Chris Pine is “pretty confident” in a Dungeons & Dragons film sequel

If Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves left you hungry for more owlbears, fat dragons and adventures with a dubious group of heroes, you’re not alone. Chris Pine, who portrayed Edgin Darvis the Bard, recently told GamesRadar that not only is a sequel to 2023’s hottest film with both big lizards and labyrinths possible, he’s optimistic about the chances he’ll once again pick up the lute.

"I've heard some rumours about it," Pine said in an interview with GamesRadar, where he was primarily discussing his role in the most recent animated Disney film, Wish, where he portrays the villainous King Magnifico. “But I don't know anything yet. But I feel pretty confident that it may happen."

Despite Honor Among Thieves’ apparent popularity amongst the tabletop segment and Dungeons & Dragons 5E players, the film grossed $208.2 million globally against its $150 million budget - not even close to the roaring success producer Paramount or parent company Hasbro likely hoped to achieve.

Lacklustre financial performance apparently hasn’t deterred Pine. When the interviewer asked if he would return for another round as Edgin, he responded with a decided “Absolutely”.

Prior to Pine’s comments, the future of a D&D film franchise wasn’t exactly firm. Co-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley remained cagey when speaking with Polygon in April, saying that it was never their intention to springboard a fantasy-flavoured Marvel Cinematic Universe. Any cinematic returns to The Forgotten Realms would follow Honor Among Thieves cast of characters - Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis - along with a few new additions.

Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins took a more practical tack in July when he told Variety that the film’s budget clocked in much lower than the first. Apparently, that disappointing performance on the big screen has spooked the folks in charge of the money. It didn’t help that Honor Among Thieves launched during a period of increased fan animosity toward Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro’s bungling of the OGL rollout and played a fairly conservative marketing hand. Unhelpfully, The Super Mario Bros. Movie arrived days later and devoured the pop culture imagination.

Dungeons & Dragons keeps inching closer to dominating - or at least cautiously staking out - both cinema and television. Wizards of the Coast launched a free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channel dedicated to live-play tabletop sessions, themed cooking shows and syndicated episodes of the 1980’s D&D cartoon. Rumours of an 8-episode, straight-to-series television show spun off from Honor Among Thieves for streaming platform Paramount+ have been circulating since 2022, but no news has surfaced since February.