Box Office: ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Rolls $5.6 Million in Previews
Paramount and eOne are launching their new fantasy film “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” this weekend, and the adaptation of the popular role-playing game picked up $5.6 million in previews at the domestic box office. It opens in 3,855 theaters on Friday.
After rolling for initiative, it will prepare for combat against “John Wick: Chapter 4,” last weekend’s box office champion — and it’ll be a close battle. Directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, “Dungeons & Dragons” is hoping to conjure up $30 million to $40 million in its opening weekend, and Keanu Reeves’ “John Wick 4” is muscling its way to around $36 million in its sophomore outing.
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With a price tag of $150 million, excluding marketing costs, “Dungeons & Dragons” will need to play on its positive reviews and strong word-of-mouth from hardcore fans to march toward a profit.
Based on the popular tabletop role-playing game of the ’70s and ’80s, the movie follows a group of fantastical adventurers that includes Chris Pine as the singing bard Edgin Darvis, Michelle Rodriguez as the ferocious barbarian Holga Kilgore, Justice Smith as the wild magic sorcerer Simon Aumar and Sophia Lillis as the tiefling druid Doric. (For the uninitiated, these are all classes that real-life Dungeons and Dragons players can use to create their personalized characters.) The party of thieves turned heroes must band together to defeat an evil Red Wizard and save Edgin’s daughter (Chloe Coleman).
The cast also includes “Brigerton” heartthrob Regé-Jean Page as ageless paladin Xenk Yendar, Hugh Grant as the smarmy rogue Forge Fitzwilliam and an assortment of Dungeons and Dragons monsters like the displacer beast, a gelatinous cube, an owlbear and a colorful assortment of dragons.
It’s been a successful March box office this month, with previous releases like “Scream 6,” “Creed III” and “John Wick 4” breaking opening records for their franchises. “Dungeons & Dragons” should finish the month on a strong note.
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