A sequel to “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” exists on paper, but its path to the screen remains far from certain. Co-writer and co-director Jonathan Goldstein confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con that Paramount commissioned a follow-up script, moving the project well past the speculation stage that has surrounded it for three years. Even so, Goldstein said he doubts the film will ever get made, citing the steep cost of producing a big-budget fantasy feature.
“We actually wrote a sequel to Dungeons and Dragons,” Goldstein said. “I don’t know that it will see the light of day for a number of financial reasons. They’re expensive movies to make, but it’d be great fun to do it. We love that cast, and we think we wrote something that fans would like.”
The comment marks the clearest confirmation yet that Paramount moved beyond casual conversations about a sequel and actually paid for a screenplay. Goldstein made the remarks while promoting his upcoming Apple TV film “Mayday,” a Cold War-set thriller starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh set for a Sept. 4 premiere.
Money remains the central obstacle. The 2023 original earned strong reviews, holding a 91% critics’ score and a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, but its $205 million worldwide gross fell short of covering a production budget estimated at $150 million, before marketing costs. Paramount and Hasbro’s Entertainment One split financing on the first film, and neither studio has signaled a clear appetite for another expensive theatrical bet on the property.
Corporate turnover has added further uncertainty. Paramount’s television arm previously developed a live-action “Dungeons & Dragons” series for Paramount+, only to cancel those plans in 2024. The project resurfaced at Netflix under the working title “The Forgotten Realms” in early 2025, with showrunner Drew Crevello attached, though little has emerged publicly since. Leadership changes at Paramount, including the studio’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, have also clouded who within the company would ultimately decide the sequel’s fate.
Goldstein and directing partner John Francis Daley have spoken favorably in the past about returning to the franchise, and cast members including Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Hugh Grant have expressed openness to reprising their roles. For now, the screenplay sits finished and unproduced, its future tied entirely to whether Paramount decides the financial risk is worth taking again.
