How Would A Warriors Movie Work? by Goosewing

Goosewing ponders the script of the first Warriors movie. 

Artwork by Wayne McCoughlin

Warning: If you don’t like lists then you probably shouldn’t read this because I list A LOT here 🙂
Now, ONTO THE ARTICLE:
Okay, so, as soon as I heard there was going to be a Warriors movie I was worried. I love the idea of a Warriors movie, but the likelihood of it panning out isn’t high, at least pulling from previous experiences with book series –> movie adaptations. I mean, think of The Golden Compass, Ender’s Game, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Guardians of Ga’hoole. Even though I enjoyed some of these movies, none of them grossed well in theaters well enough to warrant a second movie–and even if they had, what would they’ve done? The producers took these long, complex series and condense them into one movie that could in no way compare to the book’s charm. Even if the Warriors movie doesn’t end up squeezed into one film, it could end up like How To Train Your Dragon. Which is nothing like the series! It’s a completely different story! I loved the How To Train Your Dragon’s books and, while I do have a lot of affection for the movies, I was really disappointed when Dreamworks produced a movie that only had a vague trace of the series I loved.
But, while I do think there are a lot of things going against a Warriors movie, it has some promising aspects too. For one, the producer for the upcoming Warriors movie is the same producer for the Harry Potter movies (a very, very, VERY successful example of a series correctly adapted to a film–or, films, in this case) and I’m sure he has the knowledge needed to tackle this project. For another, the plot points of the book are very clear. There are a few others, but I have a headache and don’t feel like listing them off (the aforementioned are the most important anyway).
Now, moving on to the main topic of this article: how would a warriors movie work?
There are a lot of ways, actually. Let’s start with the starting point. Now, we could try to kid ourselves into thinking they weren’t going to choose Into The Wild as the starting point, but we all know deep down in our hearts that there is no escaping Firestar. (Side Note: I actually think Bluestar’s Prophesy would be a good starting point–it could stand alone as its own movie and if it went well it would be a strong preface for a movie series based on the first arc. But it’s not going to happen).
How they progress is where it get’s more tricky.
My fear is that they’re going to try and push all of the first series into one movie. Which, yes, is completely possible to do, but only if they cut out huge chunks of the plot they deem unnecessary. Things that are likely to get cut out include:
— Ravenpaw (I’d hate for this to happen, Ravenpaw is one of my favorite characters, but it would be very easy to replace what he contributes to the overall plot)
— Graystripe x Silverstream (I think this is very likely to happen due to the fact that the movie would probably want to center around Firestar and Sandstorm’s romance)
— Yellowfang’s importance (I don’t think they’re going to completely get rid of Yellowfang, she’s one of the major ties between ThunderClan and ShadowClan, but I’m sure they’ll cut many of her scenes. The fact that she’s Brokenstar’s mother will likely be hacked, as well as the period of time when Firepaw was caring for her since there isn’t really anything visual going on)
— Spottedleaf’s “romance” with Firepaw (I’m skeptical about this, I don’t think they’re going to completely get rid of her and Firepaw will probably still have a connection with Spottedleaf, but I think the romance aspect of it could–and probably should–be cut)
— Lionheart’s Deputyship (I’m like 95% sure they’re just going to make Tigerclaw deputy after Redtail’s death, it would be an easy way to save time)
— Whitestorm’s Deputyship (if Graystripe never becomes mates with Silverstream then there’s really no reason for Firestar to not name him deputy immediately, other than his lack of experience and possible accusations of favoritism)
— Cloudtail (you can probably figure this one out; while I like Cloudtail most of his personal plotline has very little to do with the main plot of the story and could be easily taken out)
— Firestar and Onewhisker’s friendship (I’m gonna stop explaining things now :P)
— Possible the whole WindClan debacle all together ???
— BloodClan (which would make Tigerstar the main antagonist of the series)
— Smudge
— Other things that I’m probably forgetting
But, in the ideal world, the whole series wouldn’t be shoved into one measly hour. In fact, I actually think that the first book works perfectly as a movie.
For those who don’t remember, we start with Rusty entering the clans and end with him a full-fledge warrior sitting vigil with his best friend Graystripe, right after they ran Brokenstar out of ShadowClan camp. But we’re also left with the knowledge that Ravenpaw has run away from the clans in fear Tigerclaw, who is most defiantly a threat to ThunderClan’s safety. I think it’s great ending point for a movie, I can already see the fade out of Fireheart and Graystripe sitting by the camp entrance and the way the sunset gleams from their fur as they watch look over ThunderClan as newly-minted warriors.
But, if this isn’t the route they decide to take (which is likely due to past experiences), then I think the best way to break up the series would be to have Into The Wild through Rising Storm be the first movie and A Dangerous Path + The Darkest Hour be the second movie (to do this I think they would have to move a few things to the hypothetical second movie in order to stretch it out a bit, since there would only be two books to go off of in the second movie).
The reason I think Into The Wild-Rising Storm would make a good first movie is because Rising Storm ends on a very interesting note. We already know how how Into The Wild ends: Fireheart and Graystripe are now warriors. Here are the other plot points that would follow if the movie ended in Rising Storm:
— Fireheart and Graystripe bring WindClan back to their territory (although this could be cut out)
— Graystripe “kills” Whiteclaw and we are introduced to Leopardfur (likely to get cut out)
— Fireheart and Graystripe are given Brackenpaw and Cinderpaw as apprentices
— Graystripe x Silverstream (I’ve already voiced my thoughts on this)
