Your Guide To Dungeons And Dragons

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES opens in theatres March 3, 2023.
It may come as a surprise to some people that a new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS movie — subtitled HONOR AMONG THIEVES — is on the horizon. However, if you really think about it, now is a perfect time for Paramount Pictures to bring this enduring phenomenon back to the big screen.
For one, the original role-playing game that started it all is still popular, if not more popular than ever. Not to mention, screen adaptations of games — of either the video or tabletop variety — have experienced a bit of a resurgence lately with the success of POKÉMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU and the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG movies, to name a couple. Plus, audiences have been looking for the next big fantasy epic to check out following the finale of “Game of Thrones.”
With all of that in mind, you can call us intrigued and excited by the upcoming release of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES. So, let’s roll the seven dice and take a deeper look at the magical, mystical and minacious adventure ahead of us.
Dungeons & Dragons Opens In AMC Theatres In 2023
Currently, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES is set for a theatrical release on Friday, March 3, 2023 — a decade after the property’s official return to the big screen started brewing. Back then, Warner Bros. announced they were working on a reboot with Sweetpea Entertainment, until property-owner Hasbro claimed they had a film in the works with Universal just days later. A settlement in 2015 led to Hasbro joining forces with Warner Bros. after all.
However, following much back-and-forth regarding who is writing and helming the project, Hasbro set its sights on making the new D&D movie with Paramount Pictures, who put it on their schedule for Summer 2021 until Covid-19 caused a nearly year-long delay. By April 2021, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES secured its current Spring 2023 date and its official title was announced a year later.
The Game Behind The Movie
As we mentioned before, there is still a massive demographic of Dungeons & Dragons players these days and a good number of people at least familiar with it thanks to its heavy exposure on the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things.” Well, in case there are still some people who had never heard of the phenomenon before the announcement of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES, maybe the following will help.
First published in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop role-playing strategy game set in an ancient world where danger — often in the form of bloodthirsty beasts — lurks at every turn. Each gameplay requires one person to control the narrative — typically dictated by a handbook or their own imagination — as the “Dungeon Master,” along with an unlimited number of players who participate in the journey.
A set of seven dice that range from six to 20 sides determines the fate of each participant in a story you get to live out yourself. Now, fans will get the chance to see such a tale be lived out before their very eyes in DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES — and by a very talented cast, at that.
The Dungeons & Dragons Cast
Among the Hollywood warriors chosen to test their skills on the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES cast, we have Chris Pine — no stranger to fighting otherworldly threats in three STAR TREK movies and two WONDER WOMAN movies. His co-star, Regé-Jean Page, is no stranger to period dramas — namely the Netflix series “Bridgerton” — but Michelle Rodriguez’s claim to fame is more modern action thrillers — namely the FAST & FURIOUS franchise.
Justice Smith has taken on otherworldly monsters before in the aforementioned POKÉMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU and two JURASSIC WORLD sequels, as has Sophia Lillis of IT fame and THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM star Hugh Grant, who is reportedly playing the film’s main antagonist. Others featured on the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES cast include THE GENTLEMEN’s Jason Wong, Daisy Head from the Netflix fantasy series SHADOW AND BONE and Chloe Coleman - who will also appear in AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER in 2022.
The Directors Of Dungeons & Dragons
The “Dungeon Masters” controlling the narrative of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES are Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley — the latter of which you may recognize as Sam Weir on “Freaks and Geeks.” The directorial duo also co-wrote the script with Michael Gilio from a story by Gilio with THE TOMORROW WAR helmer Chris McKay.
Goldstein and Daley are also known for co-writing comedies like HORRIBLE BOSSES and making their directorial debut with the 2015 VACATION movies reboot, which does not sound like D&D material at first glance. However, they also had a hand in penning action-packed blockbusters like SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING and their most recent directorial effort was an acclaimed hit heavily inspired by board game culture called GAME NIGHT.
Dungeons & Dragons’ Cinematic Legacy
While we mentioned earlier that now is a perfect time to release a new D&D movie, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES is not the first time the game has been adapted for the screen. In fact, this will be the fourth official feature-length adaptation after the theatrically-released 2000 film starring Jeremy Irons, a sequel — subtitled WRATH OF THE DRAGON GOD — that originally aired on the SyFy Channel in 2005 and a direct-to-video third installment from 2008 called DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 3: THE BOOK OF VILE DARKNESS. Actually, at one time, the new film could have been the brainchild of actor and lifelong D&D fan Joe Manganiello, who wrote a script for a potential D&D film.
However, Dungeons & Dragons’ presence in screen media, technically, dates back even further — all the way to 1982 with a made-for-TV feature called MAZES AND MONSTERS, which stars a young Tom Hanks as a teen whose interest in a fantasy strategy game develops into a dangerous delusion. The plot reflects a real belief many parents shared in the ‘70s and ‘80s that D&D was potentially harmful toward youths.
While there have been previous adaptations, we have a pretty good feeling that this new Dungeons & Dragons movie could be the best yet, considering the top-notch talent involved from both in front of and behind the camera. Only time will tell if DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES will be a journey worth taking when it hits theatres in March 2023.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES opens in theatres March 3, 2023.