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.

 

[OB1]

Yes it was officially confirmed last year sometime, we even have a summary:

"An ex-Harper turned thief escapes from prison with his partner, a female barbarian, and reunites with a no-talent wizard and a druid new to their team in an effort to rob the cheating conman who stole all their loot from the heist that landed them behind bars, and used it to install himself as the Lord of Neverwinter. Only the traitor is allied with a powerful Red Wizard who has something far more sinister in store. Being directed by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, and starring Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez."

Which makes it slightly more likely Neverwinter is the city in question, but nothing is certain, and they did reshoots IIRC so could have probably easily changed something like that.

Had completely forgotten about this blurb, which definitely adds context to what I saw. If Sophia Lillis is playing the druid, the slingshot could be her sling for using the Magic Stone cantrip.

As for Waterdeep/Neverwinter, I got the feeling that the arena battle scene with the pillars and the displacer beast (and I can't tell you how much seeing that displacer beast made me squeal with joy) was in the city from the aerial view, and it felt like an end of act 1 scene, perhaps right after they reunite with the wizard and druid, so perhaps this is in the Field of Triumph in Waterdeep? Would make sense that if Neverwinter is the ultimate goal, that there would be some 2nd act road travel action between getting the team together and confronting Hugh Grant's conman and the Red Wizard in Neverwinter.

Seriously love how many little D&D details were packed into this tiny bit of footage. While completely unnecessary for the average viewer to understand what is going on, it's gonna be a blast digging thru and looking at how everything connects with the gameplay mechanics for us uber fans.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

As for Waterdeep/Neverwinter, I got the feeling that the arena battle scene with the pillars and the displacer beast (and I can't tell you how much seeing that displacer beast made me squeal with joy) was in the city from the aerial view, and it felt like an end of act 1 scene, perhaps right after they reunite with the wizard and druid, so perhaps this is in the Field of Triumph in Waterdeep? Would make sense that if Neverwinter is the ultimate goal, that there would be some 2nd act road travel action between getting the team together and confronting Hugh Grant's conman and the Red Wizard in Neverwinter.

I don't think they're going to bother CGI building/rendering two giant-ass fantasy cities for one slightly risky movie, so I strongly suspect either it's Neverwinter, or they revised the script to be Waterdeep at some point (though the exact plot would not make sense with Waterdeep, because its rulership works differently).

 

[OB1]

I don't think they're going to bother CGI building/rendering two giant-ass fantasy cities for one slightly risky movie, so I strongly suspect either it's Neverwinter, or they revised the script to be Waterdeep at some point (though the exact plot would not make sense with Waterdeep, because its rulership works differently).

I'm not so sure about that. GotG was considered pretty risky at the time and it had Xandar and Knowhere as two big CGI locations plus the establishing shot of the space prison, and the cost of doing those types of shots aren't nearly as expensive as they were a decade ago.

You can also get a lot of mileage out of a quick CGI establishing shot from a distance and then cutting to a practical set from that. GoT used that method extensively to help control costs while still giving viewers the sense of a big fantasy world.

 

[Tsuga C]

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.

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• 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.

Sounds utterly craptastic. Piss on accessibility for the masses, I want something of substance with a solid dose of quasi-historical verisimilitude. Make it Bronze Age, Iron Age, Dark Age, or Medieval Period as you please, but keep the Marvel-esque garbage out of D&D.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Sounds utterly craptastic. Piss on accessibility for the masses, I want something of substance with a solid dose of quasi-historical verisimilitude. Make it Bronze Age, Iron Age, Dark Age, or Medieval Period as you please, but keep the Marvel-esque garbage out of D&D.

And you expected a Dungeons and Dragons movie to give you this why?

Given literally no D&D setting has had "quasi-historical verisimilitude" since, at best, maybe Taladas, which came out in 1989? You might try and claim Birthright, but first off that's nonsense, and second off, that's almost as old, being from 1995, and thus 27 years old. That ship sailed well back into the last century.

This is like raging that an Deadpool movie isn't an in-depth character study or something. Or that a Fast and Furious movie wasn't an episode of Top Gear.

EDIT: Sheesh, Marvel movies exist in the format they do BECAUSE OF tabletop RPGs, I would suggest (stay with me here people), because they're really an extension of the Whedon-esque-era of TV/cinema storytelling (sleaze as he might now have been revealed to be), which was itself in large part inspired by Whedon's experiences playing tabletop RPGs (he talked about this a few times, most notably revealing Firefly was inspired by Traveller - I am not kidding). An era with inescapable influence on action-adventure stuff especially. A huge proportion of other writers and directors of a bit younger age are also veterans of tabletop RPGs (particularly D&D but not only D&D). It's almost more surprising if a director/writer who is in their early 40s or a bit older/younger doesn't say "Oh yeah I used to play/run RPGs". Hell a significant proportion of the bloody actors under a certain age still do! So...

 

[G R (grizzyGR)]

"sorry bard haters" ummm, they don't deserve an apology

 

[OB1]

And you expected a Dungeons and Dragons movie to give you this why?

Given literally no D&D setting has had "quasi-historical verisimilitude" since, at best, maybe Taladas, which came out in 1989? You might try and claim Birthright, but first off that's nonsense, and second off, that's almost as old, being from 1995, and thus 27 years old. That ship sailed well back into the last century.

This is like raging that an Deadpool movie isn't an in-depth character study or something. Or that a Fast and Furious movie wasn't an episode of Top Gear.

EDIT: Sheesh, Marvel movies exist in the format they do BECAUSE OF tabletop RPGs, I would suggest (stay with me here people), because they're really an extension of the Whedon-esque-era of TV/cinema storytelling (sleaze as he might now have been revealed to be), which was itself in large part inspired by Whedon's experiences playing tabletop RPGs (he talked about this a few times, most notably revealing Firefly was inspired by Traveller - I am not kidding). An era with inescapable influence on action-adventure stuff especially. A huge proportion of other writers and directors of a bit younger age are also veterans of tabletop RPGs (particularly D&D but not only D&D). It's almost more surprising if a director/writer who is in their early 40s or a bit older/younger doesn't say "Oh yeah I used to play/run RPGs". Hell a significant proportion of the bloody actors under a certain age still do! So...

Kind of amazing to think about the influence D&D had on first video games and then movies. It’s a stealth massive influencer in so much of popular culture today!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Strange they didn't stick to one of the Northern Ireland castles?

I think I remember that D&D:HAT filmed at several castles/castle like locations. I may be able to comb my old searches/stories to find the list

They also filmed at Carrickfergus Castle and Wells Cathedral.

I've never been to Carrickfergus, but it looks the closest to a typical D&D castle. From how it was decked out I think Alnwick was playing "Neverwinter City Walls" in some crowd scenes. They had a bunch of extras on set. I suspect Wells was used for "Palace: Interior".

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Sounds utterly craptastic. Piss on accessibility for the masses, I want something of substance with a solid dose of quasi-historical verisimilitude. Make it Bronze Age, Iron Age, Dark Age, or Medieval Period as you please, but keep the Marvel-esque garbage out of D&D.

I have good news, the movie came out early: The Northman (2022) - IMDb

Huge Grant's makeup is amazing, I barely recognised him!

 

[Nikosandros]

I have good news, the movie came out early: The Northman (2022) - IMDb

I was going to make the same post... I saw The Northman a few days ago and it is exactly that: set in the Dark Ages, grim, gory (and quite well-made). I enjoyed it, but that is certainly not what I expect from a D&D movie.