Dungeons & Dragons Movie Director Got Into D&D While on Freak & Geeks Set

John Francis Daley, the Bones and Waiting... star who has gained fame as a writer behind projects like Spider-Man: Homecoming, is one of the directors bringing Dungeons & Dragons to life onscreen. He's a big fan of the property, having discovered it pretty much exactly where you might hope: on the set of NBC's short-lived Freaks and Geeks, the beloved sitcom from creator Paul Feig with writers Jake Kasdan (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) and Judd Apatow The 40-Year-Old Virgin). Daley dropped the revelation during the series' Hall H panel at Comic Con International in San Diego over the weekend, saying that he dug into the game as a way of trying to bring some authenticity to his '80s geek character.

"I'm a half-elf Paladin, and I've been that for the last five years," Daley told the audience, by way of proving he never dropped the ball once he picked it up. "I also play a video game with my son, Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom and Shadow Over Mystara," Daley goes on, harkening back to some deep cut side scrollers, developed and published by Capcom in the mid-90s. "He's probably too young to be playing it with me, he's only five and a half, but it's a nice boding moment for us, so it's much in my DNA at this point."

Daley's film, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, is officially described as "a charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure."

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Rege-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, Justice Smith and Hugh Grant, and was directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. Pine will play a bard, Rodriguez is a barbarian, Page plays a paladin, Lillis is a druid, and Smith is a sorcerer. The movie will take place across the Forgotten Realms, with scenes taking place in Waterdeep, Neverwinter, Icewind Dale, and the Underdark. Countless iconic monsters from Dungeons & Dragons are also confirmed to appear, including red and black dragons, mimics, displacer beasts, and owlbears. The Red Wizards of Thay also appear to be one of the main antagonists for the movie, and the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon cast will cameo as a rival adventuring party. 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will be released on March 3, 2023.