Warcraft Movie

[billybob476]

Wow...I'm still VERY skeptical about how this will turn out but this is some big news:




BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® AND LEGENDARY PICTURES SIGN SAM RAIMITO DIRECT UPCOMING WARCRAFT® MOVIE

Raimi, acclaimed director of the blockbuster Spider-Man series, will bring the forces of the Horde and the Alliance to life in epic live-action film. Charles Roven's Atlas Entertainment will produce alongside Raimi's Stars Road Entertaiment.



LOS ANGELES, Calif. – July 22, 2009 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and Legendary Pictures announced today that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct the eagerly-anticipated major motion picture based on Blizzard Entertainment®'s award-winning Warcraft® universe. Raimi has, in the course of his career, clearly demonstrated a genius for developing and adapting existing fictional universes for mainstream audiences while staying true to the spirit of the original content.
Raimi directed the Spider-Man trilogy, which has broken box-office records around the world and garnered five Academy Award® nominations. Known for his imaginative filmmaking style, richly drawn characters and offbeat humor, Raimi wrote and directed the cult classic, The Evil Dead and produced 30 Days Of Night. He most recently wrote and directed the supernatural thriller, Drag Me To Hell.

"At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story," said Raimi. "I am thrilled to work with such a dynamite production team to bring this project to the big screen."

Charles Roven's producing talents were recently seen with last summer's blockbuster The Dark Knight, which grossed in excess of $1 billion, was nominated for eight Academy Awards® and won two. His body of work also includes the widely acclaimed Batman Begins and the sci-fi classic 12 Monkeys. Roven, with Atlas producing partner Alex Gartner, will be producing with Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, Legendary's Chief Creative Officer Jon Jashni, Raimi and Raimi's producing partner Joshua Donen. Raimi's partner, Robert Tapert, will be an Executive Producer and Blizzard Entertainment's Senior Vice President of Creative Development, Chris Metzen, a Co-Producer.

"Partnering with Sam Raimi exemplifies Legendary's mandate of marrying the highest quality intellectual property to world-class filmmakers" said Legendary's Tull. "Sam's passion for 'Warcraft' is undeniable and we know that he will create an incredible film worthy of Blizzard's phenomenal franchise. We look forward to collaborating with our partners at Warner Bros. and continuing our successful relationship with Chuck in bringing this rich new world to the screen."

"Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures have a shared vision for this film and we searched at length to find the very best director to bring that vision to life," said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. "From our first conversation with Sam, we could tell he was the perfect choice. Sam knows how to simultaneously satisfy the enthusiasts and the mainstream audience that might be experiencing that content for the first time. We're looking forward to working with him to achieve that here."



"Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft has become a second home for millions of players and Sam's experience and talent make him the perfect director for this remarkable and action-packed world," said Atlas' Roven. "Alex and I are proud to be working with Sam and re-teaming with our friends at Legendary and Warner Bros."

The film will fall under Legendary Pictures' co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. "Warcraft is emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which our studio is best known. We have enjoyed great success with our partners at Legendary, and this is an incredible opportunity for us to work with Sam on a project that is so eagerly anticipated by so many," said Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft universe is a rich fantasy setting that revolves around the epic conflict between the opposing forces of the Horde and the Alliance. Since its debut in 1994, Warcraft has developed a loyal following across the globe, with several bestselling, award-winning PC games and a range of popular licensed products including novels, action figures, apparel, comic books, board games, and more. World of Warcraft®, Blizzard Entertainment's subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the Warcraft universe, is the most popular game of its kind in the world. Its most recent expansion, Wrath of the Lich King™, is the fastest-selling PC game of all time, with more than 2.8 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and more than 4 million in its first month.

Further details about the upcoming Warcraft movie, including cast and targeted release date, will be revealed as development progresses.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment's track record includes eleven #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.


http://www.blizzard.com/us/press/090721.html

[Rico]

Sounds good to me!

[sheldor]

Not sure if this is referencing the same movie.

Bill Westenhofer, the Oscar-winning VFX supervisor on Ang Lee's Life of Pi, is on board as VFX supervisor for Warcraft, a film based on the video games series.  The title is being produced by Legendary Pictures, Blizzard Entertainment and Atlas Entertainment.
Nick Carpenter, Blizzard's vp of art and cinematic development has tweeted: "Had my first meeting with the VFX director on the film. We are in good hands. Welcome aboard Bill Westenhofer!"  Duncan Jones will direct from a script by Charles Leavitt. Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni will produce for Legendary along with Atlas Entertainment's Charles Roven and Alex Gartner, and Blizzard Entertainment. Jones' producing partner, Stuart Fenegan, will executive produce. Chris Metzen will co-produce for Blizzard.

