Building ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’: How Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley Brought the Ultimate Nerd Property to Movie Theaters

variety.com:

John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s was built geeking out over home movies. Daley, fresh from his debut as one of the geeks on the cult TV classic “Freaks and Geeks,” was one of the teen stars of the 2000-01 ABC sitcom “The Geena Davis Show,” and Goldstein was the youngest member of the writing staff.

One day, Daley grabbed Goldstein to show him the stop-motion short film he’d made of himself getting hit by a car. “It was amazing — really well done,” recalls Goldstein, who is sitting across from Daley in their small office on the Paramount studio lot. “And I, of course, was like, ‘All right, I’m bringing in the shorts that I made when I was his age.’” They stayed friends and, years later, began writing together, leading to a successful decade as screenwriters (“Horrible Bosses,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming”) and directors (“Vacation,” “Game Night”) that drew upon their ability to spin unexpected comedy from seemingly well-trod territory. “They believe that the audience doesn’t need to be spoon fed,” says Paramount film group co-president Michael Ireland. “Instead of chasing kind of the easiest solution, they’re always challenging themselves to make that solution 20% smarter.” Goldstein and Daley’s latest film, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” produced by Paramount and eOne, is the biggest test yet of their approach.

The $151 million film is based on the 50-year-old role-playing game, in which a group of friends assume the roles of fantasy archetypes and set out on a campaign designed by a player designated the “dungeon master.” For years, D&D was seen as the exclusive domain of nerds, and a poorly received movie adaptation from 2000 starring Jeremy Irons didn’t help matters.