Breakfast Topic: How to make WoW work on the silver screen
I'm really enjoying the Heroes coming in this summer's movie lineup. I absolutely loved Iron Man, I'm stoked about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and I can't wait Christian Bale's encore Batman performance in The Dark Knight. There's been noise since Blizzcon 2007 that there will be a World of Warcraft movie. The synopsis on IMDB reads:
Thrall will be in the movie. It will be told primarily from the Alliance point of view The time of the movie is set about 1 year before World of Warcraft begins. The film is mainly about cultures in conflict. It won't be an adventure movie like LoTR, more of a war film.
But it has little other information about what may be included. One thing we know for sure is that Uwe Boll (of BloodRayne infamy) will not be receiving the movie rights. I expect any WoW movie to be as abhorrently bad as the as the campy but quaint Dungeons and Dragons film of 2000. To be successful, a Hollywood movie would need to appeal to a larger audience than WoW fans.
If I found myself making the WoW movie I would definitely cast Samuel L. Jackson as Thrall. Even Snakes on a Plane was not bad enough to override his intrepid coolness (but the snakes did creep me out enough that I couldn't keep watching). I would avoid Ben Afleck at all costs. Since WoW is a worldwide phenomenon, I would focus on elements such as epic battle scenes and special effects that translate easier than dialog. I would also try to stay as true to the lore as possible, balancing both Horde and Alliance perspectives. To be fair, while there is conflict between the two, neither side is truly good or evil.
If you were in charge of directing, producing, or casting a World of Warcraft movie, what would you do to make it successful?
