The fantasy world of “Dungeons & Dragons” came to London’s rainy Leicester Square on Thursday as actors Chris Pine, Rege-Jean Page and Michelle Rodriguez premiered their new movie that imagined the popular role-playing game.
“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” hits theaters next week, hoping to attract a new generation of fans to the game that was first released in 1974.
In the film, Pine’s character Edgin gathers a group of adventurers on a mission to retrieve a powerful relic.
“I didn’t know anything about it, but my nephew is… a D&D player… I saw him and his friends playing and I was really blown away by how much joy there was and how much improvisation, it was like a fantasy gym,” said Pine at Reuters on the red carpet.
“Hopefully what people get out of our film is that it’s a fun world with interesting characters that requires creativity and imagination and is just a great way to pass the time.”
Packed with stunning visual effects and stunning scenery, the film isn’t just for fans of the game, say directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.
“There’s so much to this game, there’s so much potential that the movie just scratches the surface of all the potential,” Goldstein said.
“You don’t have to be a game fan to enjoy this movie. It really just taps into that spirit (of creativity and imagination) that’s so great about it,” added Daley.
Rodriguez, who plays Holga, was playing the game herself.
“When (directors) John and Jonathan introduced me to the script, it all came back to me,” he said.
“It made me understand why (Dungeons & Dragons) has been around for 50 years.”
Page, who plays Xenk, said he played his first Dungeons & Dragons game shortly before filming began.
“I wasn’t a gamer, but I had watched people play Dungeons & Dragons, which is probably more involved,” he said.
“And so I had a little familiarity with the world, but my first game was with this cast.”
The Paramount Pictures film also stars Hugh Grant, Justice Smith, Daisy Head and Sophia Lillis.
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