Box Office: ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Plunders $15.3 Million Opening Day

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Let no one deny it: Rupert Murdoch is clever like a fox. He’s slyer than his adversaries in mainstream media. They still think in real-world terms. But Murdoch thinks in terms of the world that he’s created — the world of fake news, of lies that play because they carry the ring of vengeful mythology (life as a Charles Bronson film that never ends). The world that Fox News pretends is reality. You could make a case that in recent weeks, Murdoch’s circus of happy-talk dystopian propaganda (otherwise known as any random half hour of Fox News) took a major hit. The release of documents subpoenaed during the Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News revealed something that was, or should be, profoundly embarrassing to the network: that there are moments when its star huckster, Tucker Carlson, actually tells the truth (at least in private). The revelation that Carlson, along with a number of Fox News executives, peddled Donald Trump’s crackpot assertion that he won the 2020 election not because they believed it, but because they thought they had to go along with what their viewers wanted to hear, made the Fox team look like craven cowards. The lawsuit never made it to trial, but because those documents were leaked you could say the damage was done. And to keep the trial from happening, Murdoch had to cough up the mother of all defamation settlements: $787.5 million. 

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic In one of the many jacked-up, bodies-leaping-and-flying, vampire-meets-action-film sequences that punctuate “Renfield,” Dracula (Nicolas Cage), jutting into the movie well before we expect him to, does all the throat-ripping damage he can in a montage that culminates in drapes being thrown open, the sunlight flooding in, and the vampire, in his red bathrobe, bursting into flame. It looks like the climax of many a vampire film, and it leaves Dracula a charred husk. But has he been killed? No way! As Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), Dracula’s self-described slave and disciple, explains to us in voice-over, when something like this happens it takes a lot of work to return Dracula to his previous state; it takes many victims for him to feed upon. But with enough blood and enough time, he can claw his way back to his old robust undead form.

J. Kim Murphy It’s a box office Koopa d’état. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” continues to super smash its opening projections, drawing $55 million from 4,343 theaters on Friday. Released Wednesday, the film has already earned $137 million in domestic ticket sales. If every dollar were a coin, that would amount to 1.37 million 1-Up mushrooms. That’s a lot of extra lives. The Universal and Illumination film is still on track for a $195 million opening in North America over the five-day Easter weekend frame. That’s way ahead of the $150 million projections that were being reported at the start of the week. Even more impressively, “Super Mario Bros.” now looks to leap to a $368 million global debut. That would become the biggest ever opening for an animated film, though that comes with a huge caveat. The current record holder, 2019’s “Frozen II,” earned $358 million over a traditional three-day window.

Brent Lang Executive Editor It’s-a blockbuster! “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” continued to rack up high scores at the box office as it heads into Easter weekend. The animated movie, a collaboration between Illumination, Nintendo and Universal, shows no signs of slowing down, earning a massive $26.5 million on Thursday. That brings its domestic haul to $58.2 million. At this rate, the mustachioed plumber should end his first five days on the big screen with more than $150 million in stateside winnings. Internationally, the movie has earned $62.5 million, pushing global ticket sales to $120.7 million. The week’s other major new release, Amazon Studios’s “Air,” a footwear tale detailing how Nike convinced Michael Jordan to become its most successful brand ambassador, earned $2.4 million on Thursday. That brings the sneaker story’s domestic total to just under $6 million. The film, which stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Tucker and Viola Davis, is expected to earn $16 million in its first five days in theaters. That’s a mere blip compared to Mario, but a solid result considering the struggles that movies aimed at adults have faced. Affleck directs the film in addition to starring opposite his “Good Will Hunting” buddy Damon. “Air” cost $90 million to make, meaning that Amazon better sell a lot of paper towels to justify that spending.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” launched to the top of box office charts, collecting a mighty $31.7 million on opening day. Ben Affleck’s sports drama “Air,” which also debuted on Wednesday, nabbed $3.2 million from 3,507 venues. After a bigger-than-expected opening day, estimates for Universal and Illumination’s big screen adaptation of the popular “Mario” video game have been revised up to $92 million over the traditional weekend and $141 million in its first five days of release. Those ticket sales continue a strong period at the box office following March releases, “Scream VI,” “Creed III,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach are poised to clobber the box office competition as “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” readies to power past the $100 million mark in its opening weekend. Universal and Illumination’s big screen adaptation of the popular video game, which opens in 4,000 North American theaters on Wednesday, looks to collect a towering $125 million or more in its first five days of release. It’ll be the second 2023 release, following Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” ($106 million) to open above $100 million. “Mario” will easily lead domestic box office charts over last weekend’s champ, “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” as well as fellow newcomer “Air,” a sports drama directed by Ben Affleck.

