It’s official! The upcoming D&D movie, Honor Among Thieves, is going to hit local theaters next March, and we’re excited to share the promotional poster, and also a glimpse of the reveal trailer (some images courtesy of UIP Singapore).
We’re also going to dive into the trailer to pick out some key D&D easter eggs, so you know exactly what kind of magic and mayhem you can expect!
Check out the Poster and Trailer
What do we know about the characters?
We don’t know about you, but as big D&D fans, we’ve been waiting for a movie that will do our favorite tabletop game justice since the original (2000, which incidentally also involved thieves) flopped at the box office (and the direct to TV offerings weren’t stellar either).
This time, Honor Among Thieves assembles a stellar cast (and it’s *gasp* a balanced adventuring party), pitting them against some of our favorite monsters from D&D’s illustrious history.
Hugh Grant (a rogue) makes a great and charismatic villain, while Chris Pine (a bard, and quite possibly a Harper) and his motley crew of Michelle Rodriguez (a barbarian), Regé-Jean Page (a paladin who *may* have Zhentarim affiliations), Justice Smith (a half-elf sorcerer), and Sophia Lillis (a tiefling druid) must work to thwart an evil scheme orchestrated by Grant and, from what we observed, a Red Wizard.
Yes, in case you’re wondering how we know what classes they are, we checked. They’ve got class icons next to their names in promo images. 😉
How many D&D references can you spot?
Early on in the trailer, we spot this band of adventurers filching treasure from some sort of magically locked cache (we’re still trying to puzzle out what that helm is), and shortly after, we spotted a black dragon (0:22) spewing acid in the trailer and riders in Cult of the Dragon garb. We later discover that there’s some sort of item that seals a great and powerful evil, and at (0:44), we see what looks like a Red Wizard with dessicated skin (a lich perhaps). In the next few precious seconds, that Red Wizard flaunts their magical powers.
We also get to see some of the characters doing their thing – Rodriguez throws down with a bunch of guards, Page buffs his weapon (that sure looks like branding smite to us), and we see Smith using the helm they looted and casting what’s likely to be thunderwave. Lillis also wildshapes into an owlbear in the next scene, which was kinda cool (you technically can’t do this in the rules, but hey, cinematic universe homebrew?) and uses a nifty teleportation effect (which kinda reminds us of dimension door).
We’re trying to place that animated dragon statue at (1:26) because that doesn’t look like any species we know, and it’s clear that The Underdark will feature in the movie since we get a quick peek at that at (1:29). We see several warriors, potentially Thayan Knights at (1:31), including one that activates green-flame blade, there’s a smattering more of magic (fireball and wall of force), and then we spy one of our favorite monsters – mimic, masquerading as a treasure chest at (1:43).
The arena scene at (1:46) also features a displacer beast and gelatinous cube, and we see the Red Wizard casting misty step to dodge those pesky adventurers and what looks like Smith’s twinned ray of frost (or magic missiles, but we know you can’t dodge those) at (1:47). Finally, we get to see an awfully chonky (or maybe it’s ancient) red dragon at (1:53) at the end.
We also thought we spotted mirror image, shield and lightning bolt in there, but those scenes went by really, really quickly. It’s also evident that Waterdeep, Neverwinter, and Icewind Dale form the backdrop for the story, and those who might have played through the adventures (or video games) might recognize a few places.
Impressions
We’re hyped about this. It’s great to finally see something that’s based on one of our favorite tabletop roleplaying games being given the kind of treatment that does it justice. Obviously, game mechanics took a backseat in some cases for the sake of cinematic storytelling, and we’re perfectly ok with that. The DM (or in this case, the director) is empowered to make changes if it means everyone has a better time after all!
We’re overall pretty excited to see what the movie has to offer, and we can’t wait for March 2 to roll around quicker!
If you’ve watched the trailer, be sure to tell us what you think! Come geek out about it with us and our community on Discord. We’re still puzzling out some of the spells Smith and the Red Wizards casted, and we’d love to hear your theories too!
Comments are closed