— Princess gives Cloudkit to Fireheart (now that I think about it they’ll probably either keep either Cloudtail or Graystripe x Silverstream and then chop the other since they both happen at the same time. My bet would be on Cloudtail staying since Fireheart needs an apprentice in order to get the deputyship later on)
— Fireheart and Sandstorm’s relationship starts blossoming (this is one of the plot points that I think would be pushed to the second movie–they could make their relationship kind of flirty in movie 1 then confirm it in movie 2)
— Fight for Sunningrocks (this whole battle wont happen if Silver x Gray is gone, since it’s basically there to test Graystripe’s loyality–also if the clans aren’t fighting over sunningrocks we’ll finally know who tHEY RIGHTFULLY BELONG TOO !!!!)
— Brokenstar’s rouges attack ThunderClan camp and Brokenstar is held hostage (if they cut Yellowfang being Brokenstar’s mother they might just have them kill Brokenstar earlier on and not have him come back to cause issues)
— Sandstorm and Dustpelt are made warriors (I don’t think they’ll include there ceremony, just have like a time skip or something and then they have warrior names and someone mentions that they had a ceremony or something)
— Cloudkit Fernkit and Ashkit sneak out of camp (will probably be cut regardless of whether Cloudtail is around or not)
— RiverClan and ShadowClan attack WindClan together (they get rid of the first time WindClan are run out of their territory and save it for here, combining the two)
— Tigerclaw is named deputy
— Cinderpaw gets her injury (there is also an option [if Cloudtail isn’t there, that is] in which Cinderpaw does not get injured and instead Brightpaw is taken care of by Yellowfang after she’s hurt by the dogs and later becomes Yellowfang’s apprentice in place of Cinderpaw, who becomes a warrior–this would make it so Fireheart didn’t have to take another apprentice and it would give Brightheart a happy ending since Cloudtail wouldn’t be there her after her injuries)
— Tigerclaw betrays Bluestar and Bluestar banished him from ThunderClan, thus leading to Bluestar’s mental decline
— We find out about Bluestar’s kits in RiverClan
— Cloudpaw being kidnapped (if he makes it to the movie–and, even if he does, I feel like this a part that could get cut with no reprocussions)
— Fireheart is named deputy
— Graystripe moves to RiverClan to take care of his kits after Silverstream dies (if Gray x Silver happens, that is)
— Cinderpelt (or Brightheart, if that actually ends up happening) heals Littlecloud and Whitethroat (another scene that will probably be cut — the bad conditions in ShadowClan can be shown earlier when Fireheart and Graystripe rescue the kits after Brokenstar steals them)
— Goldenflower gives birth to Tigerclaw’s kits. It might get cut out, or saved for the second movie
— That whole scene where Runningwind and Whitethroat die is almost defiantly going to be cut since it isn’t important and I hardly remember it happening
— The fire happens (may get cut–and if it does happen I don’t think the Bramblekit part will happen or possible the Yellowfang part… also more cats might die in the fire but idk)
— Fireheart leads the patrol to the gathering and discovers that Tigerclaw is now leader of ShadowClan
I think this makes a good story, although there is a lot of stuff going on and I’m sure a lot of side plots would get cut because of it. I think it’s good because it has a solid ending–Fireheart is able to prove himself as a formidable leader and earn the respect of his clanmates by taking charge during the fire, and yet at the same time Tigerclaw, who was just driven out of ThunderClan, is now the new leader of ShadowClan! And while not an ideal ending, it holds a lot of power.
**Forest of Secrets would be my second choice for a splitting point–the book ends in Bluestar’s death and Fireheart’s appointment to deputy. The reason why this isn’t my first choice is because it ends with a lot of unknown factors at play and no real sense of security for the audience (there’s no “silvering lining” at this particular point in the story, which is good for a book because it leaves the reading wanting more, but would leave a movie feeling unfinished)
The second movie would then consist of the TigerClan vs LionClan prophesy, which I think fits very well together. There would be a big prophesy for each movie, and a lot of smaller parts that would have otherwise been in the first movie can be moved to here (such as Cloudtail, Gray x Silver, ect.). The BloodClan battle would happen here (if they keep BloodClan, that is—I think it would be doable to just keep Tigerclaw as the main antagonist, since 3 might get a bit confusing), as well as Fireheart’s leadership.
Bleh, I’ve typed so much by now, so kudos to those that are still here. I don’t think I can go on. I’m sure whoever’s stuck around has got the gist though–there are lost of ways this movie could go, but I’m praying that they start the movie with the first book along and go on from there. While there are a lot of things going against it I believe there is hope for a Warriors movie.

Anyway, I know this is kind of unorganized and not very well put, but these are my thoughts on the Warriors movie and how it would work :3

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44 comments

Leave a Reply to Kevin Smith Cancel reply

  • I would like a series, like a series of unfortunate events. That would be awesome! You would need a part 1 and part 2, and directors, PLEASE LET SMUDGE BE IN IT HE IS SO CUTE! I want it to be animated like ga’hoole, that is actually my favourite series of books. I would rate it either PG, and if they make it like chibi cats and super cute, I will personally sneak into the filming place, murder the director, and creep back out.

    • I agree. Warriors should. Not. Be. Cute. Call me if you wanna have a serious talk the director if he does that :p

  • I like all the ideas but one: I don’t want BloodClan taken out if they did. Scourge is my second fave character, after Mapleshade

  • Prophecies begin is probably going to be made, but nothing else. (Maybe a series about the super editions, novellas, and manga that have to do with TPB on Disney+ or Netflix or Hulu[Depends who makes it.) I really hope they make six movies! I would also be fine with 3 movies, 2 books in each one. Then one with still end with the fire, and MAYBE have cloudtail and grayxsilver.

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