D&D2 script is finished. Paramount is holding it.
┊ review diff a//tmp/extract_enworld.py → b//tmp/extract_enworld.py @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +import re + +with open(‘/tmp/enworld_dd2.html’) as f:
- html = f.read()
+# Find message-body blocks +msgs = re.findall(r’<div class=“message-body[^”]”>(.?)\s*<div class=“message-footer”’, html, re.DOTALL) + +for i, m in enumerate(msgs[:10]):
- text = re.sub(r’<[^>]+>’, ’ ’, m)
- text = re.sub(r’\s+’, ’ ’, text).strip()
- if len(text) > 30:
-
print(f'--- MESSAGE {i+1} ---') -
print(text[:2000]) -
┊ review diff a//tmp/extract_enworld2.py → b//tmp/extract_enworld2.py @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +import reprint()
+with open(‘/tmp/enworld_dd2.html’) as f:
- html = f.read()
+# Try to find message-body sections +pattern = r’class=“message-body’ +positions = [m.start() for m in re.finditer(pattern, html)] +print(f”Found {len(positions)} message-body occurrences”) + +for pos in positions[:3]:
- chunk = html[pos:pos+500]
-
Strip tags for readability
- clean = re.sub(r’<[^>]+>’, ‘\n’, chunk)
- clean = re.sub(r’\n+’, ’ ’, clean).strip()
- print(f”\n--- AT POSITION {pos} ---”)
- print(clean[:500])
- print() ┊ review diff a//tmp/extract_enworld3.py → b//tmp/extract_enworld3.py @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +import re
+with open(‘/tmp/enworld_dd2.html’) as f:
- html = f.read()
+# Find all message-body sections and extract text content +msgs = re.findall(r’class=“message-body[^”]”>(.?)\s*(?:<div class=“message-footer”|<script)’, html, re.DOTALL) + +if not msgs:
-
Broader fallback
- msgs = re.findall(r’class=“message-body[^”]”>(.?)(?:class=“message-footer”|class=“message-userArrow”)’, html, re.DOTALL)
+for i, m in enumerate(msgs[:15]):
- text = re.sub(r’<[^>]+>’, ’ ’, m)
- text = re.sub(r’\s+’, ’ ’, text).strip()
- if len(text) > 20:
-
print(f'--- MESSAGE {i+1} ---') -
print(text[:2000]) -
print()
I have enough material. Here’s the article:
The Script Exists. The Sequel Might Not.
Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley — the writing duo behind Honor Among Thieves, The Good Doctor, and Game Night — have reportedly finished a script for a Dungeons & Dragons sequel. They wrote it at the direct request of Paramount’s then-current studio head. The draft is done. It exists. Someone at Paramount read it and paid for it.
None of that means you’ll see the movie.
The script is currently sitting in development limbo, held up by a perfect storm of studio upheaval. The Ellisons bought Paramount, replaced its leadership, and are now attempting a leveraged acquisition of Warner Bros.-Discovery. In that kind of chaos, mid-budget fantasy sequels are the first things to get shelved.
This hurts. Not because we’re guaranteed a great film, but because the actual creative work is already done and it’s corporate restructuring — not bad writing or lack of interest — standing in the way.
What “Script Finished” Actually Means
Let’s be honest about what this news represents, because Hollywood loves to let fans misread signals.
A finished script is not a greenlit movie. Studios routinely commission and pay for scripts as a relatively cheap way to keep options open. You’re talking about six figures for a draft versus the $50-150 million it would cost to actually make the film. From Paramount’s perspective, paying Goldstein and Daley to write D&D2 was an insurance policy, not a commitment.
Even in normal times — and these are emphatically not normal times — a script sitting in a studio’s drawer doesn’t guarantee production. Projects get rewritten, reassigned to different writers, or quietly killed years later. The fact that this one exists is genuinely good news for fans, but it’s not the same thing as a release date.
The Box Office Problem
There’s a second reason Paramount is hesitating, and it has nothing to do with the Ellisons.
Honor Among Thieves grossed approximately $208 million worldwide against a $150 million production budget. Studios typically keep roughly 50% of theatrical box office, which means Paramount walked away with around $104 million from ticket sales alone — well short of what it cost to make the film. Sure, there’s streaming revenue, physical sales, merchandising, and Hasbro licensing to factor in, and those may have closed the gap. But by Hollywood’s notoriously cold math, the first film underperformed.
Sequels almost always earn less than their predecessors. If D&D2 needed a $50 million budget to work — and that’s probably the ceiling — the margins are thin enough that leadership changes become existential threats to the project.
Why This Still Matters
Here’s the thing I actually believe: the more this gets talked about, the harder it is for Paramount to let it die quietly.
There’s a real and enthusiastic audience for this IP. Honor Among Thieves was one of the most genuinely enjoyable fantasy films in years, and the fanbase didn’t evaporate because the box office didn’t hit $400 million. Goldstein and Daley understand this world, they’ve already done the heavy lifting, and the script is sitting there waiting.
All it needs is a studio that’s stable enough to say yes.
The WB-Discovery acquisition attempt could go either way. If it goes through, Paramount’s priorities shift again and D&D2 might get buried deeper. If it falls apart — and leveraged buyouts frequently do — the studio stabilizes, new leadership looks for wins, and a ready-made D&D sequel with a finished script becomes an attractive option.
Bottom Line
The D&D2 script is real. Goldstein and Daley finished it. Paramount is holding it because the studio is in the middle of an ownership transition and the first film didn’t quite clear the box office bar. None of this is about the quality of the writing or lack of fan demand — it’s pure corporate timing.
My take: this isn’t dead. It’s dormant. The script exists, the writers are attached, and there’s an audience waiting. If Paramount ever stops reinventing its own leadership and just makes movies again, D&D2 is one of the easiest greenlights on their shelf. Until then, we wait.