With a brand-new live-action film that centers on a gang of thieves, Dungeons & Dragons continues its significant pop cultural resurgence.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, a live-action adaptation that turns the role-playing game’s magical world and characters into an action-comedy, debuted its trailer at San Diego Comic-Con. The film debuts on March 3, 2023, in theaters.
Watch the most recent trailer is below:
Link to video: https://youtu.be/IiMinixSXII
The movie’s synopsis from Paramount Pictures reads:
“A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure.”
In Honor Among Thieves, a group of thieves steal something for the wrong person, causing an apocalypse, and then they have to play the role of heroes to put things right. This is a very common D&D cliche. Hugh Grant, Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Regé-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, and Michelle Rodriguez make up the film’s impressive ensemble cast.
Many of these characters fall into the categories of the typical D&D character classes. Chris Pine portrays a bard, Sophia Lillis a shape-shifting druid who transforms into an Owlbear in the trailer, Michelle Rodriguez a barbarian, Regé-Jean Page probably a paladin, Justice Smith a kind of mage. One of D&D’s many recognizable monsters is the owlbear, but the trailer also features other creatures including the mimic, displacer beast, and gelatinous cube. Undoubtedly, a dragon is also present.
Many of these characters fall into the categories of the typical D&D character classes. Chris Pine portrays a bard, Sophia Lillis a shape-shifting druid who transforms into an Owlbear in the trailer, Michelle Rodriguez a barbarian, Regé-Jean Page probably a paladin, Justice Smith a kind of mage. One of D&D’s many recognizable monsters is the owlbear, but the trailer also features other creatures including the mimic, displacer beast, and gelatinous cube. Undoubtedly, a dragon is also present.
Hugh Grant playing a villain in anything is always a plus, and Honor Among Thieves seems to be balancing the line between fanservice and action-comedy rather well so far (see: Paddington 2). Additionally, it continues D&D’s pop cultural resurgence after a brief period of time as just another specialized tabletop game. The actual-play web series Critical Role, which centers on a group of D&D players, is still quite popular and has even spawned an animated spin-off called The Legend of Vox Machina on Amazon Prime. Every season of Stranger Things features some sort of D&D. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, the most recent Borderlands game, makes overt allusions to the tabletop game.
The eagerly awaited third installment in the D&D-inspired RPG game series Baldur’s Gate is also scheduled for release in 2023. It’s a wonderful time to play D&D between that and Honor Among Thieves, which will be released in theaters on March 3, 2023.
