COLLIDER: So ongrats on the movie.
So talk a little bit about the references and balancing, making sure it works for both audiences.
And so that was the needle we were threading.
We poured a lot of years of our lives into it.
DALEY: It wasn’t terribly different, honestly.
There was a time when Kira (Chloe Coleman) didn’t exist.
Image via Paramount
DALEY: It’s the easiest rewrite in the world.
I love Hugh Grant, and he’s great in this.
I’m just curious, was he a tough sell?
Image via Paramount Pictures
Talk a little bit about getting him in the movie.
DALEY: I think the title alone was the toughest sell for him.
And then, fortunately, when he read the script, he came to love it.
Image via Paramount
I remember that first Zoom that we had with him, [to Goldstein] you do his voice.
And then he asked his agent, and he said, Which of them is British?
So I really dig the action in this and how it’s very well staged.
Image via Paramount/Empire
Can you sort of talk about working with your second unit and putting the sequences on screen?
And one of those things was animatics and pre-vis and storyboards.
DALEY: I got something.
Image via Paramount
GOLDSTEIN: She’s tough, her agents really tough, that owlbear.
you’re free to’t tell what was here, what was there.
And so you could see that there’s a little bit of wigging in the reshoot part.
Image via Paramount Pictures
I learned that where you shot, you took over the stages ofGame of Thrones.
GOLDSTEIN: That’s right, and stage is a generous word for what those things are.
So, we rebuilt it
GOLDSTEIN: We thought we were getting Kings Landing.
Yeah, we got this totally demolished, shitty back lot with fire burns all over it.
So I’m fascinated by the editing process because it’s where it all comes together.
The first question is, did you have a much longer director’s cut?
Image via Paramount Pictures
How did you end up with the length that everyone watched tonight?
DALEY: Well, when you first do a movie, you get an editor’s assembly.
So while you’re shooting, the editor is simultaneously putting all of the scenes together very roughly.
Image via Paramount Pictures
He was very much the cheerleader and hes a man of all trades.
GOLDSTEIN: He’s not at all sexual or brutal.
DALEY: [Laughs] He can be brutal.
Image via Paramount Pictures
And ultimately, we got it down to a tight two hours and 11 or so minutes.
GOLDSTEIN: Mostly it was trimming down what we had.
There were a couple of scenes that made it to the floor [of] the cutting room.
Image via NBC
And she sadly says, They’re not wrong.
What was the last thing you took out of the film before you picture locked?
I know it was probably a year ago.
Image via Paramount
Can we postpone the release date?
I really loved the reincarnating the dead stuff.
So who wants to take some props for coming up with that idea?
DALEY: Most of those reasons are money.
GOLDSTEIN: And some of them are dead.
DALEY: Which is what the kids are saying apparently.
But Themberchaud actually exists in the lore, and he was this gluttonous dragon I see some heads nodding.
You’re a geek [laughs].
And it helps to kind of craft a story that felt authentic to the story.
GOLDSTEIN: Well, interestingly… DALEY: A half ooze, which doesnt exist.
GOLDSTEIN: Which isn’t a thing.
DALEY: And bungee jump down.
GOLDSTEIN: He would stretch.
But ultimately, the people at [Wizards of the Coast] told us that’s not a thing.
I’m sure there were some battles behind the scenes.
What was something that you had to fight for to keep in the movie?
DALEY: Do we say it?
Xenk jumping over the rock.
Im not saying who we fought with!
That’s not a thing, right?
you’re free to hold two things in your head at the same time.
They are good jokes.
GOLDSTEIN: They can’t fire us now!
So, props to them.
Being serious, you did make this with Paramount, Wizards of the Coast, and EOne.
There were a lot of people that you had to just to make your movie.
As well as this incredibly unique and bizarre tone that we were allowed to do.
GOLDSTEIN: They let us do jokes that cost, like, $1 million dollars.
The intellect joke, that’s an expensive joke.
So talk a little bit about finding that in the editing room.
Was it all the script?
We approached this very earnestly, we were not cynical about this.
And that’s kind of what we did.
So you did friends and family screenings, test screenings, or both.
What did you learn from those screenings that impacted the finished film?
GOLDSTEIN: The first thing we learned was there was confusion about what the villains were up to.
So we didn’t want the audience to get caught up in trying to follow that and be confused.
DALEY: It also allowed us to kind of amplify the threat of the baddies.
GOLDSTEIN: There was also something we changed, which was interesting.
DALEY: A lot up until he says, Well, shit.
GOLDSTEIN: He said something like, Oh, what a shame.
DALEY: And then Kiras like, Well, aren’t we going to go back?
I love dragon sequences in TV and movies, and you have a great one in this with Themberchaud.
How do we make this fresh?
You’ve certainly seen people run from dragons and lots of things.
So we thought, Alright, so what is gonna make this different?
And the first beat was, it flopping down like a penguin and sliding after them.
GOLDSTEIN: Steven, are you here tonight?
He said he was coming.
DALEY: [Laughs] But yeah, it’s a lot of moving parts.
