The sad reality of the film industry is that every great idea is dependent on its box-office performance. A fun, charming, and creative film like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves can't expect a follow-up without an appropriate mass of millions during its theatrical run. In the modern era, three or four weekends decide the fate of every new idea. Paramount didn't like the numbers they saw after Honor Among Thieves hit the screen, but the streaming spinoff may be a missed opportunity that haunts them.
There are too many streaming services. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, Tubi, Vudu, Pluto, and many more silly names crowd every smart TV. Finding a movie to watch is now a process of scrolling through dozens of menus or searching the internet to find the home of a favorite film. With endless competition, every streamer needs several ways to stand out. Paramount+ is not a leading competitor. It certainly can't afford to start passing on its limited advantages.
One Dungeons & Dragons Project Fizzles Out at Paramount+
While Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was well-liked, the company's streaming arm has cut what could have been the small-screen equivalent.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has a TV Spinoff
Directors | Johnathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley |
|---|---|
Screenplay | Johnathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, and Michael Gilio |
Story | Chris McKay and Michael Gilio |
Stars | Chris Pine, Melissa Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sofia Lillis, and Hugh Grant |
Release Date | March 31st, 2023 |
Budget | $150 Million |
Box Office | $208.2 Million |
Rotten Tomatoes Score | 91% positive from 310 critics |
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was a fun and exciting adventure in a franchise that has regularly struggled on the big screen. Like video games and comic books, D&D is a hobby that used to be seen as the unreachable peak of nerd culture. Other nerds considered it a bridge too far. However, thanks entirely to actual play podcasts, video games, and independent creators working tirelessly to fix Wizards of the Coast's game for them, the franchise is immensely popular. Honor Among Thieves should have provided a massive mainstream touchpoint for the tabletop title, but the film struggled at the box office. There were several reasons for its poor performance. The Super Mario Bros. Movie killed every competitor that stood against it when it hit theaters only five days after Honor Among Thieves. Perhaps more importantly, Honor Among Thieves sustained a mortal blow from D&D's biggest nemesis, Wizards of the Coast. The awful company's shortsighted, cruel, and greedy decisions prompted a boycott that unfortunately wounded the otherwise excellent film. Honor Among Thieves is the cinematic equivalent of crafting a flawless plan of action before rolling a two and losing it all. Luckily, Paramount seemed prepared to continue the legend.
Dungeons & Dragons has franchise potential, despite its first film's underperformance. Hasbro, eOne, and Paramount have suggested a potential sequel, but a spinoff TV series seemed to be the intended next step. Paramount+ gave the unnamed program an eight-episode straight-to-series order last January. Drew Crevello, a VP at Fox who developed Deadpool and X-Men: First Class, signed on as the showrunner. Rawson Marshall Thurber, of Skyscraper and Red Notice fame, wrote and directed the pilot. The series entered a year-long period of silence before an unfortunate announcement cut celebrations short.
Paramount+ Passed on the D&D Series
On May 30th, 2024, Paramount+ announced that they wouldn't be moving forward with their D&D series. Their straight-to-series order amounted to nothing. This leaves the show in a strange position, but its absence from Paramount's future plans could cause several problems. Paramount+ has a few selling points. Oddly enough, it's closer in business model to Disney+ than Netflix. Instead of having a massive library of original content that demands subscriptions, Paramount trades off a few key IPs. They have Star Trek, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, the Yellowstone franchise, and a few other notable names. Oddly enough, Paramount+ has a selection of video game adaptations. Halo, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Ark: The Animated Series make up their most notable original series. With so few decent IPs to rely on, Dungeons & Dragons would have unquestionably added a lot to the service. The closest thing they have to a killer app is the mess of Yellowstone spinoffs for older audiences and the world of Nickelodeon classics for kids. D&D could have been their Game of Thrones or their Stranger Things. It's an opportunity to stop relying on live football. They missed that opportunity.
Could the D&D series still come out?
Hasbro took the Dungeons & Dragons series into their in-house studio. Hasbro Entertainment will soon make its cinematic debut with Transformers One. eOne, the other production company involved, was sold to Lionsgate. With Paramount out of the picture, it's up to Hasbro to fix up the show and shop it around for a new distribution hub. There's no telling how long that process could take or whether it will ever work out. The D&D series might be a going concern for the next several years. Hasbro continues its interest in projects like G.I. Joe and Transformers, but D&D remains a potential future avenue.
Honor Among Thieves suffered a tragic downfall due to factors outside the filmmaker's control. Its first opportunity to redeem itself would have been the spinoff TV series, but Paramount+ didn't see the potential it offered their service. If the show ever makes it to Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, fans may wonder why it doesn't share a platform with its predecessor. Time will tell whether Paramount will live to regret canceling its next campaign.
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