The tabletop game may be more popular now than it’s arguably ever been, but the big budget movie adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons is far from a sure thing at the box office. Blockbuster fantasy has proven to be very hit or miss with audiences, so directors Jonathan Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein will be aiming much more in the direction of The Lord of the Rings than Warcraft, with the latter losing a ton of money despite a status as the highest-grossing video game adaptation in history.
The filmmaking duo have proven themselves to be equal parts talented and versatile, while the stellar cast features Fast & Furious veteran Michelle Rodriguez, Bridgerton‘s Regé-Jean Page, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Detective Pikachu‘s Justice Smith, It and I Am Not Okay With This‘ Sophia Lillis, along with Hugh Grant making his debut in a broad effects-driven studio production over 40 years into his career.
Anchoring the ensemble will be Chris Pine, who’s experienced mixed results as an action hero so far. His Star Trek trilogy was solid, but Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit most definitely was not, while his welcome return as Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman 1984 was slightly overshadowed by the circumstances that brought him back from the dead.
Regardless of how Dungeons & Dragons fares with critics or crowds, we at least know that Pine is being well rewarded for his efforts after it was revealed the actor is pocketing an upfront salary of $11.5 million, which presumably doesn’t include what he stands to make on the back end should the movie hit a number of box office milestones. It’s good work if you can get it, so fingers crossed he’s worth every penny in the end.
