DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES Sequel Was Already Written, but It May Never Make It to the Big Screen
Fans hoping to see the adventures of Edgin and the gang continue have some bittersweet news.
It turns out a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was actually written, but despite the script being finished, there’s a good chance it may never get made.
Co-director and co-writer Jonathan Goldstein recently revealed that he and collaborator John Francis Daley had already completed a follow-up story. Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle isn’t a lack of ideas or enthusiasm. It’s money.
Speaking with ScreenRant, Goldstein explained: “We actually wrote a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons. We were hired to write it.
“I don’t know that it will see the light of day for a number of financial reasons. They’re expensive movies to make, but it’d be great fun to do it. We love that cast, and we think we wrote something that fans would like.”
That’s a frustrating update because Honor Among Thieves ended up being one of the most entertaining fantasy movies released in years.
It mixed heartfelt character moments, hilarious comedy, exciting action, and genuine tabletop RPG spirit into a movie that was simply a blast to watch.
It felt like a real Dungeons & Dragons campaign brought to life, complete with unpredictable twists and lovable characters.
It’s a shame that a movie so many fans genuinely enjoyed might never get the chance to continue its story.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves earned rave reviews, currently sitting at an impressive 91% critics score and 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Even with all that goodwill, the film struggled financially, bringing in $205.46 million worldwide against an estimated $150 million production budget that was shared by Paramount and Hasbro’s Entertainment One.
The film starred Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Hugh Grant, Justice Smith, and Sophia Lillis, following an unlikely group of adventurers who join forces on a quest to recover a powerful lost relic.
Grant, who stole plenty of scenes as the charming but treacherous Forge Fitzwilliam, previously shared his thoughts on why the film didn’t connect with a larger audience, saying:
“It’s the biggest mystery to me — why didn’t anyone do market research before? I think that’s what went wrong: basically, people just thought, I don’t want to see a film about this game. Why had no one asked the public?”
It’s easy to see his point. The title alone may have turned away casual moviegoers who assumed it was only for tabletop players, when in reality the film worked just as well for audiences who had never rolled a twenty-sided die.
It delivered an old-school fantasy adventure with a terrific cast, sharp humor, memorable creatures, and surprisingly heartfelt relationships.
Goldstein and Daley have built a strong track record directing fun crowd-pleasers, including Vacation and Game Night.
Their next project is Renegades, an action thriller based on a short story by Will Simmons, and they’re also developing Paramount’s next Star Trek movie.
Honor Among Thieves wasn’t the franchise’s first attempt at live-action. The original Dungeons & Dragons movie debuted in 2000 and was met with poor reviews, earning just $33 million worldwide against a $45 million budget.
It was followed by two direct-to-TV sequels, Wrath of the Dragon God in 2005 and The Book of Vile Darkness in 2012, both of which premiered on Syfy.
That’s part of what made Honor Among Thieves so good. It finally gave the property the big-screen adaptation fans had wanted for decades, and it did so with charm, humor, and a cast that had fantastic chemistry together.
Hopefully, one day Paramount finds a way to revisit the franchise. Goldstein says there’s already a sequel script waiting, and if it really is as fun as he suggests, it would be a shame if fans never got the chance to experience that next adventure.