The first trailer for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was released during this year's San Diego Comic-Con, and while we'd admittedly had low expectations for the movie, that sneak peek ended up shattering those. While it's clearly not a "serious" fantasy epic, it looks like an absolute riot and a respectful love letter to the iconic board game.
Whether this big screen take on the property will resonate with moviegoers remains to be seen, but it certainly has all the makings of a fan-pleasing hit.
With that in mind, it's hard not to wonder whether the plan at Paramount Pictures is to use Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves as a launching platform for a cinematic universe. Following this potential blockbuster, that could expand across the big and small screens (courtesy of Paramount+).
During a recent interview with Collider, writers and directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley had the following to say about whether there was any pressure on them to go into this movie with the future in mind.
Goldstein: There was no pressure put on us to think in terms of a cinematic universe. We obviously wanted to create characters and an environment that could grow, and that had the potential for more films, but that wasn't at all in the forefront of our approach to this.
Daley: By the way, that's a testament to the studios, because I think sometimes the studios put the cart before the horse and try to create these cinematic universes before the first movie even comes out. So I think they were smart and savvy enough to know that the first one's got to work before you even dive into the others. That said, I think it's a really good jumping-off point for a lot of other potential movies to come after it.
Paramount is a studio that needs new franchises (especially without access to any superhero properties), and Dungeons & Dragons stands the chance of being huge for them. They've already assembled an impressive cast for this movie, so it's a property the studio is clearly taking seriously, and it will now come down to those all-important box office numbers.
What are your hopes for the Dungeons & Dragons franchise moving forward?