“Why had no one asked the public?”: The Unforgivable Mistake Hugh Grant Blames is What Doomed Chris Pine’s Dungeons & Dragons Movie

SUMMARY

• Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves didn't good as well as Paramount and the cast members had hoped.
• Hugh Grant claimed that something as simple as market research could've done justice to the film.
• Chris Pine believes a sequel is likely to come out, however, Paramount hasn't spoken about it.

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At some point during our lives, we would have come across a game called Dungeons & Dragons. People born before the 2010s are most likely the ones familiar with it. And just over a year ago, fans of the beloved game were gifted with a live-action adaptation called Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. This film was expected to take the entire world by storm, but its release only resulted in underwhelming numbers. 

Sophia Lillis (Doric), Justice Smith (Simon), Chris Pine (Edgin), and Michelle Rodriguez (Holga) in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves | Credits: Paramount

The movie, directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein received fairly decent overall ratings online. It was given a 7.2 out of 10 score on IMDb while notching a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Pretty good, right? Well, not really, especially since it was a high-budget film. 

Hugh Grant reveals what crippled Dungeons & Dragons’ performance

For the most part, several individuals involved in the film or the production process genuinely assumed Dungeons & Dragons was going to tear through the box office. Before the movie’s release in March 2023, Hugh Grant, who acted as Forge Fitzwilliam, claimed that it was a great film.

Hugh Grant as Forge Fitzwilliam in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves | Credits: Paramount

But the cast’s view on the multi-million dollar project went down the drain weeks after release day. While Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves concluded its theater run, the movie only generated $208 million at the box office, as per CBR. 

While that might sound like a decent amount to us movie lovers, the industry generally considers a project successful only if it makes 200% of what was used as its budget. Grant also had some words for the lackluster response it received. According to CBR, he said, 

Why didn’t anyone do market research before? I think that’s what went wrong. Basically, people just thought, I don’t want to see a film about this game. Why had no one asked the public?

Despite having a few big-name actors on its roster including Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Justice Smith, the film didn’t do as great as Paramount had hoped it would. 

Will there be another Dungeons & Dragons release under Paramount? 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves didn’t do as great as expected, but there’s still hope. There were a few other reasons why the film didn’t perform as well. A couple of other movies like John Wick 4 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie were also released around the same time. 

Chris Pine as Edgin Darvin in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves | Credits: Paramount

However, Chris Pine (Edgin Davis) claims that there is a good chance that Dungeons & Dragons will have a sequel. He said (via CBR),

I think there’s a really good chance that we’ll make another one… and if they can figure out a financial way to make it work, they’ll do it. 

There isn’t much information available on a possible sequel besides this. Interestingly, the Dungeons & Dragons from the year 2000 also wasn’t a commercial hit, making Honor Among Thieves the second consecutive adaptation of the game a failure. 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves can be streamed on Paramount+.

Written by Rakibul John Rodgers

Articles Published: 8

Rakib is a writer at Fandomwire. He loves to delve into the worlds of horror, mystery, and pop culture. With a keen interest in sports, particularly basketball and MMA, he stays up-to-date on the latest developments. Outside of writing, Rakib values time with loved ones and finds solace in music, his first love.