Honor Among Thieves

Dungeons & Dragons is a movie based on the Dungeons & Dragons franchise and currently in production by Paramount Pictures and due for release in 2023. It is written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and stars Hugh Grant, Chris Pine, and Michelle Rodriguez, as well as Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Regé-Jean Page, Chloe Coleman, Jason Wong, and Daisy Head. It is set in the Forgotten Realms.

Production
After a long period with little news on the Warner Bros. Dungeons & Dragons movie, on December 18, 2017, Paramount Pictures suddenly announced a Dungeons & Dragons movie to be released on July 23, 2021. This was alongside other movies based on other Hasbro properties, including G.I. Joe, Micronauts, and one other, as part of a Hasbro-based shared universe with Hasbro's Allspark Pictures. Warner Bros., meanwhile, confirmed it was no longer developing a Dungeons & Dragons movie. It is unknown if this is the same project as in the above reports or outlined below.

On February 20, 2018, Variety reported as an exclusive that Chris McKay (director of The Lego Batman Movie and the upcoming Nightwing) was in negotiations to direct the D&D movie. Furthermore, it would be produced by Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis of Hasbro, and scripted by Michael Gillio. On March 8, 2018, Omega Underground reported that Paramount was considering filming in the United Kingdom.

After a long period without news, on November 2, 2018, it was reported that principal photography was set to begin in summer of 2019. This suggested that McKay had signed a deal. Furthermore, Shari Hanson (a visual effects producer for many Paramount movies) was added as a producer. Ansel Elgort was mentioned again, but it is unclear if he is still included.

On March 12, 2019, it was reported that a new script had been submitted by Gillio, and that Paramount was so satisfied that, while final revisions were being made, they would begin looking for a new lead actor, whom they would attempt to select from a shortlist of ten A-listers, naming Dave Bautista, Josh Brolin, Johnny Depp, Vin Diesel, Joel Edgerton, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Chris Pratt, Jeremy Renner and Will Smith as their targets.

On July 30, 2019, Variety reported that Chris McKay had moved on to focus on another movie and been replaced as director of the D&D movie by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who'd recently left The Flash movie. Goldstein and Daley previously directed Game Night and co-wrote Spider-Man: Homecoming. Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis of Hasbro are still understood to be producing, with the script from Michael Gillio.

On November 27, 2019, Comicbook.com exclusively reported on the movie's plot elements (see Story, below), giving character names and details that tallied with the earlier Tracking Board and Ain't It Cool News reports pertaining to the Warner Bros. project. It reiterated Zeman and Middleton as executive producers, Goldstein and Daley as directors, and Johnson and Beer as script-writers. The article also speculates about future tie-ins and how the movie is incorporating classic D&D source material to appeal to fans. Two days later, on the 29th, a source told wegotthiscovered.com that Goldstein and Daley were trying to get Zac Efron to play as an important character named Malanthius, a big but not leading role.

Eventually, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic causing studio closures and filming delays and difficulties, on April 24, 2020, Comicbook.com reported that the Dungeons & Dragons would be delayed, moving from November 19, 2021, to May 27, 2022, though this would put it in the middle of blockbuster movie season. It also noted Goldstein and Daley had taken over scriptwriting. On May 7, 2020, it was reported that Jeremy Latcham, a producer of several movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, had signed on with Hasbro's Entertainment One (eOne) studio and would work on the Dungeons & Dragons movie. On May 28, 2020, The Hollywood Reporter published an interview with Goldstein and Daley, in which they discussed how the pandemic lockdown affected their plans for the D&D movie, among other things. Their plans to scout locations in the United Kingdom in March were curtailed by the shutdown of travel, and they wrote the second draft while in isolation, while large crowd scenes were being reconsidered. Goldstein said "We want it to be fun. It's not an out-and-out comedy, but it is an action-fantasy movie with a lot of comedic elements and characters we hope people will really get into and enjoy watching their adventures." while Daley said "D&D is such a unique look at the fantasy genre where it is contemporary in terms of the people playing it and the way they speak to each other. So we never wanted to spoof the genre of fantasy or take the piss out of it. But we did want to find another way into it that we hadn't necessarily seen before. Just the format of Dungeons & Dragons is so interesting and fun and all about critical thinking and thinking on your feet and figuring out ways to make things work after they fall flat. There's a lot of the spirit of that that we're trying to inject into the movie itself."

