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I too would love to see a rifts movie. My concern is that like Dungeon and Dragons it will be all effects and little story.

Rifts is a game world that encompasses so many subgenres of fantasy and sci-fi that there is almost to much material to deal with. So many Character classes and villians. Then Tech and magic and mind powers. For a two hour film that is way too much chaff. It would get bogged down in its own wealth of material.

I suspect the real reason of Bruckhiemer's interest (and last I heard, Disney?) is the merchandising of the movie material and beyond. Which from a producers point of view in the modern movie world is worth a hundred times more than any monies made from the movie itself. In essence the movie is an expensive advertisement for the toys.

Disney will water the RIFTS world down to a barely watchable PG-13. When the RIFTS enviroment and Game themes are most certainly an easy R (restricted) rating.

A RIFTS movie, considering the wealth of adult themes present in the material, is easily a trilogy. But If the first RIFTS movie doesn't do a minimum box office of 300 million globally, it is unlikely, if they make one at all.

Oddly I personally believe that the RIFTS world would be better suited to a TV series which would allow you to explore the vast amount of material the game world has to offer. But the fact that it is Sci-fi and fantasy rolled into one... the live action production costs would be prohibitive. So your only option is to do it totally animated. But North American sensibilities towards animation still reside in the 1950's, so your animated series again will fall into the lame camp of stuff you see on the Cartoon Network.

Funny thing is... That the Japanese animation industry is the best bet for a true RIFTS themed TV series or movie to actually come to fruitition due to the more widely accepted and much more mature culture that the Japanese have for animation.

I think RIFTS would make for a fantastic japanimation style series... imported to North American audiances via Movie network or HBO or other specialty cable channel.

Well I hope Hollywood doesn't bugger up the huge possibilities that RIFTS represents. RIFTS could actually succeed were the more mainstream Dungeons + Dragons failed, if done right.

I have seen so much junk get made its not funny. a transformers movie from england not the optimus prime one, which was in a rifts setting with low budget actors they should have called it rifts I mean the entire movie felt it should have been called Rifts America rise of the machines. thinking about it the military were called the coalition as well. lol I think they read the rifts books and change the names around to be honest

sci fi/fantasy effects keep getting cheaper. And if the movie does well, a TV series is more likely.

Or an Adult Swim animated show.

i suppose everyone has a view or opinion of how the movie would go, but if you make it to short and not enough action. i.e. showing powers or characters everyone knows from campaigns we've all done or created ourselves.

the only idea i have would be to start the movie in the beginning with someone narrating or even just leaving it voiceless showing the world as the rifts open and destroy the earth and then show how everything started coming through and changing our planet, then jump forward to us interacting with our new found crazy planet with all the new crazy tech and magic and mind powers people and creatures now posses. maybe at or around atlantis would start a good story of how a man with a new class of character never seen before starts his life out, but he is born with the abilities and develops them and is hunted for it, idk. maybe even warp him to palladium and show him interacting there

just an idea.

he could even jump back in time and try to interact with us and try to change history so those rifts don't open up and tear the world apart...

Yes I do believe it will be made. May not be a 100% certainty but I believe there is a 98% chance that it will be made.

Ixnay on that last bit. If they do a "prevent the Rifts" story it should be a later movie, after they've established the setting and had a lot of bad stuff happen in-storyline. Just starting with it is too much too fast. Better to hold that arrow in the quiver for later. Also, warping to other game worlds first movie is probably also too much/too fast. Though they could have someone warp from that world, maybe give a glimpse of this other setting and set up fan buzz for a spinoff series.

So it's being made under Palladium skill roll rules?

Why not have the movie follow the travels and adventures of Erin Tarn? That would give those new to the game a real taste of what RIFTS is all about, as well as give the diehards their fix the oldschool way. Nothing like Erin Tarn for some good descriptions and a lot of travel.

Agreed... I think it'll happen, but not inside of 5 years... I'd hope within 10!

-Rifter6

I think it will happen WITHIN 3 Years. I would almost be willing to bet on it.

Any particular reason for this optimism?

Just Hopeful is all.

