Performance check: How did ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ fare against ‘Wick’ at the box office?
Paramount Pictures’ “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” rolled the dice by challenging Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 4” at the box office this weekend — and the gamble paid off.
The fantasy film based on the popular role-playing game of the same name dethroned the latest installment in the “Wick” saga at the domestic box office this weekend, conjuring up $38.5 million, according to studio estimates.
The fourth “Wick” flick came in second, hunting down $28.2 million in its sophomore outing for a North American cumulative of $122.9 million — after breaking the franchise record upon its debut.
‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ leans on stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Hugh Grant to do what they do best.
Hollywood’s most recent attempt to adapt “Dungeons & Dragons” for the screen performed at the high end of early box-office projections, which positioned the movie at $30 million to $40 million domestically. Internationally, “Honor Among Thieves” debuted at $33 million for a worldwide haul of $71.5 million.
Co-directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” stars Hugh Grant, Sophia Lillis, Justice Smith, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page and Chris Pine as a ragtag bunch of travelers on an epic adventure inspired by the vast “D&D” universe.
It’s worth noting that previous “Dungeons & Dragons” adaptations have fizzled theatrically: Critics panned New Line Cinema’s 2000 production, which tanked at the box office and spurred a pair of direct-to-video sequels. In the 1980s, a cartoon “D&D” series lasted three seasons.
“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is the latest stab at turning the decades-old D&D franchise into a blockbuster hit. Can it help turn the game-to-movie pipeline into less of a joke?
“Honor Among Thieves” fared well with critics, notching an impressive 91% fresh rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the action comedy an A-minus.
“The film is an unapologetically big, fun, swashbuckling slice of hardcore fantasy and leans into that without any self-deprecation, which is the core lesson for our merry band of misfits,” writes film critic Katie Walsh for the Tribune News Service.
“And yet there is some ineffable quality lacking — perhaps an emulsifying ingredient — that prevents all these elements (the stars, the lore, the creatures) from coming together into something truly magical.”
The team behind ‘Honor Among Thieves’ explains how the film’s standout chase sequence came together — and captures the game’s imaginative spirit.
Rounding out the top 5 at the domestic box office are Paramount Pictures’ “Scream VI,” which scared up $5.3 million in its fourth weekend for a North American cumulative of $98.2 million; Angel Studios’ “His Only Son,” which launched at $5.3 million; and MGM’s “Creed III,” which grossed $5 million in its fifth weekend for a North American cumulative of $148.6 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.
Opening in wide release next weekend are IFC Films’ “Paint” and Ciesla Foundation’s “Imagining the Indian.”
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