The positive buzz is paying off. Paramount’s potential franchise-starter, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, is looking to deliver a $40 million opening weekend at the domestic box office, after a solid $15.3 million on Friday, including $5.6 million from Thursday previews. Heading into the weekend, the fantasy-comedy film was projected to make between $30 million and $40 million in its opening weekend. A $40 million debut would be at the higher end of tracking, which bodes well for the film’s future.
Another positive sign came in the A- CinemaScore that the film received from opening day audiences. Based on the popular table-top fantasy game, Honor Among Thieves expanded into 3,800 domestic theaters on Friday, and bowed in 58 international territories. The movie needs all the help that it can get, considering its hefty $150 million production budget. Paramount certainly left no stone unturned in promoting it; the studio knew that it had a winner on its hands when it premiered the film at the South by Southwest Festival last month, and continued to screen it aggressively for fans and the press in the days leading up to release.
The studio is coming off of a strong 2022, which began with the fifth Scream film and peaked with the record-breaking performance of Top Gun: Maverick. This year, Paramount has already tasted success with Scream VI, which was released in March and has so far grossed nearly $150 million worldwide. In fact, March was an excellent month overall at the domestic box office, with Creed III and John Wick: Chapter 4 also delivering the goods.
Speaking of which, John Wick 4 will have to settle for the number two spot in its second weekend. The action sequel is expected to generate around $30 million in its sophomore frame, after setting a franchise record with $73 million in its first three days of release. So far, the film has grossed more than $160 million worldwide, and will pass John Wick: Chapter 2‘s $171 million lifetime global haul this weekend. Next, it will aim to overtake John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum‘s franchise-topping $327 million global haul.
Holdover Hits are Continuing to Perform at the Box Office
After the success of the recent Jesus Revolution, another faith-based film is hoping to attract its target demographic this week. Angel Studios’ Biblical drama His Only Son is eyeing a $5 million-plus opening weekend after a $2.1 million Friday. By comparison, Jesus Revolution made $15.8 million in its opening weekend in February, and is almost about to pass the $50 million mark domestically. The fourth and fifth spots this weekend will be claimed by holdovers Scream VI and Creed III. While the sixth film in the Scream franchise made $1.5 million on its fourth Friday, and has so far grossed $94 million domestically, the third film in the Rocky spinoff series made $1.4 million on its fifth Friday, for a running domestic total of $144 million.
Honor Among Thieves finds itself in a rather competitive marketplace; it isn’t merely battling John Wick 4, but next week, it’ll face off against Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. 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.