I give it even odds of getting made in the next 3 years depending entirely on whether the recession reverses course. The movie industry is bloated with talent but limited on funds right now. They are being picky about what they choose to produce at the moment. I haunt imdb and from what I can tell they are playing it safe for the next two years and producing a lot of recognized brands and remaking a lot of classics. Hollywood is likely to pick up the idea eventually as they turn virtually everything into a movie. I hope it comes during a year when some talented director is feeling like taking a risk though and not some hack. I feel a big name director--not the actors--is going to make or break this movie. I am hoping for some up-and-comers to take on the acting roles as I hope to see a various and diverse cast to represent the various and diverse world of Rifts Earth. Still, they should restrict the geography to eastern North America and try to focus on one pivotal event like the final battle of the Tolkeen War, the Juicer Uprising, or something of a similar nature to give us just a glimpse of the world. There is no way people can swallow all of Rifts in just two hours. They should be given a tantalizing view of a fantastic world of action and adventure that leaves them wondering what else is going on in this world.

I think some directors do their best work at the beginning of their careers. I also think new directors who aren't big names and who haven't spent years (or decades) trying to survive in Hollywood by commercializing their great ideas can do great things when given a big budget. Christopher Nolan wasn't a big name before he made Batman Begins, and Peter Jackson wasn't a big name before he made LotR.

Christopher Nolan: Memento
Peter Jackson: The Frighteners

They may not have been big names, but they already had respected works under their belts when they got asked to do a recognized title. I expect someone of that caliber for the Rifts movie.

I agree. Still, neither of those two were "big name" directors before their respective franchises. You said:

Perhaps I should have said "director of proven talent" rather than "big name director." My bad.

Just because a director has a big name doesn't mean they are talented. George Lucas is a big name: great idea man but a horrible director.

A New Hope was good. Not to mention THX-1138, which I thought was very good. But for the most part you're right.

After the loss of those movies I mentioned in a previous post, I'm feeling more than a bit pessimistic on the possibility of a RIFTS movie coming to the big screen.

I mean I want to see one happen so bad, I can almost hear the particle beam blasts, but with all the silly Hollywood superstition, jumpy investors, and gun-shy movie goers, it doesn't look good right now.

Basically, I've seen all these other promised movies (third Hellboy Animated feature dropped, Marshal Law movie dropped, Looking For Group animated movie is still in limbo) not get made due to one issue or another. Most involve the making of the movie depending on the popularity of another slightly similar movie in theaters at that time, which seems patently ridiculous to me. Just because one movie didn't do great, it doesn't mean another in the same genre won't be a box office smash. It all boils down to how well the movie is made, not what trends in genre popularity the critics are claiming to be true this week. Still, this is how Hollywood works. One bomb in a genre and they avoid it until the fallout clears a bit, which can take years and mean many great ideas get scrapped or mothballed.

Pardon my skepticism. I'm just frustrated and needed to vent a bit. I really want the RIFTS movie to be made.

You may be right. It could also be that right now isn't the right time for the RIFTS movie to be made. When it happens, I want it to be big and successful and happen right. I would rather wait ten years for a great film than wait 2 years for a bad one.

Lucas is a brilliant business man, a phenominal and innovative idea man that is far ahead of his time, and an amazing cinematographer. However, he is probably one of the worst writers and directors in Hollywood. Lucas should come up with ideas, and let other people bring them to life while he counts his money and laughs maniacally.

I think Rifts would make an incredible TV series or even a mini-series narrated by Erin Tarn, who only rarely, if ever, appears in actual episodes. Done properly it could end up being the next Startgate, meaning it could be on the air for multiple seasons and have several spin-off series. Making it as a big screen movie, would definitely mean bigger FX, but cramming the story and feel of such an expansive world/setting into 2 hours would likely leave it feeling empty, IMO.
I'd rather have smaller a budget with a more detailed world and an unfolding storyline.

You're entitled to that opinion, but I would MUCH rather see a film (coughtrilogycough). There's no reason why the movie has to go all over the entire world, or even the entire North American continent, in order to be expansive and extremely diverse. There are very few movies in which dragons get shot at with lasers by elves with bionic arms. RIFTS is extraordinarily diverse, and the film's success will have to do with the characters and the story, not how many different random things they can cram into it at once. A successful film franchise could result in as many as five or six GOOD movies, eventually.

