Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has become a major Netflix hit. The 2023 fantasy adventure movie, set in the world of the iconic role-playing game, starred Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, and Hugh Grant. Despite adapting a popular property, the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves box office was a disappointment. It grossed $208.2 million against its huge $150 million budget. Although it was the 30th highest-grossing movie of the year, above hits like Scream VI, it was seemingly proving unable to meet its break-even point, which was likely $375 million or more.
Netflix has now announced their chart of the streaming platform’s Top 10 most watched English-language movies for the week of September 30 through October 6. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has landed on the chart at No. 9 even though it is not available in the U.S., with 3.2 million viewers amassing 7.2 million viewing hours. It has appeared alongside Netflix original hits such as Rebel Ridge and Uglies. These views have come from a variety of European territories, including Austria, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy. Additionally, it is No. 1 on the local charts in Croatia and Serbia.
Why You Should Watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The Movie Is Well-Regarded By Fans And Critics Alike
There are quite a few reasons to stream the Dungeons & Dragons movie (which is available on Prime Video in the U.S.), including its critical reception. The 2023 movie earned a Certified Fresh score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, aggregated from more than 300 different critics’ reviews. Reviews have praised everything from the sharp screenplay by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, and Michael Gilio to the strong ensemble at the core of the Honor Among Thieves cast. It has also performed well on a variety of audience review platforms. See a selection of its audience scores below:
Platform | Score |
|---|---|
Rotten Tomatoes (audience score) | 93% |
Metacritic (audience score) | 7.5/10 |
Letterboxd | 3.5/5 |
IMDb | 7.2/10 |
Screen Rant User Reviews | 9.1/10 |
The movie also won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) in 2024, which is one of the highest honors in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. In addition to its reception, streaming the movie could encourage the possible Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 2 to come to fruition. While a follow-up would most likely need a smaller budget, the movie’s streaming success could bolster its theatrical revenues to the point that it would help the movie break even and encourage the continuation of the nascent film franchise.
Why Did Honor Among Thieves Struggle At The Box Office?
A Variety Of Factors Worked Against The Dungeons & Dragons Movie
While it would have been considered a hit with a lower budget, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ultimately performed at a level just below 2023’s The Marvels ($206.1 million worldwide), which was the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s lowest-grossing installment of all time. There were quite a few factors that influenced the movie’s commercial reception that were beyond its control. This includes the fact that it was released during a time when fans of the game were boycotting Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast while protesting a new draft of the Open Game License that threatened users’ ownership of their games.
The Marvels
failed to make back its massive budget, which is estimated to be around $275 million, and lost the studio a reported $200 million or more.
The movie’s release also came during a time of heavy theatrical competition, as it was sandwiched between two major hits, opening the weekend after the year’s No. 13 movie John Wick: Chapter 4 and the weekend before the No. 2 title The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed more than $1 billion. While Honor Among Thieves may still not have made its budget back if it had more runway in theaters, it did not thrive while being choked out by those limiting factors.
Our Take On Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Netflix Success
Europe’s Interest Could Help Spur Global Streams
The relatively low placement of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on the chart is likely a result of the limited territories in which it is streaming on the Netflix platform. However, the attention it is receiving from Netflix’s European audience could encourage a boost in streams for the movie across the board. It remains to be seen if this is the case, but if it stays on the chart for longer than one week, that could help its prospects considerably.
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Read Screen Rant‘s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves review to get a sense of the general critical reception around the movie at the time of its original release.
While Honor Among Thieves did not make its money back, it was still the highest-grossing and best reviewed installment in the live-action franchise, which also includes a trilogy of films released from 2000 through 2012. Read Screen Rant‘s ranking of the extant Dungeons & Dragons movies here.
While a sequel to the movie is still a long shot, especially considering the fact that a television show set in the world of the game was also recently scrapped by Paramount+, refresh on the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ending here to see how the door has been left open for more installments.
Source: Netflix