D&D Movie/TV Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves sequel script finished, looking for studio

On an appearance on the Discourse Podcast from Playlist, writer/directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein stated they have finished he script to a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

“I think Hasbro is a big believer in it, and if they can figure out a studio partner to make it work, they’ll want to proceed,” Goldstein said.

The pair also addressed the underperformance of the film, which made $208 million global box office against a $150 million budget.

“It was very much a product of not-so-great timing when the first movie came out. It came out four days before the Super Mario movie, which broke records,” Daley said. “It came out a month after Wizards of the Coast changed the official gaming license, prompting many D&D fans to boycott the game, and I don’t think the marketing did enough to tell people who weren’t already fans that this movie might be for them. Yeah, so it was a perfect storm of all of those elements, and we’ll see.

“I mean, look, it’s something that is near and dear to our hearts in that we loved making the first one. We fell in love with the characters, and there’s so much potential in a sequel because the first act isn’t filled with exposition or introduction to this family that we’ve already become accustomed to. So you can kind of launch right into the story, which is really nice.”

As we all know, there always seems to be some mitigating situation making it difficult to get together for a second session.

This comes following news of a Ravenloft television series from Netflix earlier this week.

 

[OB1]

I wouldn’t be shocked to see Warner Bros pick up the film. With the BG series planned, some of the production costs could be shared between the two projects (costumes for extras, props, etc) and putting the film on HBO after theatrical release would help build the brand prior to BG.

Assuming of course WB can bid on it given Paramount passed and is trying to squire them.

 

[LordLothar]

2. Other movies did a lot better same time frame. It wasn't launched 2020.

In the time frame where the movie was launch there was 14 movies, of this 14 only 2 where a great hit, and 2 were a sucess, al the others were flops. Some movies seeing a better frame don't turn a good moment for the movies.

 

[timbannock]

I wouldn’t be shocked to see Warner Bros pick up the film. With the BG series planned, some of the production costs could be shared between the two projects (costumes for extras, props, etc) and putting the film on HBO after theatrical release would help build the brand prior to BG.

Assuming of course WB can bid on it given Paramount passed and is trying to squire them.

In a world where interconnected universes is still top-of-mind for most media execs, this seems like a no-brainer.

 

[jolt]

I enjoyed the D&D movie, but it was sandwiched between John Wick 4 and Super Mario Bros. The marketing department admitted they didn't know how to market the film and portrayed it like it was an MCU movie. They failed to convey that you didn't need to know D&D to follow the movie. It also came out when the OGL controversy was in full swing and people were boycotting the brand.

The problem now is that, even if a studio is willing to back it, they aren't likely to be willing to invest as much as was invested in the first movie. It's going to be hard to manage a decent fantasy movie with only half the budget of the first movie.

 

[timbannock]

The problem now is that, even if a studio is willing to back it, they aren't likely to be willing to invest as much as was invested in the first movie. It's going to be hard to manage a decent fantasy movie with only half the budget of the first movie.

I strongly disagree with this. There are so many examples of lower budget films looking really good nowadays that it saddens me when people think this is the case!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The problem now is that, even if a studio is willing to back it, they aren't likely to be willing to invest as much as was invested in the first movie

The movie cost too much for what was on the screen anyway. The same movie could have been made for significantly less.

 

[sevenbastard]

It's going to be hard to manage a decent fantasy movie with only half the budget of the first movie.

Well just go full D&D mode. Spend 20 minutes on set up, one big 20 minute fight scene in a dungeon, then have them come to a odd looking door. Someone gets spooked by the door so they spend about 90 minutes debating a plan on how to open it to realize it was unlocked and not trapped.

Boom lower budget and you capture the spirit of D&D.

 

[bedir than]

The movie cost too much for what was on the screen anyway. The same movie could have been made for significantly less.

tens of millions of the extra costs were due to significant covid restrictions at the time.

 

[GreyLord]

Look!

It's a possibility for straight to streaming (or what used to be straight to DVD) from Troma!!!

IMO (as if it has to be stated...but some would take it differently if I didn't state it this time)...

Actually, it could be sponsored by a bigger studio, but they better expect a much smaller budget. The likelihood of it being straight to streaming though is pretty high. It did decently on streaming and that could be a possibility...

But, unfortunately, I don't think that's what these guys have in mind. Perhaps if they could be talked/negotiated a little better with to get them to think more realistically of what and where they can get this movie made, we'd see a buyer.

We'll see what happens. They can't plan for major stars like Chris Pine this time around without blowing a majority of their budget. That greatly modifies what they can actually do in the sequel and what their expectations should be created around.

 

[Retros_x]

Really enjoyed the first movie, just great entertainment and cool fanservice all over the place.