“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” emerged victorious over last weekend’s champ “John Wick: Chapter 4” 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.
Internationally, “Dungeons & Dragons” collected $33 million from 58 markets for a global tally of $71.5 million.
Ticket sales are expected to remain strong in the coming weeks, which is necessary because the film cost $150 million before its hefty marketing campaign. Inaugural crowds were likely 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.
David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, says “this is a good opening for an action adventure that has the potential to generate sequels.” He adds, “At a cost of $150 million, foreign is where ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ has to excel to be profitable and become a series.”
Though its box office campaign is far from complete, the “D&D” movie adaptation is considered another step forward for Hollywood, which has long struggled to bring games to the big screen. The genre has experienced a turnaround as of late with the unexpected success of Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” and its 2022 sequel, as well as Sony’s “Uncharted.” And Universal and Illumination’s “Super Mario Bros,” which opens next weekend, is expected to continue the trend and has potential to become one of the biggest movies of the year.
“During the last 15 years, toys and video games have become good source material for new franchise films,” says Gross. “That wasn’t always the case.”
Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (“Game Night”) directed the PG-13 “Dungeons and Dragons,” which centers on a charming thief (Chris Pine) and a band of unlikely adventurers (Michelle Rodriguez and Regé-Jean Page among them) who undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic. Audiences awarded the film an “A-” CinemaScore, which is a good sign even though it’ll soon face competition from “Super Mario Bros.”
“Dungeons & Dragons” caps off an unexpectedly strong March at the box office, which fielded opening weekend franchise records for “Scream,” “Creed” and “John Wick” and could eventually ignite a new series in “D&D.”
“John Wick: Chapter 4” took second place with $28.2 million from 3,855 venues, a stellar result for its sophomore outing. After two weeks on the big screen, the action sequel has generated $122.7 million.
In third place, “Scream VI” added $5.3 million from 3,016 locations, bringing its domestic total to $98.2 million. It’s already improved upon its predecessor, 2022’s “Scream,” which ended its North American box office run with $81 million.
The latest “Scream” placed just ahead of the faith-based drama “His Only Son” and “Creed III” on on box office charts. The movie opened to $5 million, which is impressive since it cost only $250,000 to make. “His Only Son,” about Abraham’s directive to make the ultimate sacrifice, is backed by a new company called Angel Studios, which gives creators the platform to crowdfund, create and distribute films and TV series with full creative control.
“Creed III” rounded out the top five with $5 million from 2,827 locations in its fifth weekend of release. The sports drama, directed by Michael B. Jordan who also stars in the film with Jonathan Majors, has grossed $148 million to date in North America.
More to come…