That is assuming there will be more than one movie. If that is the case you are correct, the world would be better served as a big screen motion picture. Big budget and the opportunity to get a real feel for the world. I understand that you don't have to show the entire world, or even very many of the beings in the world for it to have the proper feel. However, I do think that a single 2 hour movie could not do justice to the setting.
A pre-planned trilogy like LotR could pull it off, but it doesn't seem possible to do properly in a single movie. I just don't think that the studios would be willing to green light a massive trilogy on a virtually unknown property. Of course that is just my opinion and we all know what they say about opinons.

I think a TV series like Firefly followed by a really good movie like Serenity would quench my thirst for Rifts media. I'd still want more, but at least I'd have something of quality to put on my movie shelf.

You can turn a movie into a trilogy pretty easily. You just have to make two more after the first one!

I had always wondered how that worked.

Yeah, that worked out real great for The Matrix, didnt it?

I counter your Matrix Trilogy with what will be, with the addition of the forthcoming third film, Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. There are plenty of successful franchises that treated each movie as its own film, rather than LotRing it.

The Matrix franchise earned around $2 billion worldwide, so yeah it did. It also worked for Lord of the Rings($2.9 billion worldwide), the Star Wars prequels ($3 billion worldwide), Back to the Future ($1 billion ww), Bourne trilogy ($1 billion ww), & Pirates of the Caribbean ($2.7 bil ww) among others.

Trilogies make money plain and simple. Hollywood execs wouldn't make them if they didn't think there would be ridiculous profit. So you can either have a single film that tries to be everything to every viewer and flops or a trilogy that has the room to accommodate every viewer. I personally think the single film approach would flop because there would be too much to explain to non-fans and then fans would get upset because the film felt rushed. I would prefer that they get the best team possible and plan an epic LotR style trilogy that can appease both fans as well as the mainstream movie goers.
Due to the heavy sci-fi & fantasy influence of the setting, Rifts will be a hard thing to sell to the average movie goer and fans of the game simply aren't numerous enough to warrant a big budget extravaganza. If they made one film geared at the fans, it may be great but would likely never earn what it cost to make the film. If they dumbed it down for Joe and Jane Average, all the fans would get upset and whine about it on the message boards. However, since there is already a proven formula to make a ton of money on a pre-planned franchise (LotR, Matrix), that gives the movie makers the incentive as well as the room to adapt it for the larger audience and still be able to add enough of what the fans want to keep us happy, I think that is the better alternative.

As for the single films becoming trilogies, there are tons of great movies where each film is treated individually. I just think, and this is my personal opinion, that a setting as epic as Rifts would be poorly served with close ended single film. Then you have to potentially deal with changing directors, writers, etc. If everything is locked in from the get go this becomes slightly less of an issue, though still a possibility.
If you look at Batman the basic idea is simple,a kid's parents get killed, he is psychologically scarred,decides to retaliate by becoming a symbol that criminals fear and bringing them to justice. The entire concept is something everyone can relate to, the character is exorcising his personal demons. Some could argue that Batman is part of a larger superhero universe and they managed to still tell his story, but to tell his story the larger universe is not necessary. If you ignore the epic setting of Rifts you miss the point entirely. The setting, the bigger megaverse is what makes it great, not a single character.
Rifts is a lot more complicated and doesn't focus on one man's journey. There are other dimensions, other galaxies and worlds, invading aliens, a reshaped Earth, demons, super powers, magic, etc. There is too much going on and if you tried to distill that down to something as simple as Batman it wouldn't be the same. They tried that with Dungeons & Dragons and look how that turned out, even though that setting is a little easier to simplify. The closest any movies have come to the scope of Rifts are Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and The Matrix.
Granted it would be better to have a tolerable movie that flops, than to have nothing, but the setting has the potential to be great. That's all I'm saying. I hate to see the opportunity wasted.
Anyway it goes the movie will probably never get made, though hopefully I'm wrong, and this entire conversation is nothing more than a friendly discussion between fans. Wishful thinking and crossed fingers.

