1979’s ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture.’ Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Preview:
John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are developing a new ‘Star Trek’ Movie.
They’ve come up with a new idea not connected to previous movies or shows.
They’re also writing the script.
While the TV side of the franchise has been ticking along nicely, big-screen ‘Star Trek’ fell into something of a black hole, with little progress towards theaters.
At least, they’re aboard to develop a new movie (more on that below), with the hopes of kickstarting the franchise back to life. Will they succeed? Others have tried and failed (again, see below), but we’re certainly hoping to see them give it a shot.
What has been happening with big-screen ‘Star Trek’?
(L to R) Karl Urban and Zachary Quinto in ‘Star Trek Beyond’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
The movies have been mired in development limbo since ‘Star Trek Beyond’ opened to less-than-thrilling box office in 2016.
There have been various films announced or reported upon, including a return for Chris Pine’s Kirk and co. from J.J. Abrams’ “Kelvin” timeline movies, a one-off by Quentin Tarantino (which always seemed less likely to happen) and the more recent word of a prequel/origin story to be directed by ‘Andor’s Toby Haynes with a script by Seth Grahame-Smith.
The latter may still happen (with Paramount going on a “try anything” spree), but there was more recent word of ‘X-Men’ veteran Simon Kinberg being hired as the producer overseeing the whole thing. There’s no mention of him in Deadline’s story about Daley and Goldstein’s deal, but perhaps he will be around to help out?
What’s the story for this latest ‘Trek’ development?
Chris Pine in 2009’s ‘Star Trek’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Little is known about what Daley and Goldstein have planned for ‘Star Trek’, though new Paramount overseer David Ellison said on a recent earnings call that it would not be a sequel in the Pine-led series but something different with new actors.
Which is almost a shame, since Pine clearly enjoyed working with the directors on ‘Dungeons & Dragons’…
When will this new ‘Star Trek’ movie head to screens?
If you’ll pardon us, given recent history we won’t hold our breath just yet until this thing actually has a trailer.
(L to R) Directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and Chris Pine on the set of ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ from Paramount Pictures and eOne.
(L to R) Justice Smith plays Simon, Chris Pine plays Edgin, Sophia Lillis plays Doric and Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ from Paramount Pictures and eOne.
They’re helped by a charming cast that have solid chemistry, a witty script that channels everything from ‘Lord of the Rings’ to ‘Monty Python’ and an enchanting visual style that is bursting with impressive effects work.
If you’re a longtime player of the game, chances are you’ll have a good time spotting the various references and easter eggs sprinkled within the film, but if you don’t know your Paladin from your Cleric, you don’t need to swot up to understand the story.
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What happens in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’?
‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ takes as its basis the tabletop gaming system invented in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and currently overseen by the company known as Wizards of the Coast. It’s the sort of elemental fantasy world that has been copycatted many, many times. And yet, it still feels original here.
We’re introduced to Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine), a charming bard-turned-thief and his best friend, barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez), who are cooling their heels in prison after being caught on a job trying to steal magical artefacts.
Betrayed by Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant) and dark magic acolyte Sofina (Daisy Head), the pair must make good their escape and recruit a band of unlikely adventurers (including Justice Smith’s lackluster wizard Simon Aumar and Sophia Lillis’ shape-changing druid Doric to undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.
The stakes are high: the artifact that Edgin and his original associates retrieved has been used by Sofina and her group of evil red wizards to unleash an army of the undead and general chaos upon the fantasy world. Our heroes must make things right, assuming they can stop squabbling along the way…
(L to R) Hugh Grant plays Forge in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ from Paramount Pictures and eOne.
‘Dungeons & Dragons’ is powered by fun performances
Making full use of the entertaining script written by writer/directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the cast make this latest stab at ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ work far beyond the ill-fated 2000 movie.
Pine, who has proven he can handle a blend of comedy, heart and action with movies such as the ‘Star Trek’ franchise, here makes for a typically appealing leading man while sending himself up at times. His Edgin is such a charming rogue, just this side of annoying but never smug.
Key to his character’s appeal is the fact that he’s not your basic action protagonist –– he’s heroic and can handle himself, but he’d much rather let Holga deal with any fighting. Rodriguez, usually found within the ‘Fast & Furious’ ensemble, gets more of a chance to have fun here, similarly undercutting the expectations of her character and proving to have a great buddy comedy connection with Pine. One of the smartest moves was to eschew a basic romantic storyline for these two, making the story feel like it isn’t the 500th variation of a well-used tale.
