Why Nobody Talks About the ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Trilogy

The Big Picture

• Three official Dungeons & Dragons movies have been released before this year’s Honor Among Thieves, all of which were critical failures and received little attention from the public or critics.
• The first film faced numerous pre-production problems due to disagreements over financing and a lack of interest in the fantasy genre from studios.
• Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves embraces the source material it’s based on while also having a chemistry-filled cast.

Between actual play shows like Critical Role and Dimension 20 drawing in a generation of new players, and shows like Stranger Things familiarizing viewers with the IP, it’s no surprise that a Dungeons & Dragons movie might fare better today than in the past. Before its release, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves generated buzz with fans of the iconic TTRPG (tabletop role-playing game). While the film was embraced by new fans and seasoned players of the role play game, what may surprise audiences is that this isn’t the first time D&D has taken a stab at the big screen.

In fact, there are three official D&D movies. The first, simply titled Dungeons & Dragons, was a critical failure — pun intended, and factually true. Despite overwhelmingly negative reviews, the franchise was continued five years later with the made-for-TV sequel Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, which, unsurprisingly, received very little attention from the public or critics. Those involved with the second installment must’ve passed their constitution saves to keep going (or failed their wisdom saves to stop going) because the third film, Dungeons & Dragons 3: The Book of Vile Darkness was released seven years later… exclusively on DVD in the UK.

Even someone with a negative insight modifier can see that many mistakes had to be made to reach this point, which raises the question: Why roll the dice on making these movies? Well, to be fair, the team behind the first film didn’t know production issues would have them rolling with a disadvantage many times along the way. Let’s get into it with a history check.

Pre-Production Problems Plagued ‘Dungeons & Dragons’

Since its debut in the ’70s, the rights to Dungeons & Dragons changed hands a handful of times. At the time of Dungeons & Dragons initial film rights negotiations, the IP was owned by game publishing company TSR. TSR was cautious to fund or approve a D&D film despite interest from filmmakers because studios were likely to reject the idea. So, Courtney Solomon, the eventual director and producer of the first installment, went on a trip around the globe to fund the film.

Solomon envisioned a big-budget blockbuster with incredible visual effects. If you’ve seen the film, that sounds like a pipe dream compared to the final product, but at the time it seemed more attainable. Several directors were interested in the screenplay, reportedly including James Cameron and Francis Ford Coppola. As it turned out, TSR’s reservations were warranted. Studios turned away the project because of an alleged lack of interest and success in the fantasy genre. Fun fact: The Lord of the Rings would premiere one year after Dungeons & Dragons. Anyway, disagreements over how to finance the film went on for so long that Wizards of the Coast (WotC) acquired the rights to Dungeons & Dragons from TSR during the process.

WotC shot down Solomon’s proposed $100 million budget. With the filming deadline approaching, WotC offered a $3.5 million budget for a much less financially risky direct-to-video film. After securing investors and more negotiations with WotC, the film’s final budget landed in the middle at $45 million, which allowed for a theatrical release. Now that the budget and release format had been decided after eight years of arguments, it was time to make a movie. What could go wrong?

There Is Nothing Redeeming About the ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie

To be fair, getting Dungeons & Dragons to the production and post-production stages in the first place certainly wasn’t easy, and the budget uncertainty undoubtedly interfered with the creative process. That being said, it’s difficult to see what made filmmakers and investors excited about the project to begin with. Even if I try to imagine the best version of the script, good acting, impressive visuals, and the spirit of D&D being present, it still feels boring.

Maybe it’s better that viewers got to witness the bizarre acting choices of Jeremy Irons, who seemed aware that the film was going to bomb and decided to have fun with it, or the cringe-inducing attempts at levity by Snails (Marlon Wayans), who thankfully dies halfway through. Normally, I would point out that this disjointed tone is the result of bad directing, but hasn’t Solomon been through enough? There are plenty of other bad things about the movie that have nothing to do with directing. Alongside poor costuming and bad hair and makeup, the overall result of the film is something that leaves much to be desired. If the budget was poured into bringing the film’s fantasy creatures to life with the magic of digital effects, they also failed there, though went on to include more dragons in the sequel.

The film did not, however, include anything that really resembled the franchise that came before it. This is where Honor Among Thieves excelled. It was not afraid or embarrassed of the wackiness of D&D. The film features iconic monsters like a displacer beast, owlbear, mimic, and dragons that look good. It doesn’t shy away from different species of characters or different cultures from the universe. It embraces the full energy of the game, which is something the 2000s movie never did. Where the Dungeons & Dragons movie from 2000 might have disappointed on all fronts, Honor Among Thieves has revitalized the hope for D&D lovers for what a D&D movie can achieve.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.

Watch on Prime Video