Production is expected to begin in the fall, and a summer 2015 release is planned.

Westenhofer won Oscars in VFX for Pi and The Golden Compass. His additional credits at Rhythm & Hues include The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Stuart Little and upcoming Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.
The VFX on Pi received considerable attention during awards season, for both the highly-regarded work and the fact that lead VFX house Rhythm & Hues filed for bankruptcy protection during the season. Last month, a wholly-owned affiliate of Prana Studios acquired the company.
Below, watch a THR moderated Q&A with Ang Lee and the people behind his award winning movie Life of Pi.

[Rico]

Duncan Jones is now slated to direct this:

The long in gestation World Of Warcraft movie, which was originally being developed by Sam Raimi, landed in the hands of Duncan Jones earlier this year, as things suddenly looked like they were moving forward. It'll be Jones' third feature, following the terrific duo of Source Code and particularly Moon, and he seems an excellent fit for the material.

In a recent interview the CEO of Legendary Pictures, Thomas Tull, has recently been chatting about the adaptation and here's what he had to say to Collider. "I think first of all is to lose the fact that it's a video game movie and just concentrate on do you have a story that's worth telling? Because if you look back to the 80s, comic book movies were not anywhere near what they are today. They weren't given the resources and you didn't have the level of directors that you have today working on these things".

He continued, adding that "I think with video games it's just become much more sophisticated storytelling, hard to do a movie off of Pong, but today when you have stuff like Mass Effect, you have things like Warcraft, you have things like Skyrim where very cool worlds have been created, that's what we're attracted to. We took our time with Warcraft because just saying 'How many people play the game? Well then that means X number of people will buy a ticket'. That's a death trap, that's the surest way to make a crap movie, and that's not an option".

He went on further to praise his director. "We're huge believers in Duncan Jones", he said, "and I think what we're going to bring to screen and to bear with Duncan, he is going to break that mold because it's going to have the resources, the talent around it, and a Field General in Duncan Jones".

It certainly sounds like it's being made for the right reasons and being given the necessary resources to succeed. More news on the World Of Warcraft movie when it's available.

http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/world-of-warcraft-movie/95254/legendary-pictures-ceo-on-the-world-of-warcraft-movie

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0803096/

[Jobydrone]

Oh well, it sounds like they're trying to make a serious movie out of WoW lore, and I think thats a mistake.  They needs to make this a funny, fanciful farce where four or five friends (guild mates maybe?) are sucked into the World of Warcraft, meet the characters from the game and have to undertake quests (including escort quests and collecting twelve goblin bandannas) to successfully make their way back to the real world.  Anything else is bound to be unnecessarily dark and dour.

[Rico]

Finally, some news and a start date (early 2014).

About half an hour ago, the audience in Hall H got an unexpected trailer.  In an open, alien-looking desert, a human warrior seemingly stands alone.  He drinks the last water from a skein, and drops it on the ground.  He draws a magnificent sword, and steps forward to examine the bones of a fallen soldier.  He picks up a fancy-looking shield.  He begins circling around, facing off an unseen enemy.  The camera pulls back and reveals...an orc wielding a giant battle axe.  The two continue to circle each other.  Then they charge forward, screaming at each other, and the final shot is the orc leaping in the air, bringing down the axe, and we cut to black.  Then the title comes up: WARCRAFT.  The crowd goes wild.  This is the kind of fun surprise that Comic-Con can provide, and Legendary in particular has become so adept at providing.  Hit the jump for more.


Legendary Pictures Founder and CEO Thomas Tull comes on stage to then introduce director Duncan Jones (Moon).  Jones then comes on stage to share his love for the video game World of Warcraft, and is glad that he played the game before making the movie because if it were the other way around, he would never get around to making the movie because the game is so addictive.  Unfortunately, this was an announcement panel, and the trailer was only a mood piece.  Jones finishes out the announcement by telling the audience that filming will begin in early 2014.

http://collider.com/warcraft-trailer-description-comic-con/

[Rico]

Been awhile for this thread, but here is some cool, leaked trailer footage...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=223sOhR_uww#ws

[Jobydrone]

I wonder if they snuck in anyone dancing on the mailboxes in that huge Ogrimar scene in the beginning of the trailer ;) 

Gonna have to see this