PARA - 'Dungeons & Dragons' takes its game to the movie theaters

2023-03-31 19:08:26 ET

With John Wick having made a gritty mark at last weekend's box office, this weekend brings a contender (based on a venerable fantasy game) ready to roll for initiative.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ( NASDAQ: PARA ) ( NASDAQ: PARAA ) is an expensive production based on the decades-old dice-based role-playing game, and it will look to start collecting against production costs of $150M with a strong rollout in 3,850 domestic theaters.

The film, made in conjunction with Hasbro's ( HAS ) eOne, drew $5.6M in Thursday previews, suggesting it may be tracking toward an opening on the higher side of a $30M-$40M range.

That could give it a run at dethroning John Wick: Chapter 4 ( NYSE: LGF.A ) ( NYSE: LGF.B ), which hit $73.5M in last week's opening weekend in an era when top films often shed 50% of their opening take in the second week.

And despite what might seem like limited subject interest -- not many people play Dungeons & Dragons into adulthood -- the film has drawn strong reviews and word of mouth since a premiere of the film at Austin's SXSW festival.

It's competing with an expanded release of Zach Braff's drama A Good Person (United Artists/ AMZN ), and crime drama A Thouand and One ( CMCSA ).

Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment ( AMC ); Cineworld ( OTCPK:CNNWQ ); Cinemark ( CNK ); ( IMAX ); Marcus ( MCS ); Reading International ( RDI ); Cineplex ( CGX:CA ); National CineMedia ( NCMI ).

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