With a world only stunted by one's own imagination, writers/directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are addressing the chances for a Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves sequel. The Wizards of the Coast tabletop RPG was first brought to life on the big screen with the 2000 Dungeons & Dragons film, which was memorably panned by critics and was a box office bomb, only grossing $33 million against its $45 million production budget. In spite of its failure, two direct-to-video sequels were produced with Bruce Payne's Damodar acting as the sole connective thread through the 2005 and 2012 Dungeons & Dragons movies.
Daley and Goldstein's Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves acts as a reboot of the film franchise and revolves around the titular group of ragtag cohorts as they try to recover a powerful artifact they delivered to a being intent on using it for nefarious means. The film features an ensemble roster of stars including Chris Pine as team leader and Bard Edgin, Michelle Rodriguez as Barbarian Holga, Regé-Jean Page as Paladin Xenk, Justice Smith as Sorcerer Simon, Sophia Lillis as tiefling Druid Doric and Hugh Grant as Rogue Forge Fitzwilliam. Anticipation has been high for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves throughout the film's production and marketing and the creatives behind the film are sharing their thoughts on what the future may hold for the property.
As part of the film's San Diego Comic-Con panel, Collider caught up with the creative team behind Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. When asked about whether Paramount is already pushing for a cinematic universe, directors Daley and Goldstein assured there was no studio pressure to build ideas for future films, but confirmed they may have ideas for a sequel. See what the duo shared below:
Goldstein: "There was no pressure put on us to think in terms of a cinematic universe. We obviously wanted to create characters and an environment that could grow, and that had the potential for more films, but that wasn't at all in the forefront of our approach to this."
Daley: "By the way, that's a testament to the studios, because I think sometimes the studios put the cart before the horse and try to create these cinematic universes before the first movie even comes out. So I think they were smart and savvy enough to know that the first one's got to work before you even dive into the others. That said, I think it's a really good jumping-off point for a lot of other potential movies to come after it."
In a time in which the superhero genre is dominating the market, especially with its interconnected storytelling as seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe, many studios have sought to capture a similar success with other genres. Universal memorably had its horror-tinged Dark Universe scrapped after just one film when The Mummy failed to launch a universe based on their classic movie monsters, while Warner Bros. briefly had the Lego Movie franchise comprised of four films and two that were canceled in development as the rights shifted to Universal. Studios have also sought to capture Game of Thrones' fantasy genre success both on the big and small screens in recent years, with Netflix building out The Witcher franchise with spinoffs and animated movies while Amazon is behind a new Lord of the Rings TV series and WB is developing a Lord of the Rings anime film set before Peter Jackson's acclaimed trilogy.
Given Paramount is already enjoying success with most its current franchises, including the recently revived Top Gun and long-running Mission: Impossible and Star Trek films, it's understandable why they didn't put pressure on Daley and Goldstein to have Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves launch its own cinematic universe. It should also come as welcome news for those concerned about the approach to adapting the games as the filmmaking duo have clearly approached this with the proper adoration and storytelling D&D fans would hope for in those bringing the fantasy world to life, while still holding the exciting prospect that they have ideas for future stories. Only time will tell how the door is left open for a potential sequel when Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves hits theaters on March 3, 2023.
Source: Collider
