Will Honor Among Thieves Spark a New Fantasy Franchise?

The release of Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was fraught with risk, as the previous trilogy based on this influential RPG was met with poor reviews and failed to capture the imagination of movie-goers. Has Honor Among Thieves changed the outlook and could it possibly inspire a new generation of films based on this tabletop classic?

The Current Trend for Fantasy Themes

The timing for the release of this movie seems to have worked in its favor, with the House of the Dragon series from HBO premiering in late 2022 to positive reviews and putting fantasy themes in the spotlight. This series shows the events that happened a couple of centuries before Game of Thrones took place and a number of dramatic dragon scenes were among the highlights.

We can also see the popularity of dragons and other fantasy themes on Paddy Power’s online slots, with titles like Wolfkin, Griffin’s Throne, and Imperial Dragon included. These slots are based on the classic slots gameplay of trying to get matching symbols across the reels but with images such as dragons, wizards, and daggers adding to the atmosphere. Some fantasy slots also add unique features that fit the theme, such as missions that the player needs to complete.

All about the Movie

Released at the end of March this year, it’s described as a fantasy comedy heist that’s loosely based on the Forgotten Realms campaign from the tabletop game. Honor Among Thieves was in development for over a decade and features Edgin Darvis (played by Chris Pine) as a bard who is planning his escape from prison. Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga Kilgore, who is in prison with Edgin and escapes with him.

Together, they escape to Neverwinter and discover that it’s fallen under the control of the con artist Forge Fitzwilliam, played by Hugh Grant. Reviews were generally positive, although this Roger Ebert site review states that there’s not enough world-building and that the visuals may age badly. Other reviews call it a good-natured romp and it did well enough at movie theaters to gross over $200 million on a global basis.

The Future of the Dungeons and Dragons Series

Fantasy movies continue to be popular in movies, games, and other parts of popular culture. According to Digital Spy, the second series of House of the Dragon is being filmed at the time of writing and should be available in 2024. Next year will also see the Avatar series continue when Avatar 3 is released.

As for the Dungeons and Dragons brand, a spin-off TV series will be shown on Paramount+ although no release date is yet known. There appear to be no plans for further movies based on Dungeons and Dragons, but director Jonathan Goldstein has pointed out that if there’s another film then it’ll probably use the same characters as Honor of Thieves.

The success of this new movie is good news for the fantasy genre and it should lead to more films of this type, although it isn’t yet clear whether more Dungeons and Dragons movies will be part of this.

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