DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES! Here Are Some Interesting Things We Learned at the Comic-Con Panel!
Paramount Pictures brought their epic fantasy film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves to Comic-Con, and they made a huge splash! During their panel, they premiered the first trailer for the film, which you can check out here if you haven’t seen it yet. This movie looks like a freakin’ blast! Judging from what I’ve seen, I personally think that directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley completely capture the spirit and magic of Dungeons & Dragons.
The directors show up at the panel along with the cast including Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, Daisy Head, and Hugh Grant. They opened up about the film and shared some interesting and cool information, and I thought I’d share a few of those things here for you!
First off, on top of the trailer, they showed us two exclusive clips from the movie which were a ton of fun! The first clip features the D&D adventure team searching for a helmet of magical power and when doing their investigative work, they went to a graveyard of an ancient battle, dug up corpses, and brought them back to life to ask them five questions about what they were looking for. It was pretty hilarious to watch how this scene played out. It was good fun and we also got some great flashback sequences of the epic battle that the corpses fought and died in.
The second clip started with Hugh Grant's character, who is standing in a big colosseum, where he introduced three groups of people who have to run through a giant maze while being hunted down by deadly creatures. One of those creatures is a jaguar-looking beast with tentacles emerging from its body. While the adventures are trying to survive they are collecting weapons from chests along the way. There are also some fun gelatinous cube sequences! The clip ends with Pine’s character being attacked by the jaguar beasts.
It was explained during the panel that the film’s tone will be light and fun, which is what a D&D film should be! I’ve never played a D&D game that hasn’t been filled with humor, so it definitely makes sense to include that. Pine talked about the energy of the film saying that it has a "Spielbergian quality to it," with a light tone and kinetic energy:
"There's a — I guess I would kind of call it — it's like a Spielbergian energy to it. It's the films that I grew up with in the '80s. It just feels open, light, and buoyant, and your job is to — like good improv, just kind of keep it alive — keep the energy and music of the scene alive, and I like that kind of filmmaking, and it makes for a nice energy on set, because you're not trying to fix all of the world's woes, the deep sadness or whatever. There's a certain pathos and deep and great emotion in this, but I would say I guess the word I think of is kind of buoyant, keeping it fun — lively, popping energy to it that I think we all glommed onto."
The film will also channel the experience of what it’s like playing the game. Francis Daley said, "It's not just a game, it's a feeling you get when you play the game. And that's what we're doing with this movie, that is what we wanted to capture." I personally think that’s exactly what they accomplished.
If you’re a D&D fan, there are a lot of elements from the game and the franchise that you’re going to recognize. It will be filled with tributes to the things we know and love about the game, including lots of recognizable monsters and characters. It’s explained that they worked closely with the creators of the game to make sure that they stick close to the lore. Also, if you’re a fan of the D&D '80s cartoon, you’ll want to keep an eye out for those characters in live-action, too: in fact, one of the groups of adventurers in the maze action scene will look very familiar.
They also talked about the special effects created for the film and revealed that they are being developed by Industrial Light and Magic and Legacy, specifically pointing out that these are the people who brought us Baby Yoda. The movie will also incorporate a mix of CGI and practical effects. They actually showed a behind-the-scenes video from the film that showed some of the practical creature effects off, and it was pretty awesome! Goldstein said, "It's the chance to bring these characters to life that we have only imagined in our heads.”
As you might expect, the filmmakers and the studio are hoping this one film turns into multiple films. They want this to blow up into a huge franchise, and I certainly think there’s a chance that will happen. The filmmakers are bringing multiple villains, monsters, and characters from the D&D lore into the film with the hope build out those characters in future movies. Speaking about the possibility, the filmmakers said: "If we're lucky, [there will be] multiple films."
During the Q&A the filmmakers were asked if we might see Vecna, the Mind Flayer, or the Critical Role crew in the film. But the directors didn’t confirm or deny, they just don’t want to spoil any of the surprises that the movie holds, so there’s a chance that any of these things could pop up in the movie. We’ll just have to wait and see!
In the film, “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. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure.”
The movie hits theaters in March 2023, and I can’t wait to see it. I’m super pumped up for it!