Both The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline reported on December 14 that Chris Pine, a star of movies like Star Trek and Wonder Woman, was in negotiations to star in the D&D movie. Deadline added that it was planned to begin filming in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the first quarter of 2021. This was to be at Titanic Studios, where Game of Thrones was filmed.

Later, on February 8, 2021, it was reported that Michelle Rodriguez, of the Fast & Furious and Resident Evil franchises among others, and Justice Smith, of Detective Pikachu and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, had also closed deals to star in the movie, while Chris Pine seems confirmed. Regé-Jean Page of Bridgerton and Mortal Engines was added a week later, on February 16. Hugh Grant, star of countless films, and Sophia Lillis were later reported to have joined the film, as an exclusive from Deadline on March 2nd. Grant was stated to be playing a villainous role. Various news sites added the rumor that Grant's character would be named "Forge Fletcher" and Lillis's "Doric", but the basis for this is unknown.

On April 4, 2021, Paramount announced that ten of its movies were having their releases delayed, including the Dungeons & Dragons movie, which was being pushed back from May 27, 2022 to March 3, 2023. Despite this, filming had already begun in South Iceland, supervised by Truenorth Productions, as reported on April 7. Some 60–70 people were involved, using Icelandic stand-ins for the main cast who couldn't attend due to pandemic restrictions, and 15 visitors from overseas. The landscape of Iceland itself is expected to be important. Meanwhile, on April 19, Regé-Jean Page arrived in Belfast ahead of filming there. Chloe Coleman of My Spy and Avatar 2 was added to the cast on April 21. Filming began in Belfast on April 29, with Goldstein posting a picture of the movie clapperboard for the first scene on May 1 on Twitter, saying "The campaign begins. #DnD".

Jason Wong was reported on May 13 to be playing a character called Drallas. Filming began in the village of Ballintoy, Northern Ireland, on May 14; it had also been a location for Game of Thrones. Some possible images of location filming appeared thereafter.

A preregistration copyright for the Dungeons & Dragons movie was filed with United States Copyright Office on May 12. It gave a brief précis of the plot, confirming its connection to the Forgotten Realms setting, presented below. However, Comicbook.com refuted this as "not accurate", later clarified as being according to "multiple sources", while Screen Rant said it had confirmed this. In any case, a Wizards of the Coast press release confirmed the movie is set at least in the Forgotten Realms and that it's not focused on Drizzt Do'Urden.

Soon after, Daisy Head, of Shadow and Bone, was reported on May 21 to have joined the cast.

Story
Two conflicting versions of the story have been reported. The official description preregistered with the United States Copyright Office in May 2021 reads: "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."

This version was subsequently reported to be "not accurate", citing unnamed sources and confirmations, perhaps because of a contradiction with the earlier reported story of two years previously. Darryl Mott of Enworld offered much more cogent reasons for this: as a placeholder description for copyright preregistration, it may be an earlier or falsified version to prevent spoilers. In any case, it is not necessarily incorrect as the extent of this inaccuracy is unclear. Regardless, it remains the only official version that can be corroborated at this stage.

Comicbook.com previously reported in November 2019 the movie will be based around a quest for the Eye of Vecna and include the dragon Palarandusk as leader of a group of Triadic Knights. It gave other details matching those of the earlier Warner Bros. movie, so it is unclear if the story has been reused or if reports of the two movies have been conflated. It should be noted these story elements never previously had a connection in lore and appear arbitrary.

Characters in the movie have been confirmed, reported, or rumored to be: Villains are said to be:
 * An ex-Harper turned thief.
 * A female barbarian.
 * A no-talent wizard.
 * A druid.
 * Forge Fletcher, played by Hugh Grant
 * Doric, played by Sophia Lillis
 * Drallas, played by James Wong
 * Raven Hightower, a warrior with a flaming sword. He and his sister were once slaves of Razer Horlbar, and he is haunted by his sister's death.
 * Olivan Trickfoot, a gnome thief.
 * Hack Karroway, a half-dragon.
 * Alyssa Steelsong, a masked warrior set to take Palarandusk's place after his death.
 * Malanthius, a mage and potential ally of the main characters. (This character has a very similar name and occupation as the Magister Malanthus Stormstaern.)
 * A conman turned Lord of Neverwinter.
 * A Red Wizard.
 * Razer Horlbar, a male drow who once enslaved Raven and his sister. (Presumably he is a member of House Horlbar.)
 * Damala, a female tiefling.
 * The Beast, a brutish warrior.