'Dungeons & Dragons' earns $38.5M, surpasses John Wick

“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” has taken the top spot at the box office in the US and Canada over the weekend, with an opening of $38.5 million. Despite being based on a niche tabletop game, the Paramount Pictures and eOne release directed by “Game Night” directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley has attracted a wider audience thanks to its rollicking comic action-adventure and star-studded cast, which includes Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, and Hugh Grant. The movie has received an A- CinemaScore and a 91% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has cost $150 million to make, and the studio is hoping for sustained sales through April and similar success overseas to kickstart a new franchise. “John Wick: Chapter 4” slipped to second place in its second weekend with $28.2 million, after a franchise-best launch of $73.5 million last weekend. The action movie has already accrued $122.8 million domestically and $245 million worldwide. Lionsgate has plans for further expansion in the franchise. Other well-received March releases that have surpassed box-office expectations and scored well with audiences include “Creed III,” “Scream VI,” and “A Thousand and One.” While the 2023 box office is well ahead of last year's pace, it is still trailing the 2017-2019 average by 28.8%. Games and toys are proving to be dependable big-screen resources, with “Dungeons & Dragons” followed this year by Greta Gerwig's “Barbie” and a new “Transformers” movie. The once-derided video game adaptation is also expected to extend its rising trend with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” next weekend. The Christian drama “His Only Son” debuted with $5.3 million, and A.V. Rockwell’s Sundance Film Festival grand jury prize winner “A Thousand and One” opened with $1.8 million at 926 theaters for Focus Features.