Dungeons & Dragons Comments On Possibility of Future Movie Projects

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Wizards of the Coast is "exploring" the possibility of new Dungeons & Dragons movie and TV projects. In the build up to the release of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Hasbro seemed to have an ambitious D&D Cinematic Universe plan in place. Although the movie underperformed, Paramount+ still picked up a Dungeons & Dragons television show with Rawson Marshall Thurber as the pilot script writer and director of the first episode and Drew Crevello as the showrunner.

However, Hasbro's sale of eOne, its in-house entertainment studio seems to have caused those plans to come crashing to a halt. The Paramount+ TV show was announced as no longer moving forward last year and other loose plans to continue a shared D&D universe seems dead in the water.

Despite the underperformance of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the movie was spoken fondly of and often during an EN World press visit to Wizards of the Coast headquarters last week. When asked if this talk meant we'd be getting an update on a possible sequel, Jess Lanzillo, the VP of the D&D franchise at Wizards, said "Not officially, no."

However, it appears interest remains high in possible future D&D projects. "After I joined the team at the end of Q1 2024, we kind of reestablished our relationship with a lot of studios and partners," Lanzillo said. "And we're doing a lot of exploration. We basically have aligned our philosophy to we want to pair up with the best creators and let them tell the best stories that they already know how to do, because all of these people started telling stories through playing D&D. And through that, there are a series of explorations that we are very, very excited about. When we're ready to announce them, we will let you know."

Reading in between the lines, it appears that decoupling from eOne has opened up the possibility of other studios and partners jumping into a D&D live-action or animated project. We'll have to see if it will be another 12 years in between Dungeons & Dragons movies.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer

Smart ones use a % of the box office take.
Smarter ones integrate streaming views into their pay

One interesting note is that while Honor Among Thieves was carrying Paramount+ with top 10 performances for nearly 18 months it took P+ to be only the second profitable streaming service as a business unit.

It did this while Paramount was in its wild throes of sale, while eOne was cast off to Lionsgate which no longer advertised older product and while Hasbro had no directly whatsoever towards promoting a movie that they've stated multiple times helped build 5e sales (including giving it credit for the large interest in 2024 release purchasing).
 

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top 10 performances for nearly 18 months
Remember, we have no context for that top 10.

It could be revenue, or it could be views.

If it is views, it could be new purchases, or rentals, or just views in general. Anything besides new purchases or rentals doesn't inherently mean more revenue.
 

Don't underestimate that aftermarket potential. Waterworld was widely regarded as a Boondoggle disaster, and certainly didn't merit a sequel based on income...but it was ultimately profitable. Unlike, say, John Carter of Mars.
 

Remember, we have no context for that top 10.

It could be revenue, or it could be views.

If it is views, it could be new purchases, or rentals, or just views in general. Anything besides new purchases or rentals doesn't inherently mean more revenue.
No, we have clear context. It's views on Paramount+ because they don't have purchases or rentals there.

And yes, people paying a streaming a service does translate to revenue as proven by the streamers that make profits off of being paid for their service.
 

people paying a streaming a service does translate to revenue
Yes, people being subscribed to a service means there is revenue, but if they can stream a program more than once without paying more than once, then there is no additional revenue.

That is why new purchases and rentals matter. Streaming a movie 10 times means nothing to revenue if it wasn't paid for 10 times. That is the context we are missing. Thus, the context we need is missing.
 

Yes, people being subscribed to a service means there is revenue, but if they can stream a program more than once without paying more than once, then there is no additional revenue.

That is why new purchases and rentals matter. Streaming a movie 10 times means nothing to revenue if it wasn't paid for 10 times. That is the context we are missing. Thus, the context we need is missing.
Rewatching helps a streaming service's renewals rate, according to the services that make money, like Paramount+.

While a sale would make more money, that's not available on P+, nor is a one-off rental IIRC. Though Honor Among Thieves did very well on services with those metrics over the first year, when it was in the top 10 for 2023 on Google and Apple's rentals/purchases platforms. It didn't come up in their public profit statements, because those companies will never care about a single movie.
 

Rewatching helps a streaming service's renewals rate, according to the services that make money, like Paramount+.

While a sale would make more money, that's not available on P+, nor is a one-off rental IIRC. Though Honor Among Thieves did very well on services with those metrics over the first year, when it was in the top 10 for 2023 on Google and Apple's rentals/purchases platforms. It didn't come up in their public profit statements, because those companies will never care about a single movie.

Streamers pay a flat rate for movies apparently. I posted a link in one of the numerous other threads. Often bought in bundles.

Generally how much they paid is related to box office performance if it wasn't commissioned by said streamer.
 




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