That's a mistake. Without "a single character," a RIFTS movie would just be a really long montage of little shots and scenes narrated in one long monologue by Erin Tarn. A movie must have characters, or there is no story. Even "epic" and "complicated" movies that have big settings are ultimately about characters. Star Wars Ep. III is not about Mustafar, or about The Jedi Temple. It is about Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader, and about Darth Sidious/Supreme Chancellor Palpatine becoming the Emperor, and about the defeat of the Jedi. All of those italicized things are people; characters.

A GREAT movie could be made using about three main characters and set entirely in Chi-town and/or The 'Burbs. Or, we could jump around from Chi-town to the West to the Vampire Kingdoms to Tolkeen (or its remains) to Atlantis, but have a terrible story and thus a bad film.

You are absolutely right, without a main character(s) you don't have a movie, just a slide show. I didn't mean to imply that having characters was unimportant. Just as PCs are important to a Rifts adventure. My comment was meant to show that most licensed properties that become movies have central characters that are the focus before the movie gets made (Spiderman, Batman, Star Trek, Hellboy, Transformers, G.I. Joe and many others). On the other hand the Rifts setting kind of is the character, it is essential. Granted to make a Rifts movie you would have to create characters for viewers to relate to and to move the story along, but if you ignore the setting it just becomes a generic sci-fi movie. I just feel that a setting as massive as Rifts would be poorly served by a single movie that was set in one tiny part of it.

That would be like Star Wars taking place only in Mos Eisley, you completely miss out on the grand scale of the world/universe where the characters live. The representation of the power of the Empire is its reach throughout the galaxy. The fact that Tatooine is on the fringe of their reach helps convey that the Empire is not all powerful, which allows us to hope that those rebel scum will succeed. To me SW is far less complicated than Rifts, because all you really need to know about the SW(New Hope) setting is that it takes place on different planets/space, the Empire is evil, the rebels are good, jedi have powers and Luke is the messianic figure destined to save everyone. There is nothing extraordinary about the setting except that it is in space, which is only a minor part of the story that requires no deeper explaination.

Still using the Star Wars example, you are right on the money regarding how the characters' development and conflict was central to the story, but it took 6 live action films, to tell the story. If Lucas had stopped at New Hope, we would never know that Luke & Leia are siblings, Vader was their father, how Anakin became Vader, how their mother died, how the empire came to power, what the Clone War was, how epic the SW universe really is or what really happened to the Jedi.

Sure you can do Rifts as a single movie set in a single location, such as Chi-town and it might be incredible, but to me it wouldn't be a Rifts movie, it would be a Chi-town movie. IMHO a single movie, with no planned trilogy would end up one of two ways. a crappy movie that tries to cram everything into 2 hours or a good movie that is basically a generic sci-fi movie with the name Rifts tacked on it to bring in the fans. That would be a huge disservice to such a rich setting and a slap in the face to fans.
The D&D movies is considered by many to be a dark spot in D&D history and I just don't want to see that happen in a Rifts movie, which is why I prefer the idea of a pre-planned LotR style trilogy.
Not that it would ever happen or that anyone else's opinion about what would make a great Rifts movie is wrong. All of this is just my opinion, and preferences. I am no more right or wrong than anyone else on the board. Unless someone actually has psychic powers or some other means of seeing the future, we will likely never know how accurate we are about what would or wouldn't work.
BTW, if you are psychic or can time travel I would really appreciate it if you would share the winning numbers for the next Powerball drawing with me

Right.

Why the extremism? It doesn't have to be only one or the other. A single, small-scale movie, or an epic trilogy. There are plenty of ways to make a movie that feels epic without even having the story travel outside of North America. Also, there are plenty of ways to make a good trilogy without necessarily having Bruckheimer or the studio "guarantee" or pre-plan the second and third films. Also, Chi-town is Rifts. A "Chi-town movie" would be a Rifts movie. There is no movie (or trilogy, or even TV series) that will show everything or draw on material from EVERY Rifts book ever written by Kevin and the gang. Besides (if/when it gets made) of course it's going to be an epic action-adventure movie. You think Jerry Bruckheimer optioned Rifts so he could make a compelling crime drama out of it? Or a romantic comedy? Relax. If this movie happens, you WILL like it.

