On March 31, 2023, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves premiered in theaters. It marked the end of a long and winding road to bring the popular tabletop role-playing game back to the big screen. Such a project had been in the works since 2013, cycling through multiple filmmakers and even moving studios before Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley signed on. Despite that turbulent development, Honor Among Thieves was one of the best received genre films of the year, earning a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Is One of the Decade’s Best Fantasy Movies
Image Courtesy of Paramount
The high quality of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves came as a surprise, but perhaps it shouldn’t have. Prior to this film, Goldstein and Daley teamed up to helm Game Night, widely considered to be one of the best studio comedies of the 2010s. Bolstered by strong performances from its cast and creative filmmaking behind the camera (see: the “one-shot” action sequence following the Fabergé egg), Game Night stood out from the pack by taking audiences on a wildly entertaining ride. In many ways, Dungeons & Dragons is cut from the same cloth.
The cast is one of Dungeons & Dragons‘ strongest assets. Chris Pine was the perfect choice to lead a project such as this, tapping into his charming charisma to craft a lovable thief with a heart of gold. His experience with the Star Trek franchise came into play here, as the role of Edgin Darvis required Pine to blend comedy, action, and emotional character beats. He forms a dynamic duo with Michelle Rodriguez, who plays the barbarian Holga. Rodriguez is in top form as a no-nonsense warrior, excelling in the character’s many fight scenes. She has strong chemistry with Pine, effortlessly conveying Edgin and Holga’s longtime friendship. The supporting cast around them is uniformly excellent; Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, and Regé-Jean Page are all great as various members of Edgin’s party, while Hugh Grant and Daisy Head shine as the villains.
Goldstein and Daley once again demonstrate their directorial prowess on Dungeons & Dragons. The film boasts some of the best fantasy set pieces this decade (Doric’s shape-shifting escape is a major highlight), bolstered in large part by immersive production design that transports viewers to Neverwinter. Many of the action sequences are very inventive, incorporating the characters’ various abilities and powers in ways that make them stand out. Goldstein and Daley also maintain their sharp comedic sensibilities; the scene where Edgin questions reanimated corpses is hysterical, perfectly encapsulating the film’s fun tone.
What makes Honor Among Thieves all the more impressive is that it manages to be accessible. One does not have to be overly familiar with the sprawling lore of Dungeons & Dragons to understand or enjoy the film. Goldstein and Daley were smart in how they constructed the movie; it’s basically a heist comedy set in a fantasy world, revolving around a group of misfits who band together to achieve a goal. Any references to the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game won’t go over newcomers’ heads, as they still work as just cool fantasy details that make this universe feel distinct. That’s a very tricky balance to pull off, but Goldstein and Daley managed to do it, making a film that’s an absolute blast from start to finish.
Will There Ever Be a Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Sequel?
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Whether Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves should receive a sequel and will receive a sequel are two completely different questions. The film definitely should receive a follow-up. Goldstein and Daley crafted a winning formula and earned the right to build upon it. Not only would audiences enjoy seeing more of this cast of characters together, Honor Among Thieves only scratches the surface of the rich fantasy mythology at the heart of the IP. Like any great sequel, Honor Among Thieves2 could expand the universe and introduce even more wild concepts now that viewers are onboard with the basic premise. While the film tells a self-contained narrative about Edgin processing the loss of his wife, there’s no shortage of adventures he and his party could go on in a sequel, taking a page out of the classic Indiana Jones and James Bond playbooks.
While just about everyone who’s seen Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is in agreement the film deserves multiple follow-ups, the odds of sequels happening are unfortunately low. Despite the positive word of mouth, Honor Among Thieves underwhelmed at the box office, bringing in just $208.2 million worldwide against a production budget of $150 million. The film needed to be a much larger commercial hit in order to get a sequel off the ground, especially now that the Paramount/Skydance merger is complete and the studio is under new leadership. Executives have been evaluating Paramount’s portfolio, hoping to make key franchises an integral part of the film slate moving forward.
Because Dungeons & Dragons disappointed commercially, it’s unlikely Honor Among Thieves 2 emerges as a priority for Paramount’s brass. Instead, the studio is placing an emphasis on IP that’s more viable on paper, such as Star Trek. A sequel to mega box office hit Top Gun: Maverick is also in development, and there’s always a chance the Transformers film series gets revived. In the aftermath of the Skydance merger being finalized, it’s been pretty quiet on the Dungeons & Dragons front, a sign that a sequel isn’t in the works for the time being.
Goldstein and Daley are the directing duo behind Paramount’s new Star Trek movie, so perhaps all hope is not lost for Dungeons & Dragons. If Goldstein and Daley are successful in bringing the Enterprise back to the big screen, they’ll have an increased amount of clout at the studio. Obviously, a second Star Trek installment would be high on Paramount’s to-do list, but the filmmakers might also be able to convince the higher-ups to give another Dungeons & Dragons movie the green light. The production budget may need to be tighter since the IP isn’t a guaranteed box office lock, but it would be great to see an Honor Among Thieves sequel come to fruition in some capacity.
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