The upcoming Dungeons & Dragons reboot movie has finally released its full title, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which may hint at the film’s story. All based on the popular fantasy roleplaying game, there have already been three Dungeons & Dragons movies released over the years. The first film, titled simply Dungeons & Dragons, premiered in 2000. Although Dungeons & Dragons bombed at the box office and received poor critical reviews, it spawned two made-for-TV and direct-to-DVD sequels. Despite the franchise's poor track record on-screen, development for the new Dungeons & Dragons movie began as far back as 2015, before creative and production issues, worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, slowed the movie’s progress.
Due to these delays, Paramount has only recently announced Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ full title. Wizards of the Coast, a roleplaying game company, held its first D&D Direct event to promote new D&D games and books on April 21. During this event, Paramount unveiled a franchise infographic that revealed the title and logo of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Paramount also announced that Honor Among Thieves is currently set to premiere on March 3, 2023, starring actors Chris Pine, Regé-Jean Page, and Sophia Lillis.
Despite this new information, little is known about the plot of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. However, the film's confirmed title offers some clues about the upcoming reboot. Based on previous D&D lore and common story tropes, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ title may already hint at some of the characters and plot points in the movie.
Considering the title Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, it makes sense that the main characters in the movie will be thieves. Since the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons, thieves have been called rogues, one of D&D’s standard character classes. Known for their sneakiness, rogues can be any characters who rely on stealth and cunning, such as spies, pirates, and many criminals. More specifically, the Honor Among Thieves portion of the title could refer to two characters from the original Dungeons & Dragons movie, Ridley and Snails. In the 2000 film, Ridley and Snails were thieves who accidentally became involved in searching for the magical Rod of Savrille, which could control Red Dragons. Given Dungeons & Dragons’ failure, though, it is more likely that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will want to start over with new roguish characters in the reboot.
In addition, the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie title suggests that the reboot’s plot will follow a common TV trope. In many stories, the “honor among thieves” trope refers to the series of events where thieving characters learn to trust their companions and put others' needs before their own. Initially, the thieves may be forced to work with unlikely allies but still focus on their own self-preservation. Over time though, the thieves learn to value friendship, eventually proving their loyalty by sacrificing themselves or their individual desires to help others. The 2000 Dungeons & Dragons included this trope when Snails died to save Ridley and protect the map that led to the Rod of Savrille. Similarly, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves may feature this same trope, showing characters’ development as they learn to trust their new friends. While no story details have been released yet for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the new title already hints at the reboot’s characters and their journey nonetheless.