I don't expect it to show everything from every Rifts book made, but I do want to get a feel that it actually takes place in the Rifts world. I just think that will extremely hard in a single movie. Granted you are correct that a Chi-town movie is a Rifts movie, just as a Mos Eisley movie would be a Star Wars movie, but it just wouldn't given a sense of the larger setting. Now after the world is established a movie in Chi-town would be cool.
As for my extremism, I think I've just become jaded with Hollywood. They rarely do licensed properties justice. The tend to feel they understand the settings/characters better than the creators and fans, so they reimagine it and screw it up. Fans are left disappointed and we end up with a Dungeons & Dragons movie. I just think that a director/producer that would take the time to plan and design a LotR style movie using Rifts would be more inclined to try and do it right. Sure Jackson changed some things in the Ring trilogy, but he had enough respect for the source matierial to build the Shire and tried to make the movies feel right.

Movies get optioned all the time, that doesn't mean they will get made or that it will be done anywhere close to right. I absolutely would not be surprised to see them try and turn Rifts into a romance, which there will be some type of romantic relationship in the movie... that is a certainty. Hollywood seems to think you can not have a movie without sexual tension of some sort. Look at Batman, there is absolutely no reason to give him a romantic interest, yet the female love interest is generally a focal point of the movie. The character goes years in the comics and never requires a love interest, yet they can't make a 2 hour movie without one. Even the ridiculous D&D movie had to have one. I have played in only a handful of games over the past 20+ years where that has come up, yet it is a bit motivational factor in the movie. So yeah it will be in Rifts and there will be some kind of comedic relief.

A crime drama set in Chi-town would rock, IMO. I don't have an objection to them making a Chi-town movie. I just think that it would be necessary to express just how much the world has changed, not in any tremendous detail and not by some unseen narrator. Otherwise the average person is just going to see the movie as just another Sci-fi/post apocalyptic movie that they will soon forget.

But like I said in my previous posts, all of this is just my personal opinon. I'm in the mental health field, not the movie business so I have nothing to base any of my comments on other than past expreriences and opinons. Since everyone has different preferences it is impossible for there to be a correct opinion, even after the movie is made. Just like you said if they make the movie I will like it, or at least watch it over and over so I can complain about it. I've know a couple of people that think the LotR moives were a travesty and can not compare to the books. I found the books dull and tedious to read, but love the movies. On the other hand I find Monty Python to be hilarious and those same friends thinkthey are idiotic, which I keep trying to explain to them is the whole point. Everyone has different opinions.

Sounds like they have a big budget thing goin on here.

I feel I must agree about the need for a more expansive view of the RIFTS universe in the movie. If it were solely based in and around Chi-Town, it would give the average movie-goer the wrong idea about the RIFTS world.

Put yourself in the place of someone totally ignorant of RIFTS. You go see a movie about some futuristic version of Chicago, involving a Coalition of humans fighting against aliens and monsters. You might hear reference to magic or psi powers and you might see dogboys. Confusing, at least. A yawnfest, at worst. Either way, it's a bomb.

In order to convey the immensity and diversity of RIFTS, you need to follow a band of travellers. Maybe a merc company or "conventional party" of adventurers. That way the viewers can see the world from multiple angles: the Coalition, deebees, mages, psionics, and the difficulties faced in survival outside of big cities.

Yes, I also believe it would take more than one movie to properly show viewers just how huge and strange everything became after the coming of the rifts. You could no more cram the entirety of RIFTS into one movie than you could cram the Library of Congress in audiobook format onto a single CD. By trying, you'd only give people a tiny fraction of the big picture and leave them unsatisfied.

Three years later, it's safe to say they've nothing going on let alone something big budget

I'm curious if there's been any news Palladium might be able to leak without getting into potential trouble.

*crosses fingers, sits on the edge of his seat, and whispers "pleasepleaseplease"*

Hate to say it, but I'm not going to hold my breath anymore for a RIFTS movie. As much as I really want one to happen, it seems Disney, JB Films, and Hollywood, in general, just don't have the desire or drive to see it made. If it does happen, I'll honestly be shocked and amazed.

maybe an anime series would be good

Honestly, it's hard to say...