Her character is also the focus of a very enjoyable cameo from a big movie star that has yet to be widely reported, so we won’t spoil it here.
Grant mostly channels his smooth-talking Phoenix Buchanan from ‘Paddington 2’ to play Forge, but while he’s a low-level antagonist who only has a few key scenes, he steals most of them.
Smith and Lillis make for a great duo: he the nervy wizard struggling with self-esteem and his magical abilities, she the cagey druid who can become almost anything she wishes to be but would rather not hang out with humans. And while Pine and Rodriguez enjoy the lion’s share of the material, Grant, Smith and Lillis all have enough moments to keep their characters memorable.
Plus, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Regé-Jean Page’s Xenk Yendar, who the crew seeks out for help. A ramrod straight hero in the classic mold, he’s a blend of Drax from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and Christopher Reeve‘s Superman. He doesn’t appear in a lot of the movie, but he certainly makes an impact.
The movie as a whole has been carefully calibrated to have as wide an appeal as possible, putting a truly entertaining spin on heroes, villains and even exposition –– the image of heroes getting information out of a series of resurrected corpses is one that will stick (and still make you laugh) for days afterwards.
(L to R) Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga, Justice Smith plays Simon and Chris Pine plays Edgin in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ from Paramount Pictures and eOne.
‘Dungeons & Dragons’ might not be for everyone
There are still elements of the movie that could turn people off: if you’re not a fan of the “Marvelization” of blockbusters putting jokes into adventure or action, this movie might not be the best entry point.
The jokes tend to be more on the chuckle level than giant belly laughs (though there are certainly a few of those here, including a moment featuring both the “dungeon” and “dragon” part of the title). And, yes, it is another movie where a group of quippy heroes have to go on a quest to find a magic thing to fix a situation wrought by a magical baddie. But it does some interesting things with that very basic concept.
At more than two hours, there are small moments that drag and odd sections that don’t support the running time expended on it, but those are few and far between. And if you came to the movie expecting to see plenty of Page’s character, he’s in a couple of scenes and then vanishes for most of the movie until the end. That’s not necessarily a problem, but he works so well with the rest of the ensemble and is so straightforwardly heroic that you might actually miss him when he leaves (in a straight line, jumping over a rock… it’s a thing).
Fantasy is a tricky genre to infuse with humor, but ‘Honor Among Thieves’ pulls it off with aplomb. In a world where even the shoddy 2000 movie can generate sequels, this one deserves to roll a saving throw and spawn a franchise, as, handled correctly, these are characters you’ll want to spend more time with.
‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ receives 9 out of 10 stars.
(L to R) Justice Smith plays Simon, Chris Pine plays Edgin, Rege-Jean Page plays Xenk, Sophia Lillis plays Doric and Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ from Paramount Pictures and eOne.
Other Movies Similar to ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves:’
If there was one major take-away from the ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, it was that Hugh Grant should be on as many panels as he wants to be. Whether he’s in the show, movie, comic or game being pimped or not.
If there was another major take-away from the panel, it was that ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ looks like a whole lot of fun.
While ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ as a concept doesn’t have the greatest cinematic history (the 2000 version, which starred Jeremy Irons, Justin Whalin and Marlon Wayans is infamously divisive among movie fans, and scored terrible reviews), ‘Honor Among Thieves’ – or at least the footage shown at Comic-Con – is certainly on a better footing so far.
(L to R) Regé-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris Pine and Hugh Grant from Paramount’s ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
Daley and Goldstein, who previously made the likes of ‘Game Night’, both had history as D&D players, and the cast also made mention of the board games’ impact of their lives – even if it was limited to knowing it exists.
In a funny, relaxed panel dominated by Grant’s humorous reactions to every question – he ran the gamut from S&M jokes to dropping a ‘Notting Hill’ referencing while quipping that this was his first time at the Con “but we tried to come for ‘Sense & Sensibility’ – the cast and creators offered some insight into making the movie but also showed off their easy chemistry.
‘Honor Among Thieves’ promises the story of a charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers, who undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.
Pine plays a Danny Ocean-in-fantasy world style character, who makes plans but also plays the lute. Rodriguez is a powerful barbarian who provides the muscle, while Page is a heroic paladin. Smith is a sorcerer, Lillis a druid and Grant appears as Forge Fletcher, a rogue and the movie’s main antagonist.
