Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves producer Jeremy Latcham has revealed a major influence on the upcoming adaption of the cherished table-top game; filmmaking icon Steven Spielberg. Speaking with Total Film, Latcham revealed that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will be largely brought to life using practical sets and physical monsters, turning specifically to Jurassic Park for inspiration.
"When people say practical effects, there’s often this memory of Jurassic Park. Practical effects haven’t stopped innovating since then."
When crafting an adventure flick, you can do a lot worse than turning to Steven Spielberg for help. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves co-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley then chimed in, explaining how they will apply the lessons learned from Jurassic Park. Namely, the expert blending of practical and visual effects.
"Jurassic Park was very much our spirit animal in our approach to this film. What Spielberg did so perfectly was to blend practical and visual effects. And that’s what we were able to do with this."
But the Spielberg-centered lessons don’t end there, with Daley declaring that their first aim was to hold onto the heart of the story and the characters and “make a good movie, first and foremost.”
"Heart is first and foremost. It’s the most important thing: investing in your characters, really caring about what happens to them. Audiences are savvy enough to know when something is just a blatant, commercial cash grab that doesn’t have any meaning or substance to it. We wanted to make a good movie, first and foremost, and it just happened to be within the construct of this fleshed-out world that was really fun to explore."
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Will Also Take Inspiration from James Cameron
But Steven Spielberg and Jurassic Park are the only beloved influences on Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, with star Michelle Rodriguez revealing that the movie will also be inspired by Avatar director and box office success, James Cameron.
"With [Goldstein and Daley], when they write, they understand that it’s very important to have love. If you have a big story without love, you’re gonna fail. That’s a Jim Cameron quote, and he’s right."
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves follows a charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers as they undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary role-playing game to the big screen in this hilarious and action-packed adventure.
Making up this gang of mismatched heroes are Chris Pine (Wonder Woman, Star Trek) as Edgin, a Bard; Michelle Rodriguez (the Fast and Furious franchise) as Holga, a Barbarian; Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton, The Gray Man) as Xenk, a Paladin; Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) as Simon, a Sorcerer; Sophia Lillis (It, It Chapter Two) as Doric, a thieving Druid; and Hugh Grant (The Gentlemen) as Forge Fitzwilliam, a Rogue. The rest of the supporting cast includes Chloe Coleman, Jason Wong, Sophia Eleni, and Daisy Head.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is scheduled to be released later this month on March 31, 2023, by Paramount Pictures.