Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is coming in at the higher end of projections at the box office, although it isn’t going to meet the inflated numbers that were being circulated yesterday. After a $15.3 million Friday (including Wednesday and Thursday preview grosses), the fantasy-comedy film is looking to finish its opening weekend with around $38.5 million. That’s slightly under Saturday's $40 million estimates, but in line with the $30 million to $40 million range that was suggested heading into the weekend.
Though positively reviewed, Honor Among Thieves cost a hefty $150 million to produce, meaning that it will have to perform exceedingly well in a very competitive marketplace in order to succeed. Paramount displayed full confidence in the movie, which is based on the popular table-top game, and premiered it a month prior to release at the South by Southwest Festival and screened it aggressively for fans and the press in the subsequent weeks.
And by most accounts, Honor Among Thieves is a winner. Collider’s own Carly Lane praised the film's "unabashed silliness, memorable characters, and epic storytelling” in her review, and opening day audiences awarded it a stellar A- CinemaScore. Honor Among Thieves also sits at a “fresh” 91% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. But it’s too early to declare it a hit, considering its massive budget and the niche quality of the source material, especially overseas.
Slipping to second place after setting a franchise record last week, John Wick: Chapter 4 is expected to generate around $28 million in its second weekend. This marks a steep 60%-plus drop from its excellent $73 million opening weekend, and takes the film’s running domestic total to over $122 million. For context, John Wick 4 was expected to battle Honor Among Thieves for the top spot this weekend, and was projected to make around $36 million. Globally, the film is passing the $200 million mark as we speak.
Holdover Hits Dominate the Top Five
Two hit sequels, Paramount's Scream VI and MGM's Creed III, are on the cusp of crossing major milestones at the domestic box office. Settling for third place in its fourth weekend, Scream VI made $5.3 million for a running domestic total of $98 million, and Creed III took the fourth spot with $5.2 million in its fifth weekend, for a running domestic total of $148 million. Both movies were released in March, which proved to be an exceptional month for franchise fare, including John Wick 4 and barring Shazam! Fury of the Gods, of course.
Elsewhere, Angel Studios' faith-based film His Only Son debuted with an estimated $5 million, against a miniscule $250,000 budget. The film is playing at over 1,900 domestic theaters, and comes just a month after another faith-based drama, Jesus Revolution, successfully attracted its target demographic and grossed nearly $50 million domestically.
Next weekend will see the release The Super Mario Bros. Movie — like Honor Among Thieves, another potential franchise-starter, and also the second attempt at adapting its source game. The animated film is currently projected to deliver a $125 million five-day debut. You can watch our interview with Honor Among Thieves directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.