Co-director Jonathan Goldstein discusses how Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is adapting the Dungeons & Dragons lore. The upcoming fantasy adventure film, based on the popular role-playing game, is the second attempt at a live-action adaptation, after the 2000 original and its sequels. Set to premiere on March 31, the movie follows a charming thief who, along with a group of unlikely companions, seeks to recover a lost artifact and escape danger. Its cast includes Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, and Hugh Grant.
The latest trailer for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was released back in January, providing a look at the film's characters and featuring several elements that avid fans may be familiar with.
In a recent video for IGN, directors Goldstein and John Francis Daley revealed more about the footage. Early on, Goldstein noted that he and Daley wanted to capture the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons, but added that what they created can still be enjoyable to those who have not played. Read Goldstein's comments regarding adapting the Dungeons and Dragons lore below:
"John and I really set out to make a movie that captured the spirit of playing a game of DnD. We’re not really using any existing story or characters, with the exception of Szass Tam, our big villain. This is pretty much all of our own creation, but we’re putting it in a world that comes from 50 years of the lore of Dungeons & Dragons. The monsters, the creatures, the magic, the locations, all of that you will see portrayed, but we’re not trying to bog you down if you don’t know anything about DnD, if you’ve never played it as well."
How Honor Among Thieves Is Outdoing The Original DnD Movie
The original Dungeons & Dragons film series began back in 2000 and received largely negative reactions from critics and audiences alike. Considered a commercial failure, the following Dungeons & Dragons installments did not get wide theatrical releases and many criticized the casting, effects, and management of the lore. The tabletop game presents settings and stories that appear developed enough for live-action movie adaptations, but as the original series proves, it can be difficult to accomplish.
Humor has been added to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, highlighted in the latest trailer, which could help attract audiences unfamiliar with the game, while also setting it apart from other fantasy franchises like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. By crafting a new story and adapting the lore the way Goldstein described, the film can be more successful than the original series as well. Producer Jeremy Latcham previously talked about Wizards of the Coast being involved, and because it is the current game publisher, that should ease any potential concerns over Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ahead of its release.
It will be interesting to see how Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves performs at the box office and how its adaptation of the game's lore is received. With a television series being made as well, there is potential to continue the Dungeons & Dragons live-action films past this entry, should both projects do well. Goldstein's comments suggest that the latest movie could be a better adaptation than those that came before it, and audiences eager to experience Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves can be sure to check it out when it premieres.
Source: IGN/YouTube