Naman Ramachandran eOne’s “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.5 million ($4.4 million), per numbers released by Comscore. In its second weekend, Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 4” slid to second place with £2.5 million for a total of £10.1 million. Warner Bros.’ “Mummies” debuted in third place with £648,460. The studio’s “Shazam! Fury Of The Gods” and “Creed III” occupied fourth and fifth spots with £469,120 and £426,742 in their third and fifth weekends for respective totals of £4.8 million and £13.5 million.

conjured up $38.5 million at the box office this weekend — a respectable figure given the movie was based on a tabletop role-playing game from the ’70s. And whether you’re an old-school D&D player (like this writer) or a newer fan (thanks to “Stranger Things”), “Honor Among Thieves” includes plenty of fan service.In the tabletop game (and licensed video game adaptions), players take on different classes or jobs, the archetypes being fighter, cleric, thief and wizard.

Refresh for latest…: Coming in higher than expected, Paramount/eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves took a $71.5M global bow this weekend; that includes $33M from 60 offshore markets which is nicely above the $25M+ projected ahead of the frame.

Bruce Nash, the average second weekend drop for films released since theaters reopened has risen to 57% compared to 51% prior to the pandemic. Even with a drop over 60%, “John Wick 4” is still set to become the highest grossing “Wick” film with a 10-day domestic total of $122.8 million — 20% ahead of the pace of “John Wick: Chapter 3” — and a global 10-day total of $245 million.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” emerged victorious at the box office, rolling $38.5 million from 3,855 North American theaters in its opening weekend. Buoyed by positive reviews and enthusiastic word-of-mouth, Paramount and eOne’s adaptation of the popular role-playing game landed on the higher end of expectations of $30 million to $40 million. And the ticket sales for the $150 million-budgeted film are expected to remain strong in the coming weeks. Inaugural audiences may be hardcore D&D players, but analysts believe it’ll appeal to broader audiences, who may not know as much about the game, as it continues its run on the big screen. “The opening weekend performance of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ is just the first step in the journey for this well-reviewed film,” says Paul Dergarabedian, a senior Comscore analyst.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The film, which stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Hugh Grant, is expected to enjoy a $40 million-dollar opening weekend, according to Deadline.It managed to dethrone last week’s top earner “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which earned $7.87 million. Due to the success of the fourth installment of the hitman thriller series, which was supposed to be the franchise’s last, the possibility of a fifth is being considered.

Prior to Friday’s official theatrical release of “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”, the new fantasy flick had already garnered $5.6 million in previews at the domestic box office.

opens nationwide. And with it, countless viewers who have never played the tabletop role-playing game, first published back in 1974, will be introduced to a fantastical world full of magical creatures, dangerous dungeons and daring wizards.Chris Pine stars as a bard and former spy who gets together with some other thieves (among them: Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis) to exact some delicious revenge on a former partner (Hugh Grant).

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses an unannounced cameo in the film “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” which is currently playing in theaters. For “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” writer-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley pulled from the expansive trove of creatures and lore created over the 50-year history of the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. There are paladins and sorcerers, red wizards and owlbears, bards and barbarians — all of them written by Goldstein and Daley and performed by Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Hugh Grant, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis and Daisy Head with the same good-natured pluck that has imbued the countless campaigns waged by the game’s players.

“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” a big-screen adventure based upon the role-playing tabletop board game popularized in the ’70s and ’80s. The Netflix hit “Stranger Things” introduced a whole new generation to “Dungeons & Dragons.”“Honor Among Thieves” is not the first “Dungeons & Dragons” feature film adaptation.

Megan Thee Stallion had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on MLB opening day!

awarded the first film zero stars — few people saw and even fewer remember. Running time: 134 minutes. Rated PG-13 (fantasy action/violence and some language.) In theaters.And the source material, the role-playing game “Dungeons & Dragons,” is famously confusing and impenetrable to outsiders.

“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” (out this Friday) is a movie that introduces audiences to an entire world – one full of magical creatures, dangerous enchantments and larger-than-life characters. It’s the kind of world that you want to learn more about and the type of movie that is just as fascinating (seriously, how can you not get excited about a movie with this many animatronic creatures?) Thankfully, you can learn all about the making of the movie starting on April 4.

Paramount and Hasbro eOne with the greatest of intentions have created an extremely fun, broad-audience appealing feature take on the classic roleplaying game, entitled Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which already is 90% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes –not an easy feat with a genre movie of this caliber– and 94% with moviegoers.