MMO-movies
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Jack Black plans MMO mockumentary Wizard's Way remake
MMOs in movies are all the rage now (if by rage we mean exist or are currently casting), and Jack Black is getting in on act. The actor and his production company, Electric Dynamite, have secured the rights to remake a British mockumentory Wizard's Way, a film that focused on MMOs and the people who play them. The plot centers on two gamers who spend their time playing a fantasy game called Wizard's Way and includes the pair discovering secrets about the game and one's real-life quest to find his in-game wife. While there's no release date for the remake, you can catch a screening of the 2012 original on January 19th at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. And don't miss a sneak peek of the original trailer below.
Rumor: Colin Farrell and Paula Patton to lead World of Warcraft film
Here's one from the rumor mill: The long delayed World of Warcraft movie, set to finally start filming in January of 2014, might just have its first two high-profile cast members. According to industry buzz, Paula Patton (Mission Impossible: The One Where Tom Cruise Hangs from a Building) and Colin Farrell (Scrubs) are on deck for leading roles, with Patton already in the contracting phase. Other names have cropped up in relation to the film; Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood), Travis Fimmel (Vikings), Anson Mount (Hell on Wheels), and Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) are all on the rumored shortlist for parts. Whatever your thoughts on potential actors, the fact that casting is actually getting done seems to indicate that the WoW movie might actually get made this time around. Moon director Duncan Jones is set to steer the project, which is aimed at a 2015 release.
World of Warcraft film teaser debuts at SDCC
Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures created something of a stir at this year's San Diego Comic Con by reportedly debuting a teaser trailer for the long-anticipated World of Warcraft movie. The trailer featured a human warrior and an angry orc and apparently was set in Hellfire Peninsula, also known as "that horrible place I dragged my Mage through levels 60-63." Actual filming begins in 2014, with director Duncan Jones referring to the teaser as more of a "mood piece." The film, titled simply Warcraft, will feature a mix of live-action and computer-generated effects. And no, the trailer doesn't seem to be available anywhere online. This Mountain Dew commercial is probably close enough, though.
Upcoming MMO movies (and why they'll suck)
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Upcoming_MMO_movies_and_why_they_ll_suck'; Dorothy Parker once said "The only 'ism' Hollywood believes in is plagiarism." While not technically plagiarism, the practice of mining popular properties of other media is a time-honored mainstay of Hollywood's. Why invent a new franchise when you can adapt one that already exists? Well, if we're talking about translating videogames to cinema, there are at least 3 reasons against that we can think of right away: Street Fighter: The Movie, Double Dragon, and Doom. Oh, and the entire body of work of Uwe Boll.With such a history of failure, why does Hollywood keep banking on videogames as good sources of material? Because it's always desperate for the next big hit, and adaptation is seen as being easier than originality, even though by now it's apparent that it's not quite as simple as it seems. An even better question is: why exactly don't these translations work? What is it about games that makes for poor films? Let's see if we can answer this question and assess the potential success/failure of some upcoming MMO movies.
