Exactly as I said would happen and contrary to all the shilling going on by the trades, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves bombs at the box office and it actually bombs worse than Shazam: Fury of the Gods.
While sites like Deadline and THR kept reporting this weekend that Dungeons & Dragons would open to $40 million – making it sound like a big success so everyone would think it’s good and rush to the theaters – Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opened less than $40 million and is now reported to only have brought in $38.5 million. And of course, the trades are even comparing things with the pandemic again which is so desperate and hilarious.
Also lets not forget, Paramount actually debuted D&D on Sunday and had screenings on Wednesday and Thursday, all of which counted toward the Friday and weekend opening numbers, so the numbers were inflated and are simply just nothing to write home about.
D&D opens at ? at a cost of $151M
So how does Dungeons and Dragons compare to Shazam: Fury of the Gods?
As there have been comparisons to Shazam: Fury of the box office, which is considered a bomb as it opened to only $30 million, let’s do a little math:
Shazam: Fury of the Gods only cost $100 million while Dungeons & Dragons sports a hefty $151 million price tag for its budget, so you know what number D&D would need to equal Shazam?
D&D needed an opening box office weekend of $45.3 million just to match Fury of the Gods‘ numbers.
If we reverse the math with D&D costing $151 million and bringing in $38.5 million, on the flip side, Shazam: Fury of the Gods at $100 million would be like if it brought in $25.5 million.
So again, the trades reporting that Dungeons & Dragons is a success or honorable or respectable is a complete farce while at the same time Shazam: Fury of the Gods is a big box office bomb.
Even if D&D matched and brought in $45.3 million, you know what? That would still be a bomb. It’s a $151M movie plus marketing and promotion. It will be lucky to make back its budget or even profit.
From another perspective, if we apply the same formula to Black Adam – another bomb, right? – that cost $210 million and opened to $67 million, D&D would have needed to bring in over $48 million. Get it?
Super Mario will destroy D&D
Also as I said, Dungeons & Dragons will get annihilated this week by The Super Mario Bros. Movie which gets released starting Wednesday and is going to be frickin’ huge as kids are off for Easter vacation and the movie looks really good. That’s also why I don’t expect D&D to have any legs as Super Mario will hit the b-button and will be doing all the running.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves might actually be a good movie as the Rotten Tomatoes Scores are all high but as soon as I heard the pair of writers and directors laughing about emasculating men and the characters, I knew I wouldn’t be going to watch it. The movie was also marketed to the non-D&D crowd and looks like a big wannabe goofy Marvel movie, which following Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, I am completely over.
