The fantasy-comedy film Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has grossed over $207 million worldwide and was the 10th highest-grossing film of the year. As soon as you heard back in 2016 that this role-playing game adaptation would be making its way to movie theaters, you probably assumed that fans and anyone who favored the D&D cast which featured Hugh Grant, Chris Pine, Regé-Jean Page, and Michelle Rodriguez would be lining up to see this movie. However, its wrapped-up it's run in movie theaters, and the box office numbers say otherwise which might not be great news for the fans.
The chances of a movie receiving the sequel treatment all have to do with how well it performs at the box office. According to Box Office Mojo’s domestic box office numbers, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves did well during its opening weekend bringing in $38.5 million. However, as the movie continued to play on the big screen it didn't make as much, as it ended its with $93,054,502 domestically. These are disappointing numbers because that means this D&D movie didn’t meet its estimated $150 million budget. This infuriating box office number might cost us the sequel because of its underperformance.
It’s hard to know why the masses aren’t racing to see Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Despite its massive marketing through the movie’s trailers and its big Super Bowl spot, audiences might have turned away from the movie due to the title. Its connections to the tabletop role-playing game it's based on could have had audiences believing this movie was tailored only toward D&D fans. The truth is, though, you don’t have to be a Dungeons and Dragons fan to enjoy Honor Among Thieves. If you love fantasy, heists, and good-hearted humor, you'd likely love this movie. Plus, the movie meets all fans where they're at, and doesn't expect you to be a D&D expert. So, you can ignore the D&D connection and just watch the movie for the fantasy-adventure aspects of it.
Even though the new Dungeons and Dragons movie may have suffered a disheartening box office, the critics had very positive things to say about the movie especially when it came to the stellar ensemble and the amazing practical effects. While there may have been Easter eggs for D&D fans, the comprehensible plot for those who’ve never played D&D was also a notable quality. One critic also noted that they loved the movie’s blend of light and dark where it’s like you’re watching something out of a Tolkien adaptation and then heading straight to The Princess Bride's lightness. Honor Among Thieves also has a critical score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 93% audience score. It appears that those who saw the movie had an incredible experience watching it.
A Dungeons and Dragons sequel may not be in the cards anytime soon, but it doesn’t mean we’ll never see the Forgotten Realms again on screen. A spin-off series was ordered for Paramount+ that will consist of eight episodes with Red Notice’s Rawson Marshall Thurber acting as creator, writer, executive producer, and showrunner. This new series is said to “complement” the Honor Among Thieves side of the story. With this upcoming series and Honor Among Thieves being available to those with a Paramount+ subscription, this should increase this fantasy-heist film’s popularity.
What Honor Among Thieves co-producer Jeremy Latcham learned from his time producing Iron Man was not to count your chickens before they hatch. To just focus on this particular movie before thinking about a sequel. Unfortunately, the box office numbers don’t match the rave reviews the new Dungeons and Dragons received. But considering the film industry today is made up of sequels and spin-offs, I personally don’t believe the Dungeons and Dragons realm will be completely kaput. Even if we don’t get a theatrical sequel treatment, we may have a growing fan base among Paramount+ subscribers in the upcoming months which could mean more D&D projects on this particular streaming service.
