HERE BE RAGONS

THE GRANDADDY OF ROLEPLAYING GETS AN IRREVERENT MAKEOVER IN | DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES. | WRITER/DIRECTORS JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN AND JOHN FRANCIS DALEY AND PRODUCER JEREMY LATCHAM UNPACK A FUNNY OLD GAME...

- STUART MANNING

RODUCER JEREMY Latcham is just back from Comic-Con with a spring in his step when SFX catches up with him and writer/directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley to talk Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.

"To be back at Hall H for the first time since the pandemic and to be opening the whole thing was really, really cool," he says, sounding ever so slightly relieved. "I feel like people dug it. It was great to be back there with something new." He pauses. "I do feel there's a lot of franchises that are mature at this point."

"Like a cheese?" asks Goldstein.

Latchman is amused but isn't taking the bait. "It's nice to have a new franchise... a new movie that has potential to grow into something great, Something new for audiences to dive into." Finally, he takes the bait. "New cheese."

Dungeons & Dragons's revival has been a long time coming. The original role-playing game is still going strong almost 50 years on, but big-screen success has eluded the property. Honour Among Thieves follows three forgettable films after a decade-long break and takes a fresh approach. Goldstein, Davey and Latcham first worked together on 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, and were looking for a shared project. When Goldstein and Francis parted company with The Flash, suddenly the stars aligned.

"Dungeons & Dragons is having such a resurgence in popularity," explains Davey. "People are discovering it through pop culture. It is something that is now in the zeitgeist and not purely for nerds and geeks. Something that has broken through as culturally relevant." Although Honour was already well into development when it happened, Goldstein credits the months of pandemic lockdown as a catalyst for renewed interest. "This was a game you could play from the safety of your home with your friends online."