D&D 2 directors seek new studio after Paramount passes
John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein remain optimistic about finding a home for their sequel after the studio rejected it.
What to know
- Paramount declined to fund a D&D sequel despite the first film's $200+ million box office, reportedly losing $75–100 million on a $150 million budget.
- Directors Daley and Goldstein remain confident about pitching to other studios; the first film gained strong word-of-mouth and streaming performance since theatrical release.
- Reddit discussion centers on the first film's quality as a popcorn fantasy comedy and frustration with Paramount's decision-making.
The first film deserves a sequel; Paramount made a foolish business decision in passing.
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“I'm rooting for this because that movie was one of the more pleasant surprises in recent memory. Just a really well done fantasy action comedy film.”
NoDaddyNotTheBelt25 · Reddit ↗
The first film's commercial underperformance (losing tens of millions despite box office revenue) was a real problem that complicates the sequel's prospects.
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“On a budget of $150M. It probably lost the studio $75-$100M. It's not an all time loser... but that is pretty grim. That said, I do think a new movie could do better, especially if you can trim the budget a bit.”
astroK120 · Reddit ↗
John Francis Daley Director/writerJonathan Goldstein Director/writerParamount Pictures Studio
The record 2 articles and posts · last 30 days
What people are saying 24 voices from 2 sites · best of 327 · verbatim
- Sep 3
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Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein say rights holder Hasbro remains determined to find a new studio home for “Dungeons & Dragons 2.” OH! “Yeah, absolutely,” Goldstein told DeAngelo when asked whether anyone was still trying to make the economics work. “I think Hasbro is a big believer in it, and if they can figure out a studio…
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It managed to be both a fantastic fantasy action comedy in its own right and a fantastic D&D movie at the same time. It's filled with so many well-done D&D references or just moments that feel like they came straight from a D&D campaign but it doesn't rely on them at all.
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And a huge reason for that underperformance had nothing to do with the movie, but because WotC had *just* enraged the core fanbase with some ridiculous policy changes. Also, it was working against the bad reputation left by the previous D&D attempt from 2000.
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I think Jarnathan is truly the epitome of “DM tries to think of an NPC name on the spot and fucks it up” and it’s truly wonderful how they managed to incorporate that aspect of a game into a movie
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On a budget of $150M. It probably lost the studio $75-$100M. It's not an all time loser... but that is pretty grim. That said, I do think a new movie could do better, especially if you can trim the budget a bit, or even hold it flat. I think it had an uphill battle with how bad the previous DnD movies were.
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Just rewatched it again with a friend last night and pulled a "Wait wait, we can't start the movie yet...we have to wait until Jarnathan gets here."
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Round out the trilogy by completing the Szass Tam subplot and a trip to Thay, then start fresh with 4.
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Nay, I want all the same characters I just want Edgin to die in the first act (since his character arc was, like, *all* the way completed in the first movie) and then have Chris Pine show up as a new character Nobody comments on the fact that they look exactly alike
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The scene where Chris Pine's hologram was playing the lute or whatever, had me absolutely rolling. "BRUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH"
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This joke comes up every time this movie does and I still upvote it.
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"Hey that first movie did pretty well, and didn't alienate the fans of a very old and popular well known franchise. We could literally print money making more of these movies.... No thanks, were too busy making paramount plus the most expensive least popular streaming platform, and killing the star trek IP over and over'
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I really love that someone went through all the work to make this happen, I thought I was a talented hater but some people are just built different
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Except Michelle Rodriguez plays an extremely similar barbarian but with a slightly different name. Because every table has that person.
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I watched it with my kids last week and they loved it, to the point my 10 year old wants me to run a campaign for her now. Which I am!
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And while you are at it, you may as well sort out Dungeons & Dragons 3, 4 and 5.
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Seems like it would be an easy win for some studio. It isn't like the movie *totally* tanked. Even competing with Mario and John Wick 4 it managed to make $200+ million. It's gotten fantastic word of mouth since then and plenty of people have watched it on streaming services. Feels like a sequel made with a moderate budget could make a decent…
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Saw Honour Among Thieves was £4 to buy for a limited time on Prime and snatched that shit up instantly, genuinely a movie I could probably watch once a month
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I’m rooting for this because that movie was one of the more pleasant surprises in recent memory. Just a really well done fantasy action comedy film. It reminded me so much of Willow.
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Seriously underrated popcorn flick, it's one of those ones you can put on for the 10th time and its still good fun.
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FYI: [A plane is flying over the Paramount lot today that reads "Ellison is Trump's Bitch".](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/plan-banner-ellison-is-trumps-bitch-1236850859/) That's where we are with Paramount now.
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"The studio(s) are entirely capable of deciding D&D2's fate without Jarnathan" /s
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The day that Paramount makes a wise business decision is the day that I cash out all my investments and go live in a cave because the end is nigh.
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Have they tried pitching to Jarnathan? I think they should wait until Jarnathan is around to hear it.
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If they can get the same cast just all playing different parts my ass is in the seat opening night. Honor among thieves is easily one of the most rewatchable films of the last 10 years. I throw that shit on when I'm bored so often lol.