Chris Pine, the star of the TTRPG adaptation, believes it will happen, and we hope he is correct
Hollywood adaptations have trained fans to expect the worst. Your heart sinks whenever something you adore is announced as the next mega-blockbuster. They’re bound to mess it up and ruin your childhood. That is exactly what happens 90% of the time.
But what about that 10% of the time? When does Hollywood not screw it up? It’s magnificent. And, surprisingly, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves did just that earlier this year. Adapting a property as vast in scope and popularity as D&D seemed impossible, but directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley made it work by telling an original story inspired by the franchise’s spirit and then covering it with Easter eggs and references.
The end result was an incredible 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 93% audience score, but this did not translate into box office success. Dungeons and Dragons only made slightly more than $208 million, which, when you consider everything that goes into making and releasing a film, is far from enough profit to justify a sequel.
But there’s no denying that the majority of people who saw the film enjoyed it. One of those stars, Chris Pine, offered a glimmer of hope in a new interview. Pine told GamesRadar, “I’ve heard some rumours about it.” “However, I don’t know anything yet.” But I feel pretty confident that it may happen
To which we respond, “Hell yes!” That is wonderful news. Of course, it’s far from official, but the fact that Pine is hearing and acknowledging rumours indicates that someone out there realizes money isn’t everything. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
is a film that will gain fans every day it exists, and if a sequel is made, the original’s enduring quality may indicate that the sequel will be much, much bigger.
Some of the most successful franchises in history did not begin as large as they eventually became. However, a studio’s faith in them made them popular. The fourth and fifth films in the Fast and Furious franchise grossed double what the previous films did.
Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins only made $400 million before The Dark Knight grossed over a billion dollars. And while the first Austin Powers film only made $70 million, its sequels each made around $300 million. In every case, studios knew they had something special, and audiences loved it. They only needed to bet on it once or twice more.
Fingers crossed that Paramount will roll those dice again for Dungeons and Dragons. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is now available on Amazon Prime Video.