On the one hand, Disney is still holding onto the Rifts media license with an iron fist, having spent lots of money over the years to do so. So making the movie at some point would be in their best interests.
On the other hand, with the crazy amount of Avengers and Star Wars buzz, that will span the next several years, I'm sure it's not a priority for them by any stretch. They could just as easily be holding on to the license to keep it away from any competition.

And with Jerry Bruckheimer, one of the bigger advocates for the movie, having left Disney for wider pastures, there's a little less hope for a Rifts feature being released by Disney any time soon; unless he can somehow push to have it produced through Paramount...

Should the opportunity arise, I wouldn't be surprised if Palladium ever tries to get their license back; since they've been approached by many people over the years to create various projects based on Rifts (movies, games, animation, etc.), only to have them give up, when faced with the House of Mouse (Disney owns the rights to ALL Rifts related multi-media).

Only time will tell...

Disney just announced ALL of its movies for the next 4 years:

http://thechive.com/2015/10/31/disney-j ... h3gcl:pbjx

No Rifts

Heh. Yeah, they don't have a true monopoly, but they've absolutely cornered the market.

It's an interesting question of scale, really. There are levels of money that seem mind-boggling to the average person that are considered daily petty cash for a business. Not to denigrate Palladium in any way, but its budget for the decade is probably smaller than Disney spends on parking fees, just for the animators' work offices in Los Angeles. (supposedly a million a day, just in parking permits and fees)

Disney bought Star Wars for $4Billion, and it wasnt even considered a major buy financially for the company; by that I mean that while the Star Wars IP is a big deal, $4Billion is not "massive" for Disney today. 4 years prior (2009), Disney bought Marvel for the same price. In 2006, Pixar was a $7.6Billion purchase. And that still wasnt straining Mickey's wallet. In 5 years, they pumped out over 15 Billion dollars. With the same financial hardship you or I would show buying the kid a happy meal on payday.
The list of what they own and they have a net worth of @$179.5 Billion. Not that Im in any way speaking ill of them. But even if they are dropping double digit millions a year to keep the Palladium IP (which we can reasonably guess they arent, or Mr Sembeida wouldnt be having financial troubles. ever ) That still wouldnt be "a lot", for Disney, even though it would be for Palladium.

And that, respectfully, is my point, with all due respect to Apollo. That to suggest that Disney has spent "a lot to hold onto this" really is a subjective statement. To the House of Mouse, any monetary figure under 8 digits is a simple rounding error in the accounting. Millions of dollars is still pocket change to the company that could buy a significant portion of Africa with the monthly operating expense of any one of its amusement parks.

And lets face it, the Mouse is about to pull a Scrooge McDuck on the cash flow for the next few years. Even if Star Wars sucks balls in the worst possible way, it will still rake in enough bank to make us suspect unholy deals with Alien Intelligences. For comparison, Attack of the Clones, which, as the middle of the Prequel Trilogy was destined to suck the worst, and everyone knew it even before the film came out. Yet it still brought in about $6 for ever dollar spent making it. And thats just one trilogy. Then we have the Marvel Universe, which is still booming out block-busters. People are arguing about quality, but you cant deny the profit.

Disney doesnt have to experiment, or be edgy, or anything. They're sitting on cash cows and they know it. And then they can go tap Pixar and the other companies they've bought up to make anything Marvel and the Star Wars people dont have time for. When ABC studios isnt producing any tv specials or movies. Or they can just green-light yet another Kingdom Hearts game.

Its a shame, because there are so many stories that could be told. I could easily see this being more like the "Clones" cartoon, and an easy cash cow for everyone for a few years. But, well, Disney actually being responsible, and trying not to be too greedy. We can hope someone gets ambitious, but thats the only hope left, for now.

Yes, very true; though sadly, that's part of my point as well. For Disney to continue to hold on to the license, to them it's petty cash. For other studios that might be interested in acquiring the license from Disney (in whole or part), that petty cash is quite significant. Likewise, unless there's a particular project brewing, it's financially in Palladium's best interest to let Disney continue to option the license, even if they don't do anything with it; which of course makes it unavailable for other outside projects. An unfortunate catch 22.

