D&D: Honor Among Thieves Is Full Of John Francis Daley's Love For Jurassic Park
"Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" is an apt project for co-director John Francis Daley. Daley and his filmmaking partner Jonathan Goldstein may be known for penning the "Horrible Bosses" and "Spider-Man: Homecoming" scripts, as well as directing 2018's "Game Night," but Daley rose to fame playing Sam Weir in "Freaks and Geeks," whose love of Dungeons & Dragons is memorialized in the series finale, "Discos and Dragons."
Daley and Goldstein, however, found inspiration for their upcoming RPG adaptation in another piece of fantastical pop culture: "Jurassic Park." "'Jurassic Park' was very much our spirit animal in our approach to this film," Goldstein told Total Film. "What Spielberg did so perfectly was to blend practical and visual effects. And that's what we were able to do with this." "Jurassic Park" was the duo's lodestar from an effects standpoint, but homages to Spielberg's 1993 film also ripple through "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves."
Honor Among Thieves is a technical and nostalgic nod to Jurassic Park
In an appearance on "Raiders of the Lost Podcast," "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" stars Sophia Lillis and Justice Smith confirmed that some of the film's sequences were overt references to "Jurassic Park." The podcast hosts point out one scene in particular, where Doric (Lillis), is hanging above a fire-breathing dragon — not unlike when Lex (Ariana Richards) is caught dangling above a vicious raptor. "My God," said Lillis, "This guy's getting all the references."
The actor explained that the Easter eggs were a result of John Francis Daley's intense fandom. "The only reason I know why John put that in the movie is because he was such a big fan of 'Jurassic Park,' Lillis said. "There's probably more references in there that we don't even know about. I know he was definitely excited about that scene. He was replaying that scene over and over again to get it to mimic the ['Jurassic Park'] scene."
"Jurassic Park" was also influential from a technical perspective, as the filmmakers emphasized the use of tactile practical components to create the array of D&D creatures. That attention to detail was as exciting to the cast as it will surely be for filmgoers. "The visual practical element was really neat," Chris Pine told Collider. "I think, especially nowadays with all the green screen, to do stuff practically with real monsters made by super craftsmen, and effects on set that you can feel, and touch, and interact with."
"Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" hits theaters on March 31.