Summary
- Dungeons & Dragon: Honor Among Thieves struggled at the box office but has gained success on Netflix.
- The film received critical acclaim on release and amassed huge viewing hours on Netflix.
- Sequel prospects were hindered by budget and box office results, but hopes are rekindled with streaming success
An often underrated game adaptation, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves struggled 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 Thieves is based on the phenomenally popular fantasy roleplaying tabletop game, Dungeons & Dragons (DnD). After Dungeons & Dragons became successful in a variety of formats, such as the Baldur's Gate video 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, a Dungeons & Dragons movie finally moved into place at Paramount Pictures, with directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley attached. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves received a warm reception from critics and fans, but unfortunately, this wasn't reflected at the box office.
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Gains Success on Netflix
|
Directors |
Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley |
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Cast |
Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Regé-Jean Page |
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Runtime |
134 minutes |
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Release date |
March 31, 2023 |
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Where to Watch |
Netflix |
Talk about Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves slowly faded after its release in March 2023, but the conversation has been reignited since the fantasy film's arrival on Netflix. The latest Dungeons & Dragons film 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 film Rebel Ridge in 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 for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is 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 fans praised Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves for its adaptation of elements from the game.
Some reasons the Dungeons & Dragons movie may have failed are its competition at theatres and controversy in the fandom at the time of its release. The movie opened opposite The 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 company Wizards of the Coast was also caught up in controversy in 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 to boycott 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 that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves would 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 to Variety in a 2023 interview that 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 as Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Red Notice's Rawson Marshall Thurber was set to write and direct the pilot, but the streamer ended up canceling 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 a Dungeons & Dragons TV series could still be shopped around, as the rights to the show reverted to Hasbro Entertainment. Now that conversation around Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is buzzing again, perhaps it will catch executives' attention and bring fans the movie sequel they've been hoping for.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is available to stream on Netflix.
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor among Thieves
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- Release Date
- March 3, 2023
- Cast
- Hugh Grant, Chloe Coleman, Chris Pine, Rege-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Michelle Rodriguez, Sophia Lillis
- Director
- Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
- Writers
- Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
- Cinematographer
- Barry Peterson
- Producer
- Jeremy Latcham, Roy Lee, Stephen Davis, Courtney Solomon, Allan Zeman, Brian Goldner
- Production Company
- Sweetpea Entertainment, Hasbro, Paramount Pictures, Allspark Pictures, Entertainment One, Vertigo Entertainment, Wizards of the Coast
- Sfx Supervisor
- Diana Giorgiutti
