Meet Ashley Alexander. As Senior Director, Film Development & Sales at eOne, she’s had the opportunity to shepherd some pretty impressive projects from the page to the screen. But one project in particular has made all of her “childhood dreams come to life.”
The movie? Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Ashley has always loved how empowering and inclusive the game is. “As a young kid reading the rules for The Forgotten Realms setting of D&D, it was quite impactful to read their specific rule about gender: You can play a male or female character without gaining any specific benefit or hindrances. Females of the Realms can excel in whatever profession they choose whether wizardry, thievery, or the arts of war.”
Ashley took that to heart, and is now excelling in her chosen profession: film development.
In her role at eOne, Ashley is constantly on the hunt for our next big film – that means, meeting with writers and filmmakers, hearing pitches and reading (lots of reading). But with access to Hasbro’s rich library of IP, Ashley also gets to explore how we can bring iconic brands to the big screen. “We have such beloved IP; I love digging in to figure out why the fans love a specific property. It’s an incredible challenge to find what makes a brand so uniquely special, then figure out how we can recreate that joy in a film for both existing fans and hopefully a new audience as well.”
Ashley’s certain that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will delight new and existing fans alike. “We’ve been relentless in making sure that we’re telling the best story possible from the script to production to post-production. And in order to do so, we’re not cramming every aspect of D&D into one film, we’re focusing on building a fun emotional story with characters that you’ll fall in love with as a gateway to the massive world of D&D—and hopefully we’ll be lucky enough to build out the rest of the world with many more productions to come, both in film and TV.”
The film takes its cues from the tone of the game. “It’s set in a medieval-esque world, but it’s not like any fantasy we’ve ever seen on film or TV. While there may be an inclination to compare this to Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones because of the scale, this is no drama. It’s much more of a fun action-adventure with comedy and heart.
“We follow a group of adventurers who unintentionally unleash a great evil during a heist gone wrong. Once these thieves realize what’s in jeopardy, they endeavor to set things right against unimaginable odds. What’s special about D&D is our characters aren’t superheroes—they’re everyday people who bite off more than they can chew and often go on a more surprising, exciting, and emotional adventure because it.”
We bet some of Ashley’s enthusiasm has rubbed off on you by now… Excited yet?
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves hits theaters March 3, 2023.
