‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Firing Up $40M Opening, Nabs A- CinemaScore – Saturday Box Office

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” rolled the dice at the weekend box office, taking out “John Wick: Chapter 4” with its $38.5 million debut. But Paramount and eOne’s adaptation of the popular role-playing game needs to hold up against “Super Mario Bros.” to be successful in its theatrical campaign. So far, “Dungeons & Dragons” has generated $71 million globally — including $33 million at the international box office. Those numbers aren’t bad, but the film cost a hefty $150 million to produce and tens of millions more to market, so it’s not yet a clear theatrical winner. The fantasy action-comedy needs to stick around in North American and overseas theaters through the spring to justify its price tag and potentially ignite a new franchise.

Rege-Jean Page might portray a knight in shining armor, aka a Paladin, in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, but it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” opened in fourth place at the mainland China box office with a muted $5 million haul. Top honors belonged to Japanese animation film “Suzume” for the second weekend. “Suzume” incurred a 55% week-on-week drop, falling from $49.6 million in its opening weekend, to $22.1 million in is second, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. After ten days in Chinese theaters, “Suzume” now has a cumulative total of $80.6 million. Nevertheless, its lead at the top of the box office chart was unassailable. The weekend’s best-placed new release title was “Hachiko,” a Chinese retelling of the Japanese tale of a dog which faithfully waited at a station for its master years after his death. (The story was previously given a U.S. version with Richard Gere in the lead human role.) It earned $8.9 million (RMB61.2 million) in its opening weekend.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” landed into second place at a depressed South Korean box office with a market share barely a fifth that of chart leader “Suzume.” The Japanese animation film earned $4.46 million in its fourth week of release, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). While that was a 26% week-on-week drop, its hold on the chart remained at over 60%. Since releasing on March 8, it has grossed $29.9 million, making it the second highest film of the year in Korea – behind another Japanese animation “The First Slam Dunk” on $35.1 million. “D&D” was the weekend’s top-placed new release and earned $958,000 for a 13% market share. Over the full five days since its opening on Wednesday, it achieved $1.36 million.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” an adaptation of the popular role-playing game, ignited at the international box office with $33 million from 60 markets. Paramount and eOne’s film also opened in North America with $38.5 million, bringing its global tally to $71 million. It’s a good start, especially considering Hollywood’s track record in adapting games for the big screen. But “Dungeons and Dragons” needs to keep playing in theaters to justify its $150 million price tag before marketing. Overseas audiences will be key to the success of “D&D.” The film, directed Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and starring Chris Pine and Regé-Jean Page, enjoyed the biggest start in China with $5 million, followed by the U.K. with $4.3 million, Mexico with $2.4 million, Australia with $2.4 million, and Germany with $2 million.

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.

do not call it a “board game,” I was advised by one friend in-the-know) was the focus of steady and significant controversy from critics, mostly concerned parent groups, who believed it to be connected to more than two dozen murders and suicides. It was not, of course, but facts have never gotten in the way of a good ol’ fashioned moral panic.Eventually, conservative Christian parents found other things over which to fret and ban — video games, Harry Potter, trans children (such diversity of hatred) — and Dungeons & Dragons (also known as “D&D” or “DnD”) fell off their radar, leaving only a bunch of lovable nerds and geeks and the occasional xckd comic reference in its wake.I’ve never played D&D, but it feels as though every other friend of mine has had some sort of history with the game.

J. Kim Murphy Hark! “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” looks to reach the top of box office charts in its opening weekend, besting the sophomore outing of “John Wick: Chapter 4.” “Honor Among Thieves” scored $15.3 million in its opening day, a figure that includes $5.6 million from Thursday screenings and specialty previews. Playing in 3,855 venues, the fantasy comedy is projecting a finish around $40 million, which would come in at the higher end of estimates heading into the weekend. That’s a solid figure for “Honor Among Thieves,” which Paramount has thrown support behind with a sweeping press tour and a premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. Along with the studio, Entertainment One (eOne) covered a good fraction of the production budget for the film, which totals about $150 million between the two banners. eOne is a subsidiary of Hasbro, which controls the “Dungeons & Dragons” intellectual property.

Rotten Tomatoes scores of 90% critics and 93% audience. But with a reported $150 million production budget before a marketing campaign that included a SXSW premiere, “Dungeons & Dragons” is still a very long way from ensuring theatrical profitability.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” currently playing in theaters. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” rolls into theaters this weekend with Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis starring in the big-screen adaptation of the role-playing game. With obstacles to overcome, challenges to navigate, and monstrous forces to tackle, the gang embarks on a fantasy-filled adventure with twists, turns, surprises and plenty of easter eggs. Writers and directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (“Game Night”) make sure to sprinkle in plenty of treats for longtime fans, with some in plain sight and others in the background.

and “Jurassic Park.” This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. How did you make a “Dungeons and Dragons” movie that was appealing both to fans and to those who have, at best, heard of the game? Jonathan Goldstein: John and I would do what we called “a proper noun check,” where if we felt like we were piling on references of any kind, we would make sure that it didn’t start to feel like you were missing anything. John Francis Daley: It’s like the first “Star Wars,” where there’s the suggestion that there is this world that exists outside of our core characters, but you don’t need to know anything about politics [or the outside world] to enjoy the film. Goldstein: Likewise, you don’t have to have read the “Lord of the Rings” books to enjoy the movies.  Daley: We tried to set ourselves apart and create this access point for people who were naturally averse to fantasy. In our film, “Dungeons and Dragons” inherently exists in this quasi-contemporary space.

In the latest episode of Crew Call, we talk to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves directors, scribes and EPs John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein about the vision they sold to Paramount to make the dark and dingy world of the role playing game, not just fun, but funnier. And even more so, a broad film that appealed to the die-hards and non-die hards alike. That take seems to be working after a rapturous SXSW world premiere and critical and audience scores well over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

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.

Paramount and Entertainment One’s “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” got off to a promising start yesterday. The $150 million adaptation of the popular table-top role-playing game, which also opens overseas in 50 territories, earned $4.1 million via Thursday previews that began as early as 3:00 pm.

Jordan Moreau Paramount and eOne are launching their new fantasy film “Dungeons and 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 and 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.

Paramount and eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has made $5.6M in previews. That’s not all from Thursday, but includes advance Amazon sneaks among other pre-screenings. Before Thursday, we’re told Dungeons & Dragons made $1.5M. While the feature take of the popular role-playing game has been hot in word of mouth (92% on Rotten Tomatoes) and with critics (89% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), tracking has sat on the movie with a $30M-$40M domestic opening projection for the $150M production.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter As it rolls the dice at the weekend box office, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is aiming to emerge victorious over last weekend’s champion “John Wick: Chapter 4.” A natural 20 isn’t guaranteed, but Paramount and eOne’s adaptation of the popular role-playing game is hoping to collect $30 million to $40 million from 3,850 North American locations. It’ll be a close race for first place between that and the fourth “John Wick,” which topped the box office with $73.5 million and looks to add about $36 million in its sophomore outing. Internationally, “Dungeons & Dragons” is opening in 58 markets, where it’s aiming for $25 million or more.