Summary
An often underrated game adaptation,Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesstruggled to make an impact at the box office upon its release in 2023, leading to any thoughts of a sequel being stalled. Now, over a year later, the movie may be getting the recognition it always deserved.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesis based on the phenomenally popular fantasy roleplaying tabletop game,Dungeons & Dragons(DnD). AfterDungeons & Dragonsbecame successful in a variety of formats, such as theBaldur’s Gatevideo game series and Critical Role’s Vox Machina campaign and ensuing animated series, it finally seemed time for DnD to conquer movies as well. After ten years in development hell, aDungeons & Dragonsmovie finally moved into place at Paramount Pictures, withdirectors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daleyattached.Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesreceived a warm reception from critics and fans, but unfortunately, this wasn’t reflected at the box office.
Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
Cast
Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Regé-Jean Page
134 minutes
Release date
Where to Watch
Netflix
Talk aboutDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesslowly faded after its release in March 2023, but the conversation has been reignited since the fantasy film’s arrival on Netflix. The latestDungeons & Dragonsfilm has appeared in Netflix’s Global Top 10 list, sitting at number nine on the list for two consecutive weeks. The movie has gained 8.5 million hours viewed, placing it ahead of Netflix’s original filmRebel Ridgein the rankings.
One could consider this a fluke, but given the film’s staying power for back-to-back weeks in Netflix’s rankings, it seems like hype forDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesis alive again. The film received a relatively short theatrical run back in March 2024, lasting barely a month in cinemas before it was moved to home and video-on-demand platforms.Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’arrival on Netflix gives viewers who missed it in cinemas a chance to experience its action.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’disappointing box office returns is a strange case, as the film had a lot going for it. The cast included A-list actors such as Chris Pine, Hugh Grant, and Michelle Rodriguez, as well as popular up-and-comers Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton), Justice Smith (Detective Pikachu), and Sophia Lillis (IT). It received glowing reviews from critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and many fanspraised Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves for its adaptationof elements from the game.
Somereasons the Dungeons & Dragons movie may have failedare its competition at theatres and controversy in the fandom at the time of its release. The movie opened oppositeThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, which went on to become the second-highest-grossing movie of the year and dominated the conversation at the time. DnD parent companyWizards of the Coast was also caught up in controversyin early 2023, after leaks revealed the company was planning to make changes to its open game license, which would impact all of its licensed publishers. This received backlash from fans and led many toboycott the company (and the D&D movie)for a time, which may also have impacted the film’s ill-timed release.
Is There Hope for Dungeons and Dragons 2?
While many hoped thatDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieveswould be the start of a franchise in the DnD world, nothing has come of it since the first film’s release. Paramount Pictures co-CEO Brian Robbins revealed toVariety in a 2023 interviewthat they would have to “figure out a way to make it for less”, suggesting the film’s large $150 million budget and lackluster box office return ($208 million) halted its sequel prospects.
With the film now seeing renewed success on Netflix, perhaps there’s a chance for the sequel conversation to come up again at Paramount. For a while there, it looked like the film franchise may continue in TV format, with Paramount+ giving a straight-to-series order of eight episodes for a TV series set within the same world asDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Red Notice’s Rawson Marshall Thurber was set to write and direct the pilot, but the streamer ended upcanceling the Dungeons & Dragons show. It’s still unclear as to why. Television is traditionally cheaper than film to produce, meaning a Dungeons & Dragons spin-off TV show could have been the answer Paramount was looking for.
It’s possible that aDungeons & DragonsTV series could still be shopped around, as the rights to the show reverted to Hasbro Entertainment. Now that conversation aroundDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesis buzzing again, perhaps it will catch executives' attention and bring fans the movie sequel they’ve been hoping for.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesis available to stream on Netflix.
