Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - Everything You Need To Know

Who doesn't love a good heist movie? And if there's a bit of magic involved, all the better. And that's exactly what we got with "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" — a fantastical "Ocean's Eleven," complete with mimics, owlbears, and plenty of winged reptiles.

The plot revolves around Edgin the Bard and his BFF and partner in crime, Holga the Barbarian. Edgin is a charming thief with a penchant for making plans, and Holga is the brawn to Edgin's brains. After breaking out of prison, Edgin wants to reunite with his daughter, Kira, but finds she's under the sway of his old partner, Forge Fitzwilliam, and his menacing accomplice, Sofina. 

That's when Edgin decides it's time for a good, old-fashioned caper and assembles a merry team of misfits, including a so-so sorcerer, a shapeshifting druid, and a grimly serious paladin. With this bunch of oddballs, Edgin plans to get his daughter back while breaking into Forge's enchanted vault, which is filled with all sorts of expensive goodies — including something that might bring his late wife back to life. Of course, that's a lot easier said than done with a whole slew of monsters and mages running around.

At one point in the "Dungeons & Dragons" timeline, Chris McKay of "The Lego Movie" and "The Tomorrow War" was set to direct. However, McKay stepped away from the project in 2019, making room for two new dungeon masters — Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.

In addition to "Honor Among Thieves," these guys have two other movies under their collaborative filmmaking belt. Their first effort was 2015's "Vacation," starring Ed Helms and Christina Applegate, which earned a measly 27% Rotten Tomatoes score. Their other film, however, is the massively underrated "Game Night," a comedy thriller starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams that's really awesome and 100% worth your time.

In addition to directing, the duo have also penned quite a few scripts, including comedies such as "Horrible Bosses" and "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2." Plus, they helped co-write one of the MCU's most popular films — "Spider-Man: Homecoming." So it should come as no surprise that they co-wrote the "Honor Among Thieves" script, along with up-and-coming screenwriter Michael Gilio.

As you can probably tell from all their aforementioned credits, Goldstein and Daley are big on comedy, and they also have experience in the world of action-adventure films. And "Honor Among Thieves" is the perfect blend of those two styles, and we are incredibly psyched to see what these two do next — whether it's a totally new project or a "Dungeons & Dragons" sequel.

Created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, "Dungeons & Dragons" has been around since 1974, and over the years, it's created a massive fanbase. Needless to say, fans are always sensitive about their favorite properties, so when Doric the Druid morphed into an owlbear during an "Honor Among Thieves" trailer, some people were a little miffed. According to the rules, a druid can't transform into an owlbear, so the film clearly bends some of the long-established gameplay mechanics.

Speaking to IGN, director Jonathan Goldstein elaborated a bit on the backlash saying, "We're aware that there was a certain amount of controversy that emerged in the 'D&D' fan community after the first trailer showed our druid wildshaping into an owlbear, and it was something we discussed a great deal when we were writing it." So why did Goldstein and fellow director/co-writer John Francis Daley decide to include something that went against "D&D" canon? As the filmmaker further explained, "We subscribe to the rule of cool, and we felt that we, as the dungeon masters of this movie, would let our players do this, then why should we deprive the audience of something as cool and as exciting as this."

However, don't assume Goldstein and Daley went completely rogue here. In fact, the two have worked very closely with Wizards of the Coast, the company behind the popular RPG. Speaking with Collider, producer Jeremy Latcham explained, "They were very involved ... in the actual design of the dragon. It was tremendously weighed on a ton of stuff in the lore, but the dragons themselves, there was so much lore-specific stuff about exactly where the fin goes and exactly how the thumb works." Daley also confirmed their dedication to the game, explaining, "Our hero dragon, our red dragon, is actually based on a character in the lore, so we're not totally deviating from what people want."

On that note, they also brought over a big bad from "D&" lore, the Red Wizard Szass Tam, although most everyone else is unique to the movie. As Goldstein explained to IGN, "John and I really set out to make a movie that captured the spirit of playing a game of 'D&D.' We're not really using any existing story or characters. ... This is pretty much all of our own creation, but we're putting it in a world that comes from 50 years of the lore of 'Dungeons & Dragons.'"

While "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" definitely feels like the beginning of a franchise, will it get a sequel? Well, that all depends on how much money it makes. So what was the box office return? Well, on its opening weekend, the fantasy flick earned $38.5 million at the domestic box office. When you add in the international numbers, you get a worldwide total of around $71 million. In total, the film has earned $124 million at the time of this writing, but is that enough to inspire Paramount to make more movies?

We certainly hope so, although in fairness, "Dungeons & Dragons" is only the 11th highest-grossing movie of the year as of April 2023 — a stat that's sure to fall as the year goes on. The only major blockbuster it's outgrossed is "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," which was considered a massive disappointment. Of course, "Honor Among Thieves" is part of an established cinematic franchise, so hopefully Hollywood executives will see a lot of potential here and keep the adventure going.