The streaming success of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves reveals a clear way for the sequel to avoid the same box office woes as the original. Though it was highly popular, Honor Among Thieves’ disappointing box office has acted as a roadblock for any potential follow-up projects from Paramount in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Hugh Grant’s comments on Honor Among Thieves and its failure have not helped restore faith in audiences, spelling out a possibly abrupt end to what could have been a fun and lucrative franchise.

That being said, Paramount should not ignore Honor Among Thieves 2’s potential even with the original’s underperforming box office. The franchise still has quite a bit of story to tell, as the tabletop’s lore and setup have several avenues and possible settings built in for the party to explore in new installments. Not exploring those open threads would be both a shame to the story and a missed opportunity by Paramount. Fortunately, Honor Among Thieves’ streaming success reveals a clear path forward for the sequel and the future of the franchise, a solution that has been successfully utilized before.

Honor Among Thieves’ Streaming Success Reveals A Clear Path Forward For A Sequel

Honor Among Thieves Succeeded On Both Paramount Plus And Netflix

Despite its lackluster theatrical release, Honor Among Thieves’ success on streaming platforms reveals a clear path forward for a sequel. The film’s original worldwide box office of over $207 million was largely considered unsuccessful despite that gross adding up to a success for any other film. Considering the film’s budget of over $150 million, however, that number was ultimately not enough to ensure the franchise’s success. Though audience reactions were and continued to be highly favorable, this caused Paramount to cancel many of its upcoming Dungeons & Dragons-related projects and largely hurt chances of an Honor Among Thieves 2.

However, once Honor Among Thieves came onto streaming, the story changed drastically as audiences began to watch the film en masse. Honor Among Thieves arrived on Netflix’s Top 10 even though it is only available outside of the U.S. The film garnered 3.2 million viewers, amassing 7.2 million viewing hours, with its success on Paramount Plus adding to the argument for its restoration. With these numbers, a clear path forward emerges for Honor Among Thieves 2: to premiere the sequel film in a straight-to-streaming release.

An Exclusive Streaming Release Could Benefit Honor Among Thieves 2

The Sequel Could Maintain Its Effects With A Smaller Budget

Doing an exclusive streaming release would widely benefit Honor Among Thieves 2 as the sequel film could reach wider audiences and have a smaller budget without dismantling the quality of the first film. With the rise of streaming platforms, audiences are not going to traditional theaters as often, even for big-budget releases. Honor Among Thieves’ box office versus streaming numbers demonstrate this, making a direct-to-streaming release a more viable option for Paramount to reach old and new audiences. Through this, Paramount can continue the franchise in a way that allows for both more lucrative results and a smaller cost.

Honor Among Thieves was the winner of the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Visual Effects in 2024.

Having a direct-to-streaming release would also allow Honor Among Thieves 2 to properly explore the world further without the larger budget of the first film. Since it would not need to include larger marketing and release costs, Honor Among Thieves could justify a smaller budget while still meeting the high special effects needs of the franchise, which was one of the factors that hurt the original’s gross. This plan would not only work for the halted Paramount franchise but has already been proven to work with other high-budget sequels and spinoffs.

Streaming Releases Have Worked For Other Movie Sequels & Spinoffs

Glass Onion And Prey Were Successful Direct-To-Streaming Releases

Several movie sequels and spinoffs have had streaming releases that have worked for them, showcasing how viable an option this could be for Honor Among Thieves 2. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was released on Netflix in 2023 to critical and audience acclaim. Glass Onion actually broke a streaming record during its time on Netflix, with the Knives Out sequel quickly becoming one of Netflix’s top five most popular films. The success of the streaming premiere highlights how effective this method has been for this and other franchises, even those who also have to consider high special effects costs.

While in both cases, a long-term theatrical release may have been better or more lucrative, there is no denying the success both saw on their respective platforms.

Prey’s Hulu release mirrors that of Glass Onion, with the Predator film becoming one of the streamer’s biggest premieres in 2022. While in both cases, a long-term theatrical release may have been better or more lucrative, there is no denying the success both saw on their respective platforms. Therefore, using a direct-to-streaming premiere for any future sequels of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves would not only be monetarily successful but allow the audiences who loved the first film to dive back in for another adventure as the story continues.