Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves failed at the box office because its timing worked against it, according to its own director. The 2023 fantasy heist earned glowing reviews yet struggled to turn that praise into ticket sales. The film arrived just days before The Super Mario Bros. Movie, while separate drama surrounding Dungeons and Dragons was also affecting its audience. Behind the scenes, forces far beyond the script were quietly working against the film long before opening night. What exactly stood in its way finally has an answer, straight from the people who lived through it.

While glowing reviews stacked up online, the true culprit behind the disappointing turnout waited quietly in theaters four days later.

John Francis Daley confirmed that release timing, not the story, sank Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves at the box office. The fantasy heist opened directly against a certified box office giant, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, drowning out any momentum built beforehand.

"It was very much a product of not-so-great timing when the first movie came out," Daley said on an episode of The Discourse Podcast.

He then added, "It came out four days before the Super Mario movie, which broke records."

Daley also pointed to Wizards of the Coast, which had unveiled changes to its Open Gaming License just a month before the premiere. The uproar it caused pushed loyal players away from anything carrying the Dungeons and Dragons name at the exact wrong moment. In the same episode of The Discourse Podcast, Daley admitted marketing failed to convince newcomers that this story might also be meant for them.

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While timing worked against the film in theaters, one prominent name later pushed for it to get another chance.

Rob McElhenney once reacted to news of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves arriving on Netflix by openly asking for a sequel to follow. His excitement echoed a wider sentiment already shared by critics, who scored the film highly on Rotten Tomatoes despite its shaky earnings. The heist adventure pulled in $208.2 million worldwide against a $150 million budget, numbers that undercut its actual quality on paper. McElhenney's response became one more sign that audiences wanted a second chapter told.

Around the same period, Ryan Reynolds teamed up with Daley and Jonathan Goldstein on their unrelated project Mayday, adding another major name to the filmmakers’ growing circle of admirers. Reynolds and McElhenney also share ownership of Wrexham football club, creating an unexpected connection between their business ventures and this cinematic story. Production on Mayday was eventually paused, but the film has now been released on Apple TV, bringing the long-delayed project back into the spotlight. In the end, timing remains the thread running through this story, from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves to Mayday.

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What are your thoughts on timing costing Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves its rightful audience? Let us know in the comments.