Basically, we knew we wanted to chew up the scenery.
We basically took advantage of every inch of the setting that we had.
AUDIENCE: Thanks for putting the TV series characters in the movie.
Did they die, or did they?
GOLDSTEIN: No, come on.
DALEY: We like to allude to the fact that theymightdie, but we kept it open.
GOLDSTEIN: There’s a deleted scene where they die horribly [laughs].
Who here has seen the cartoon and understands the reference and who needs it to be explained?
We should also say where the scene is in the movie.
Theyre from a cartoon series.
DALEY: The people wearing the most absurd outfits, thats why we didn’t show them very well.
People went crazy for it, and in England, too.
DALEY: As well as in the UK, yeah.
I remember all of our crew were so delighted to see those 80s characters.
GOLDSTEIN: We did not steal it from you.
There’s no way we could have known that.
How hard was this pitch to actually get off the ground, and how long did that take?
And so we definitely leaned into that element.
AUDIENCE: You talked about how you were able to get Hugh Grant on board.
You have an amazing cast, top to bottom.
Can you talk a little bit about how you were able to put together this team?
This is intriguing to them.
So everybody saw an opportunity to do some fun acting in it.
Chris was a process.
DALEY: We had a lot of actors and actresses in mind as we were developing it.
But what was really gratifying was, Hugh actually thought he was British, which was great.
GOLDSTEIN: And Rege was sort of a no-brainer.
You know, we loved the idea of out-hotting Chris.
Is that the time that they can add to do it well, is it liability?
Can you talk about what’s the opposition and how you overcome it?
DALEY: It requires a lot more prep.
We had the confidence from the studio to go for it.
DALEY: And that happens a lot, by the way, but we didn’t do that here.
AUDIENCE: When and how did you get the idea for the movie?
DALEY: Good question.
Well, there was a script that had been floating around before we became involved.
And so we kind of went from there.
We pitched our take.
Also, we love doing oners, we did it inGame Nightwith the Faberge egg.
GOLDSTEIN: You know, it really was a reflection of the spirit of playing the game.
And that’s what we tried to capture in the movie.
DALEY: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: So, speaking of playing D&D, did you do it at all during production?
GOLDSTEIN: We did.
DALEY: Yeah, we did.
We had a Dungeon Master from Seattle on Zoom, and it was really helpful, actually.
Almost as helpful as rehearsing because they played as their characters.
We got to see them in motion.
AUDIENCE: Piggy-backing off of them.
But first, as someone who saw the old movie in the 90s, thank you so much.
You have redeemed it in so many ways.
But also, of the cast, who would make the best Dungeon Master, and why?
And then, behind him, definitely Chris who is a director and an incredible storyteller himself.
AUDIENCE: I noticed in the credits someone credited as Lore Master.
Is that a typical role in production?
GOLDSTEIN: Yes, every movie has that [laughs].
We would have someone whisper in our ear, like, She can’t do that spell.
And then the second thing is, what was the funnest scene that you guys had to do?
GOLDSTEIN: Two scenes come to mind that were the most challenging.
Both took many days to shoot, they were done in many different locations.
Some of it was on set, some of it was out in the world.
I would say that one of the most fun scenes was anything between Chris and Rege.
GOLDSTEIN: Yeah, the walking away that became the rock joke, we had 100 alts for that.
We had a whole thing where Chris is like, Where is he even going?
Is there anything in that direction?
I think its a dead end.
How does that get figured out?
But a lot went into it.
And then kept redoing and redoing and redoing it.
There are still some effects that we are like, Ehh, but that’s just inherent in filmmaking.
GOLDSTEIN: Not really, we didn’t approach it that way.
I mean, look everything in this movie is expensive.
DALEY: Yeah, and the question is, Is it worth it?
And to us it was.
Oh, it’s a great shot.
By the way, does everyone know what a oner is?
AUDIENCE: Can you explain?
DALEY: A oner is basically a one-shot take, if you will.
GOLDSTEIN: Usually, nowadays, it’s actually multiple takes divided up and blended.
DALEY: But we didn’t do that.
GOLDSTEIN: Those animals were all real.
DALEY: Maybe… [Laughs]
AUDIENCE: Favorite class to play as?
AUDIENCE: What age were you when you felt like your career was really kicking off?
DALEY: 14 years old when I gotFreaks and Geeks.
AUDIENCE: I noticed you were credited as the songwriter for the songs.
How hard was that, and have you ever done that before?
GOLDSTEIN: We love writing song lyrics.
We did that in another thing, right?
We love to rhyme, were rappers.
But it was definitely something that we talked about, and then we sawJumanji.
AUDIENCE: Portal inspired byPortalgun?
GOLDSTEIN: Look, it’s one of my favorite games.
In fact, I’m replaying it now.
Kind of, but you know, the color is different, so no.
Are you saying they were stuck there for a long time?
DALEY: It also felt cruel to imply that we were about to kill a bunch of children.
GOLDSTEIN: People frown on that.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesis in theaters now.
