After more than a month of release, Paramount’sDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieveshas passed perhaps its final major milestone at the box office. This is a bittersweet bit of news, because on the one hand, the fantasy comedy film is still drawing crowds to theaters, but on the other, it has inarguably fallen short of commercial expectations. As it winds up its global run and reaches new fanson PVOD,Honor Among Thieveshas passed the $200 million mark at the worldwide box office.
The film has grossed nearly $91 million domestically and another $111 million from overseas territories, for a running global haul of $202 million. The film’s biggest international territories are the U.K. ($16.5 million), China ($12.1 million), France ($9.4 million), Australia ($7.3 million), and Germany ($7.2 million). A $202 million gross would be solid for a film based on a property that is still perceived asniche, butHonor Among Thievescost a reported $150 million to produce thanks to itslarge-scale effects, and this is before the many millions that Paramount spent on marketing it. As a general rule of thumb, a film this size needs to gross twice its budget to break even.
Honor Among Thievesopened strongin the last weekend of March. It grossed $37 million domestically and $72 million worldwide in its three-day debut. The film had a rough 63% fall in its second weekend domestically, when it was steamrolled byThe Super Mario Bros. Movie. In its third weekend, the film grossed $7.5 million, followed by $5.5 million in its fourth weekend, $4.1 million in its fifth weekend, and $1.5 million on its sixth weekend. It seems unlikely that it’ll be able to pass the $100 million mark domestically because even though it’s still playing in over 1,700 theaters, as of last week, it’s also available on PVOD.
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Paramount certainly didn’t spare any expense in promoting the film, having sensed its potential after a buzzy world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival in March. Subsequently, the studio screenedHonor Among Thievesaggressively for the press in the weeks leading up to its release, and critics responded enthusiastically.Collider’sCarly Lanepraised the film’s“unabashed silliness, memorable characters, and epic storytelling” in her review.Honor Among Thievessits at a “fresh” 91% rating on review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, and it also earned an excellent A- CinemaScore from opening day audiences.
A Variety of Reasons Could Have Caused This Underperformance
These are all promising signs, so what went wrong? Primarily,Honor Among Thieveswas simply too expensive to turn a profit, at least theatrically. Nor did the source material —the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons— appeal to wider audiences. It’s also possible that the cast didn’t include enough bankable movie stars;Chris Pineis the most high-profile member of the roster. He plays the bard-turned-thief Edgin in the film. Pine was joined byMichelle Rodriguez, who plays the warrior Holga,Regé-Jean Pageas the paladin Xenk,Justice Smithas the sorcerer Simon, andSophia Lillisas Doric the druid.
Directed byJonathan GoldsteinandJohn Francis Daley,Honor Among Thievesfollows thisragtag bandas they go on an epic quest to find a relic, and also help Edgin reconnect with his daughter and save her from the clutches ofHugh Grant’s villainous Forge. You can watch our interview with the filmmakers here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
