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Box Office: ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Plunders $15.3 Million Opening Day

Hark! “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” looks to reach the top of box office charts in its opening weekend, besting the sophomore outing of “John Wick: Chapter 4.”

“Honor Among Thieves” scored $15.3 million in its opening day, a figure that includes $5.6 million from Thursday screenings and specialty previews. Playing in 3,855 venues, the fantasy comedy is projecting a finish around $40 million, which would come in at the higher end of estimates heading into the weekend.

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That’s a solid figure for “Honor Among Thieves,” which Paramount has thrown support behind with a sweeping press tour and a premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. Along with the studio, Entertainment One (eOne) covered a good fraction of the production budget for the film, which totals about $150 million between the two banners. eOne is a subsidiary of Hasbro, which controls the “Dungeons & Dragons” intellectual property.

The role-playing game adaptation will have to keep drawing audiences to fully justify its price tag. Reviews have been strong, with the film scoring an 89% approval rating from top critics on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. In Variety’s review, chief film critic Owen Gleiberman called the film “at once cheesy and charming, synthetic and spectacular, cozily derivative and rambunctiously inventive, a processed piece of junk-culture joy that, by the end, may bring a tear to your eye.”

Audiences are also a thumbs-up. “Honor Among Thieves” landed an “A-” grade through research firm Cinema Score, indicating that the first round of ticket buyers were amply roused by the adventure. Whether or not the film ultimately ranks as a success in the coming weeks, it’s already secured a happier ending than New Line’s 2000 “Dungeons & Dragons,” which bombed with a $7 million domestic opening and ended with $33 million worldwide.

“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” follows a group of adventurers, including Chris Pine as the singing bard Edgin Darvis, Michelle Rodriguez as the ferocious barbarian Holga Kilgore, Regé-Jean Page as powerful paladin Xenk Yendar, Justice Smith as the wild magic sorcerer Simon Aumar and Sophia Lillis as the tiefling druid Doric. Under the threat of an evil Red Wizard, the unlikely heroes must come together. Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley direct.

Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 4” looks to fall to No. 2 on domestic charts. The Keanu Reeves action epic drew $7.8 million on Friday, on its way to a $28 million haul.

“Chapter 4” should boost its domestic gross to $122.6 million through Sunday. The film has already surged past the North American finishes of the first two “John Wick” entries ($43 million and $92 million, respectively) and has now set its sights on blowing away “Chapter 3 – Parabellum” ($171 million).

Angel Studios opens religious film “His Only Son” this weekend. The release is making a notable dent on domestic charts, looking at a potential third place finish with a projected $5.7 million haul from 1,920 venues. The Christian drama, which follows Abraham after he is commanded to kill his son, has certainly found its audience, landing an “A” grade on Cinema Score.

From there, the charts become a tight race of March leftovers. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Creed III” looks to draw $5.2 million in its fifth weekend, falling only 30%. The boxing drama, which is now available for purchase on digital platforms, should surpass a $150 million domestic gross in the coming days.

Paramount’s “Scream VI” is projecting $5.1 million for the weekend, down a slim 38% from its previous outing. The slasher’s domestic haul will push to $98 million through Sunday, teetering on notching the coveted $100 million mark.

Elsewhere, Focus Features’ “A Thousand and One” opens in 926 theaters. The A.V. Rockwell drama, which won the grand jury prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, looks to gross $1.7 million in its debut frame. That’s certainly not dead-on-arrival for the foster care drama, which carries a $700,000 production budget, but it does demonstrate how arthouse films continue to struggle in a pandemic-altered theatrical landscape.

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