Today holds disappointing news for fantasy adventure fans. The latest attempt to adapt Wizards of the Coast's popular and highly influential fantasy TTRPG, D&D: Honor Among Thieves will be taking a bit longer to reach movie theaters around the world.
The D&D: Honor Among Thieves delay
The announcement of the D&D: Honor Among Thieves delay came from an official tweet by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Justice Smith, and was directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Horrible Bosses, Cloudy Witch A Chance of Meatballs). It was originally slated to release in movie theatres worldwide on March 3, 2023. Now, the tweet has confirmed that the movie will release on March 31st, 2023. The reason for this delay is unknown, but it is speculated it might be related to special effects and post-production. Since the film's trailer does depict many staples of the fantasy RPG: magic spells, big setpiece battles, fantasy creatures, and massive locations, it is a safe assessment.

D&D: Honor Among Thieves marks the fourth attempt at a live-action Dungeons & Dragons movie. The first film released in 2000, simply titled Dungeons & Dragons, was a critical and commercial flop, made memorable by a scenery-chewing performance by Jeremy Irons as the villain. What followed were two smaller sequels: Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God in 2005, and Dungeons & Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness in 2012. Both of which were even greater disappointments commercially and critically.
But D&D: Honor Among Thieves' release is at a much different time. D&D and TTRPGs have become more widely accepted as a mainstream hobby. In addition to various online tools such as Roll20 and D&D Beyond helping bring in new players around the world, the rise of Actual Play shows like Critical Role has helped showcase how such worlds and systems can be vehicles for action and drama. It is a far cry from the first film's release, which predated the first Lord of the Rings film.