put money into this project, so unless I’m mistaken this isn’t something to be happy about.
Hope I’m wrong though.
there has been no money put into this at all, and making money has not been the intention of the film at all since day 1. All work done by Erasmus and the rest of us has been purely volunteer. Its a fan made animation for fans, thats all…
Really, no money put into it? that’s even more awesome. I’m sorry if I came off sounding like a jerk. it wasn’t my intention, just that when I read the article I assumed you are putting in all the hard work and GW is the only party profiting which wouldn’t be fair (to me). I really hope you finish this awesome work and it is a big success and with GW endorsement how could it not be.
True, but your time has monetary value. 🙂
Its all good wasnt trying to insinuate you being a jerk ^.^ Just wanted to clarify it though because that has been one of the most surprising things about the project is that a lot of us work at studios by day, and Lord Inquisitor at home by night. Instead of modeling some miniatures and painting em up as hobby time, we model in 3d, and paint textures and shaders 😛