Given that Disney really doesn't have to do anything with Rifts until they feel like it, we probably have a better chance of seeing a Nightbane or Splicers movie before Rifts.

Yeah. Total bummer. I suppose its in the better interests of PB to continue the status quo; they get something, Im assuming, for Disney squatting on the rights. While it may be frustrating for the fans, a guaranteed check is a nice thing to have, and I can understand Mr Sembeida not wanting to risk that, even if the economy is starting to improve.

Its a shame that no one is allowed to look at the agreement to see what other avenues of revenue generation are possible. Im reminded of the Star Trek film that started on YouTube (so it got around IP laws). As I understand it, it turned out so well the company bought it, sunk some more money for better production and clean-up, and its supposed to be hitting theaters soon.

I dont know if the secrecy is a gag order form Disney (which is actually unusual for them) or what, but if a few knowledgeable people were allowed to read the agreement to look for loop....I mean options, Maybe a way could be found to increase the needed revenue for PB.

Well... *ahem*...

I actually tried to pursue one such loop... "option" a few years ago, almost worked too, but unfortunately the risk-to-cost ratio was too high.
That being said, there's very little wiggle room when it comes to Disney's license - their legal department likes to keep things air tight.

It's not like contracts such as these are made public; but I would say that anyone that's been directly involved with dealing with the Rifts licence, is privy to the agreement, as needed.


As far as fan stuff goes, it's a complicated topic on many levels.

Palladium can't endorse any kind of Rifts film, fan-made or otherwise, as they would risk getting sued themselves by Disney.

Personally, I'd say if fans wanted to put together their own film, clearly marked as a non-commercial, unofficial, fan-film, go for it!
The worst that could happen is that Palladium or Disney might demand to take it down.

On the other hand, Disney didn't even flinch when the Rift MMORPG came out, not even to ask them to change the name. So I don't think they'd be too concerned with a Rifts fan film, especially with all the other Disney/Marvel/Star Wars fan stuff out there.

I didnt mean to sound negative, its just that a total gag order leaves ya grasping in the dark.
I know Palladium cant break the agreement. But even telling us what we cant do is a nudge, to the creative mind. And depending on who "leaks"....
Sorry, my usual hobby these days is politics and news, if ya didnt guess. Figuring out the "5 Ws" of spin is getting to be a constant habit.

Given the level of current tech, and the passion of the fans still here, it could be possible to set up some sort of animated episodes on Youtube or wherever.

Not that Im interested in helping; too much bad blood with past "fans" and the company itself. But I love to see people succeed and catch their dreams.

I hear ya.

It isn't so much of a gag order, rather than it pretty much comes down to Palladium can still do whatever they want internally with Rifts, but outside of that, Disney has control of everything else media-related regarding the license (including Youtube and any yet-to-be-developed media). There are some small avenues they'd be willing to negotiate, but as you might imagine the price is rather high (pocket change for them). Not much more to it really.

In fact, the project I tried to pursue was actually an animated web series, but between production costs and dealing with Disney, it became too costly and too risky to continue - even with the small loop-holes.

As far as fans go, they can also still do their thing (under fair-use), but whether Disney decides to enforce any kind of cease & desist is ultimately up to their whims, as it is with any fan creating anything Disney-related.
Like I mentioned, fan-art in general has become increasingly unpopular with the big companies, especially now that fan-created content has become more common-place and more available. There has even been more and more talk of banning fan art from major conventions. Many fans and artists are unhappy with it, but these license holders are completely within their rights to protect their copyrighted characters/worlds.

Best bet for fans looking to create something for public media: Make it Rifts-ish. Be inspired by the Rifts setting, but whatever you want to put out there, make it your own.

As far as Palladium/Disney goes, I think when the time comes to renew the contract, I hope it's on provision that Disney actually starts doing something with it during a particular time frame (like 20th Century Fox had with the Fantastic Four). Here's hoping...

Or who knows... I'd love to see a Nightbane movie. Hey studios... Get on that!