Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was an action-packed delight for the whole family, and is now available to watch at home on Premium Video-On-Demand and to purchase on Digital from Paramount Home Entertainment.
In the movie, a charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people in this hilarious and action-packed adventure.
We recently were fortunate enough to speak with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves executive producer Jeremy Latcham about his role in bringing the beloved board game to the big screen. His name should ring a bell as, prior to leaving Marvel Studios, the filmmaker produced record-breaking hits like Iron Man, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Spider-Man: Homecoming!
As well as sharing some fascinating insights into how those projects influenced his approach to Dungeons & Dragons, Latcham reveals how he made Bradley Cooper's cameo a reality, why they decided against taking the franchise down a Game of Thrones-esque route, and Chris Pine's work in shaping his character, Edgin.
You can watch our interviewer with Jeremy in the player below.
To start with, I have to ask you a question that’s been on my mind since watching the film: how did you make that epic Bradley Cooper cameo happen?
Wow, that was a really interesting thing that came together. We had shot the film and finished the movie. We knew that we wanted a cameo there in the middle of the film to make that scene really stand out, so the question became, ‘Who?’ I called one of our executives, Zev Foreman, actually mentioned the Bradley idea. We’d talked about a thousand names and he threw Bradley out there as someone who was unobtainable. I said, ‘Well, we did make him Rocket. I have good relationship with his manager and Rocket worked out pretty well as it’s one day of work and became iconic for him.’ Obviously, Guardians 3 seems to be all about Rocket which is really cool.
So, I called his manager and said, ‘Hey, I would like to screen the film for you. It’s near-done, the effects, sound, and score is still being worked on, but the picture is pretty much done.’ I live in Austin, Texas now so flew to LA but didn’t tell him. When his manager showed up, I was standing there, and I told him I really wanted to talk to him about it. He said, ‘This seems like a long shot, dude. This doesn’t seem like the kind of thing I’d want to do, but I know you guys are serious about it, and I’ll watch the movie.’ I walked him through why I thought the movie was good and why I thought he’d believe in it and why it would be a good idea. He called me afterwards and said, ‘Okay, so Bradley is going to do this.’ I said, ‘Does he know this yet?’ and he goes, ‘No, but we’re going to work on this because the movie is awesome. It’s great.’
It took about a month, but we showed the movie to Bradley and screened it in his editing room where he’s working on Maestro for Netflix (which is going to be incredible and he’s going to win all of the awards for that…it looks insanely good). We screened our little non-black and white art film that’s going to win Oscars and he called John [Francis Daley] who he’d worked with on ABC a million years ago. He’d been his sous-chef and called him to say, ‘I can’t believe you directed this movie. I will be in it. I love this movie and want to be in this. How can we shoot this?’
It came together really quickly. The quality of the film and having a finished movie he could see meant he agreed to do it. It was literally six hours. He came in and went through hair and makeup and, by six hours, I mean from arriving to leaving. We had to do a fitting, hair test, and makeup test…the whole nine yards. He shows up on set, we do the scene maybe four times, and we’re done. We just said, ‘Holy cow, that is gonna really be great.’ The first time we saw it in the film, as it was so late in the process, was at SXSW. We watched it there and people went crazy at that moment. It was worth the hassle and it was awesome. I’m so grateful that he did it and that he’s such a good guy and a mensch to come in and do these six hours of work for us. What a nice man. I have nothing but nice things to say about Mr. Bradley Cooper. I’m so thankful.
This movie is so much fun, but was there ever a version that was perhaps more serious and Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings-inspired and why do you think that wasn’t necessarily the right direction for this franchise?
I mean, I don’t know. I think, as a producer, I’m incapable of making those things. Truly. I just don’t have that muscle as a producer. I respect that stuff immensely and think it’s great and incredible people know how to make it make sense where it’s so dark and serious and brooding. I don’t think I innately have that bone in my body, so if I announced that I was making a really serious movie, I think people would know I can’t do it very well! The closest I’ve come to making serious was when I worked on Bad Times at the El Royale, but Drew Goddard had such a clear vision, I was only really there to help support him and navigate the studio process while getting a movie made.
To be involved truly creatively a real partner in something, I think this is what I think I do well. I didn’t grow up liking Star Wars really, so Guardians was, ‘How do we make a space movie I want to see?’ I grew up liking John Hughes movies, so Spider-Man: Homecoming became, ‘How do we make a John Hughes superhero movie?’ I’m not the world’s biggest fantasy fan, truly, but I loved the idea that people play D&D and go to this fantasy world where they get to be a version of themselves and escape while keeping their personality and humour intact. That, to me, was what was so appealing.
It’s all about the repertoire between the group and the dynamic in your friendships at the table with the people you play with. It’s about what your buddy Joe brings to the table and what your friend Marie brings. You figure out how to bring them together and see them bounce off each other and they’re hilarious, and you have the most fun you ever had. How do we capture that spirit? To me, it would be weird to make a serious D&D table because I think most tables are pretty fun and rollicking and adventurous. That’s why you drive to Joe’s house three times a week for an hour and a half in the evening and make the time because you’re having fun, not mired in brooding for all those hours! To take this material, we needed to capture the spirit and find what people love.
I read an interview with Chris Pine where he talked about his role in making Edgin a little less serious, but what would you say is most important about having that sort of feedback and collaboration with an actor?
Oh, it’s incredibly important. When you look at the leads in the movie I’ve made, it’s like when Downey came on Iron Man 1. We didn’t know the movie was funny. We had no idea. It seemed like a techno-thriller and a cool, brooding film about an arms weapons dealer that’s going to have a change of heart and kick ass. Downey came in for his first screen test and read the words and we were like, ‘Oh, this is funny! No kidding, wow. Okay, let’s keep working on the script.’ That was my first taste at realising you could take this huge story and give it heart and humanity by bringing in these great actors.
That happened again on Guardians. The movie was always funny, but you see Pratt bring it to life and you start working it around that. The same thing happened with Pine. He came in and had a really great note. We’d had a version of the movie with his daughter, Kira, in it and we’d taken her out because it seemed like it was a little much. Then, he came in and said, ‘I think you’re missing something. I think this guy has a daughter.’ We were like, ‘We just took her out,’ and he responded, ‘I don’t know how I knew that, but you should put her back.’
We did and it gave him this humanity and a true investment into the story that allowed that to shine through. Then his charisma and charm shined through and started oozing out of the character. I think Chris Pine…I mean, I’ve worked with all the Chrises so I have to be careful what I say…but I think he’s spectacular. He’s got so much depth and has acting chops for days. He’s so skilful in his work and is so likeable and funny. The whole thing is that collaboration. You’re only as good as your script, but on top of that, you’re only as good as your cast. Without those things working in tandem, you’ve got nothing. It’s a weird layering of elements on top of each other to create a cohesive whole and every single little and big decision contributes.
So much of that is the actors, man, and Chris is just incredible. Michelle too doing something she’s never done before being so damned funny and unexpected. It was fun.
From Paramount Home Entertainment, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will be available to purchase on Digital 5/2. All bonus features will be available with a digital purchase.