D&D Movie/TV First Footage of D&D Honor Among Thieves: Dungeons, Dragons, Teamwork, With Superhero Vibe

EN World member OB1 saw some of the first footage of next year's Dungeons & Dragon movie, Honor Among Thieves, confirming "dungeons, Dragons, and party teamwork with a bit of a superhero movie vibe". The roughly 30-seconds of footage was shown as part of Paramount's promotional reel played at CinemaCon.

Here is a quick hit of what I saw. Note that the 30 seconds or so was split up over 7 or 8 smaller shots interspersed in a larger product reel for other Paramount product. I was focusing hard to recognize when they were showing Dad Hat (All credit to my co-worker for realizing that the title shortens to Dad Hat) footage, but it made it very tricky to really get the details for the scenes. I will say that the overall look was absolutely amazing for being this far out. Easily on par with what you would expect from a Marvel theatrical release. Costumes all looked good, sets all looked good.

• Chris Pine on horseback riding next to Michele Rodriguez talking about 'needing a team for this'
• A blue? dragon flying overhead away from camera while characters flee underneath on horseback
• A big city, I'm guessing Waterdeep, from an overhead, aerial view
• Sophia Lillis (I think) pulling back on a slingshot wristband to fire something (there were two moments of this)
• Big action sequence in an outdoor arena like setting with pillars growing out of the ground that some heroes jump across while others fire off bows/magic,etc
• Rege-Jean Page on horseback heading towards some ruins, reminded me of something straight out of an old module but I can't put my finger on which one. Sort of half, simple stone wall buildings on a hilltop spread out over 100 meters or so
• A character in a long shot (I think Chris Pine but not sure as it was very quick) dancing? under an archway - reminded me more of being under Otto's Irresistible Dance than something he was doing on purpose. On the flip side, it could be a bard character spellcasting as I think he had an instrument in his hands (sorry bard haters)
• A spell that felt like a wizard casting shield against an attack. I think it was Rege-Jean but can't be certain.
• Don't remember seeing Hugh Grant in the footage, and no plot details
• Definitely had a fun, action packed vibe to it. Definitely not grim-dark

As for the superhero vibe I got, yeah, it felt somewhat like a fantasy version of Guardians of the Galaxy. I could imagine the marketing campaign for this leaning into this is Marvel meets Game of Thrones as a way to make the concept accessible to a larger audience not fully familiar with D&D style medieval fantasy.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah, same. I devoured every Forgotten Realms novel that TSR published between the ages of 13 and 19 or so, then gradually expanded my horizons. I tried to re-read some of them again 10 years later, and just couldn't. There's exceptions (Lynn Abbey's Dark Sun stuff for example), but mostly they're targeted at teenagers, and as an adult who's read far beyond the TSR walled garden, they just don't stand up. I gave them all (dozens of them) away to a charity shop years ago, hopefully some other kid can pick up my copy of Crystal Shard or whatever and be as blown away as i was.

But this does NOT stop them being good for what they're intended to do. Drizzt and Raistlin and the rest probably got more teenagers into D&D than any other marketing factor other than word of mouth. And D&D teenagers are where lifelong D&D customers come from.

As for making a movie of any of these books - well, there's a few that could work. Azure Bonds for example would needs some tweaking, but it could be done. But I think it's tempting to over-estimate the depth and sophistication that's required here. You can do a lot with direction, effects, and acting performances to turn a fairly by-the-numbers story into an engaging crowd-pleasing film. Like every other genre filmmaker in the past 15 years, WotC are clearly using the MCU as their model here, and the novelisation of any given MCU film ain't gonna win any Nobel literature prizes either. But this hasn't stopped them earning money by the container-ship-load.

I mean, I read those old books when I was q kid in the 90's, as well as Star Wars novels: they were already following thst pulpy MCU like tone by then.

We're in an interesting space now, with actual play games becoming media content, that is then being adapted into other mediums, like Vox Machina. I think this means the quality is improving?

 

[ersatzphil]

There's exceptions (Lynn Abbey's Dark Sun stuff for example), but mostly they're targeted at teenagers, and as an adult who's read far beyond the TSR walled garden, they just don't stand up.

Huh! I believe I only read the Prism Pentad series, not Lynn Abbey's ones - do they really stand up? I'd be super curious to check them out if they do.

 

[humble minion]

Huh! I believe I only read the Prism Pentad series, not Lynn Abbey's ones - do they really stand up? I'd be super curious to check them out if they do.

I'm a bit of a bore on the topic of the Abbey trilogy, but they're by far the best-written of the Dark Sun books, and personally I believe they're the best D&D books ever written (I haven't read all of them, but I've read LOTS). They're certainly the only D&D books i held onto when i gave the rest away many years ago.

There's a few little wonky bits with the lore here and there, but Abbey posted on usenet way back in the day about how TSR didn't actually bother to provide her with reference materials, didn't answer worldbuilding or lore questions, and didn't coordinate the game team with the novel team so they contradicted each other all the time by accident. And then they gave her three months to write the thing in.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

D&D was always hideously anachronistic

Is it possible for something to be anachronistic when it is not set in any particular period of history?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I mean, I read those old books when I was q kid in the 90's, as well as Star Wars novels: they were already following thst pulpy MCU like tone by then.

The pulpy style has been around since the penny dreadfuls of the 19th Century. To attribute that approach to Marvel is to give them far too much credit.

 

[Parmandur]

Is it possible for something to be anachronistic when it is not set in any particular period of history?

It might merit a new word with the degree thst D&D engaged, like syncrechronistic or something, but the jarring mishmash of disparate periods does fall under the rubric of anachronism.

 

[Parmandur]

The pulpy style has been around since the penny dreadfuls of the 19th Century. To attribute that approach to Marvel is to give them far too much credit.

The MCU innovation is keeping a connected story framework across big budget movies. The D&D and Star Wars novels as well as Marvel comics were doing thst in the 90's, but with cheap media.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It might merit a new word with the degree thst D&D engaged, like syncrechronistic or something, but the jarring mishmash of disparate periods does fall under the rubric of anachronism.

That would still assume a single direct path of technological change. Which, if you take a multicultural approach, simply is not the case.

 

[Parmandur]

That would still assume a single direct path of technological change. Which, if you take a multicultural approach, simply is not the case.

I don't mind it, but where I can see it throwing people off is that a "real" alternate reality wouldn't feel like a Mashup of real world culture, but have an organic and dynamic uniquenesses of it's own. I accept it as a price of imagining fantastic cultures and world with a visual vocabulary limited somewhat by reality, but I can understand if it breaks verisimilitude for some people.

 

[dave2008]

You lost me at Marvel. Actually, you lost me way back when they announced a new D&D movie that wasn't based on a decent D&D novel.

There is a decent D&D novel?

EDIT: Also, I am not sold on movies being based on novels. I good movie is best when it accepts its media. A novel adaption, not matter how good the novel, can come out pretty bad if they don't realize that.