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Not every film receives the attention it deserves upon release. Thousands and thousands of films blast their way into cinemas, onto streaming, and onto VOD every calendar year, and it’s simply impossible for fans to sift through every single one. The result of this complete flood of content is the occasional box office flop. Some examples from this century include John Carter, Joker: Folie à Deux, and Mortal Engines, all of which had box office receptions that mirrored their critical consensus. One of the most egregious examples of an undeserved flop this century has been Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, from a directorial duo with a proven track record.
From John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the fantasy action comedy just never managed to draw audiences to theaters. Despite its box office failings, the Chris Pine-led film managed to capture the hearts of nearly every viewer who saw it. In the years since its release, a small but mighty fan base has rallied around the film and clamored loudly for a sequel. While it seems unlikely due to the iffy box office reception, there is no harm in speculating what a sequel could entail. One thing is for certain: a Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves sequel has to fix one specific problem that is likely to have held the original back in a major way.
What Is Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves?
Everyone loves a good fantasy film. From The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, all the way to Avatar and Wicked. There is something unifying and satisfying about a two-hour trek in another realm. With that being said, it feels like a complete no-brainer to adapt the most iconic fantasy RPG property into a feature film, but it’s a strangely difficult process.
The first attempt at adapting TSR’s Dungeons & Dragons game came in the year 2000, and it was destined for failure from the moment it entered development. The film was eventually directed by producer Courtney Solomon, but over the seven-plus years of development, many notable names were attached, including James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Stan Winston, and Renny Harlin. Dungeons & Dragons suffered through rights negotiations, pulled funds, dozens of drafts, and casting troubles, but fought through it all and eventually hit theaters in December 2000. Unfortunately for Solomon, however, his hustle was in vain. The response to the film was negative and immediate, with a brutal 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and not much luck anywhere else.
With this harsh memory in tow, fans were skeptical but optimistic about a new, bigger-budget Dungeons & Dragons adaptation. It wouldn’t be without roadblocks, however, as this reboot immediately began to mirror the hectic development of Solomon’s 2000 effort. The original announcement for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves came all the way back in 2015, and the film didn’t have its wide release until 2023. The eight years in between were filled with creative differences, staffing issues, and production company changes, but the film somehow managed to land on its feet. In July 2019, fresh off their wild success, Game Night, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein entered negotiations to rewrite and direct the long-anticipated adaptation, and it’s just what fans needed.
Characters from the 1983 Dungeons & Dragons animated series appear in the film during the High Sun Games.
The eventual refined and re-written plot of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves primarily follows the duo of Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine), a charming and quick-thinking former Harper, and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), a blunt and ruthless barbarian, who find themselves imprisoned after a mission to revive Edgin’s wife goes awry.
The story begins as the duo escapes from prison to reunite with Kira, Edgin’s daughter. While their escape is successful, they quickly discover that their former ally, Forge (Hugh Grant), has betrayed them and taken custody of Kira along with the nefarious Red Wizard, Sofina. Forge, who has ascended to a political position as Lord of Neverwinter, has been feeding Kira lies about Holga and her father. To save Kira and to stop Sofina from enslaving the city with her dark magic, Edgin and Holga recruit a diverse team of fantastical heroes, who embark on an epic heist-filled journey through the depths of Neverwinter.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Was Buried at the Box Office
Despite the eye-catching plot and incredible uphill battle that the film fought through, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was not duly awarded with cold hard cash. Unlike the Dungeons & Dragons film from 2000, this Chris Pine-led film had no trouble securing a hefty budget and might have suffered due to its ease of access. Against a potentially too-generous budget of $150 million, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves only managed to rake in $208.2 million. While it would be completely wrong to write the film off as a total box-office flop, it cannot be ignored that the expectations were a tad higher.
|
IMDB Score |
Tomatometer |
Popcornmeter |
Letterboxd Score |
|---|---|---|---|
|
7.2/10 |
91% |
92% |
3.5/5 |
The film opened against a pair of largely forgotten films, A Thousand and One, and His Only Son, but the bulk of its competition came from a film released one week later. After a hot start in its first box office weekend, and just as Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves started to gain steam, came the release of the second-highest-grossing film of 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie. This unfortunate timing, combined with the film’s lackluster marketing strategy, led to an unfortunate box office return that has hindered the film’s potential pursuit of a sequel.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Needs a Sequel (& It Needs to Fix This 1 Problem)
Given the film’s underwhelming box office return, many die-hard fans and critics immediately ruled out the possibility of a sequel, but those involved in the making of the film have strangely said otherwise. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are no strangers to sequel speculation. Their previous film, Game Night, ended with a clear sequel set-up, and did phenomenally at the box office, but nothing has materialized yet. Due to this, the directorial duo set their expectations low and stated that it was never their intention to create a franchise.
In an interview with Polygon, however, Jonathan Goldstein mused about what a sequel could look like if they were to switch gears and pursue it someday. He noted that they would stick with the same core cast of lovable characters, saying:
«-the audience knows them, and you can jump into the plot more quickly. And obviously, we have great affection for both the actors and these roles that they play. But we’d want to introduce some new figures along the way»
Even higher-ups at Paramount have noted that a Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves sequel could be a potential future endeavor. CEO Brian Robbins, in particular, shared that a sequel could still happen, but under the condition that it be produced on a much smaller budget. While Robbins has a point, a smaller budget isn’t the only change a D&D sequel would have to make, as there is one specific glaring issue that held back Daley and Goldstein’s film to a ridiculous degree.
The modern Hollywood landscape is dominated by one thing: intellectual property. This prevailing trend means studios must find a way to further differentiate themselves and truly establish a target audience. A successful example of this is the 2023 release, Barbie, which elegantly turned a bare-bones IP into a brilliant and accessible film that appealed not only to general audiences but to lifelong fans of Barbie products. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves failed to do this.
The film succeeded in the sense that it created a thoroughly enjoyable fantastical experience, but at no point does it seem like it was made for fans of Dungeons & Dragons. The film is set in the «Forgotten Realms» Dungeons & Dragons campaign, but strangely feels more indebted to comedy adventure fantasy movies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Princess Bride than it does the campaign it’s based on.
A potential sequel would need to truly feel like a faithful adaptation of the iconic TTRPG, filled with in-jokes, dice-rolling, and potentially actual players. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, of course, features D&D staples like owl bears, tieflings, and skeletons, but the presence of the dice is never felt. A sequel should look to the world of television for an outline. Sitcoms like Community and Futurama have shown that comedy, reality, and action can be mixed, and in both cases, it made for one of the best episodes ever.