Paramount’s ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
There are magical items to find (naturally) and one in particular that has unleashed a terrible evil. But basic fantasy plot aside, the movie has a very Taika Waititi feel to it, blending comedy with action and subverting our expectations.
As the panel ended, the first full trailer for the movie played (find it above) and showed off just some of what the movie will have to offer. Dragons? Check. Dungeons? Yep. Magical mayhem? Sure. Creatures galore? You betcha.
Effects teams are still hard at work on this one (Daley shouted out ILM and Legacy Effects “who brought you Baby Yoda” as the main providers) and we can expect to see ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ in theaters on March 3 next year.
(L to R) Justice Smith plays Simon, Sophia Lillis plays Doric, Chris Pine plays Edgin and Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ from Paramount Pictures.(L to R) Chris Pine plays Edgin and Regé-Jean Page plays Xenk in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ from Paramount Pictures.Paramount Pictures’ ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ opens in theaters on March 3rd 2023.
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‘Dungeons and Dragons’, of course, is the game designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and first brought to shelves in 1974. It works by gathering a group of players who create characters – warriors, elves, dwarves, wizards etc. – and sending them on a fantasy quest run by a Dungeon Master.
They explore dangerous locales and battle monsters, all using dice to determine the outcome of clashes or other situations. Players earn experience points (or XP) to level up.
The game has a patchy history of screen adaptations. Many will warmly remember the 1980s cartoon series, which saw a group of kids swept to a fantasy land filled with wizards, dragons and warriors.
Audiences were less happy with the 2000 movie, directed by Courtney Solomon, with Jeremy Irons as a tyrant named Profion looking to overthrow an otherwise peaceful kingdom ruled by Thora Birch’s Empress Savina. It was a notorious flop, though it did generate a couple of sequels, 2005 TV Movie ‘Wrath of the Dragon God’ and 2012’s ‘The Book of Vile Darkness’, which went straight to home entertainment.
Thanks to the rise in popularity of all things geeky (not to mention a big use of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ by the kids of ‘Stranger Things’), Hasbro – which has been working with Paramount and other studios to mine the games company’s various properties – pushed more than the ‘Dungeons’ project back into development, including a planned, expansive TV universe under the purview of Rawson Marshall Thurber.
Photo of Rawson Marshall Thurber Courtesy of Twitter
Though Hasbro’s key deal is with Paramount these days, Warner Bros. had the ‘Dungeons’ rights for a while and, upon learning that Hasbro had partnered with Universal for a movie from ‘Fast & Furious’ scripting stalwart Chris Morgan, threw its weight behind a more obscure game created by Gary Gygax called ‘Chainmail’, hiring ‘Wrath of the Titans’/’Red Riding Hood’ writer David Leslie to adapt it. That got bogged down in a rights battle until Warners was able to work it out.
Nothing came of that effort, though, and Hasbro, under its Paramount deal, flashed the greenlight for a movie from John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the directors of ‘Game Night’.
The directors co-wrote the latest movie with and been busy making the new movie, working alongside co-writer Michael Gilio. The latter had been in talks to direct the movie at one point, as had ‘The Lego Batman’s Chris McKay, and the pair are credited with the movie’s story.
Quite what that plot is remains locked in a treasure chest for now, though a filing for the movie with the US Copyright office last year listed the following basic synopsis: “An ex-Harper turned thief escapes from prison with his partner, a female barbarian, and reunites with a no-talent wizard and a druid new to their team in an effort to rob the cheating conman who stole all their loot from the heist that landed them behind bars, and used it to install himself as the Lord of Neverwinter. Only the traitor is allied with a powerful Red Wizard who has something far more sinister in store.”
“Dungeons and Dragons” is one step closer to the big screen.
A movie adaptation of the enormously popular fantasy tabletop RPG game has been in development for years. Now, there’s some movement forward — John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are in talks to direct, according to Deadline.
The duo was also behind “Game Night” and wrote “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”
The “Dungeons and Dragons” project comes from Paramount and Hasbro’s AllSpark Pictures banner.
The game was first published in 1974 and is now under the banner of Wizards of the Coast (a subsidiary of Hasbro). Players create their own characters who embark on adventures in a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Master serves as the game’s storyteller and narrates the setting, interactions with the world’s creatures and inhabitants, and battles.
In 2000, “Dungeons and Dragons” was turned into a movie, which was a critical and commercial failure. Since then, first Warner Bros., now Paramount has been trying to get a reboot off the ground.
But it seems like things may finally move forward. Goldstein and Daley were recently attached to direct “The Flash” standalone movie, but left that project.
