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Rumorbuster: David Wenham might play Arthas
There's a rumor going around that Australian actor David Wenham (who you'll probably know as Faramir in Lord of the Rings, though he was also in 300 and Van Helsing) is supposed to play Arthas in the upcoming Sam Raimi-directed Warcraft movie -- but not so fast. The whole thing appears to stem from a listing over on the Internet Movie Database's listing for Warcraft (which, by the way, seems to have a working title -- a few days ago, it was just called "Untitled Sam Raimi Project"), where Wenham's name was inserted as rumored to play Arthas. That in and of itself means nothing at all -- the IMDb can be updated and edited by almost anyone that comes to the site, and while it could be that Wenham's agent is trying to get his name out there for a certain part, it's just as likely that some overzealous Lord of the Rings fan is trying to do some casting of their own. Wenham's name under there as "rumored" has about as much validity as a mention on Wikipedia: not much.Oh, and there's one more issue -- as discussed in this forum post, Arthas himself probably won't even be in the Warcraft movie, if what Blizzard told us at BlizzCon a little while back is to be believed. Back at the BlizzCon 2007 movie panel, we were told by the panel (including Chris Metzen) that the movie is supposed to start a year before WoW begins, which means Arthas is sitting up in Icecrown doing a whole lot of nothing. When fans specifically asked about Arthas, we were told that while the movie would certainly reference him, it likely wouldn't focus on him at all. So while Wenham (or his fans) may be angling for the part of Arthas, even if he got it, he probably wouldn't get much screen time anyway.Of course, that's assuming that what we were told two years ago still holds. Gary Whitta, who worked on a screenplay for the film, says that Sam Raimi has his own ideas about the movie, so, as BlizzPlanet points out, maybe he wants Arthas front and center. But for now, the David Wenham rumor is still just a made-up rumor, and a really thin one at that.
What do you expect from a WoW movie?
Blizzard announced the Warcraft movie in 2006, after a long and arduous search for a proper production outfit that shared their vision. This search ended with Legendary pictures getting the deal - and while the studio doesn't have spotless track record (Lady in the Water, I'm looking at you...), I think they've hit more home runs than strike outs, particularly with properties that resonate strongly with us geeks and fanboys. Whether or not you agree with their vision, it's safe to say the guys behind Legendary respect their source material a great deal - from the visually stunning 300, the somber and severe The Dark Knight, and the un-movie-able Watchmen. I even really liked Bryan Singer's reverent and messianic take on big blue in Superman Returns.Now, after a drought of news regarding the film, Harry Knowles broke the news about Spider-Man and Drag Me to Hell director Sam Raimi landing the job of helming the Warcraft flick. Variety soon reported that Charles Roven, who produced The Dark Knight, was also joining the mix. Although a lot of things can still change from now until we see Azeroth on the silver screen (directorial musical chairs isn't uncommon in Hollywood), a lot of us at WoW.com were pretty stoked to hear Raimi being selected for the job. I mean, at least it's not Uwe Boll.
Legendary Pictures hires EA Casual vet for games venture
As expected, former EA Casual president Kathy Vrabeck has accepted the top spot at Legendary Pictures' new digital division. Variety reports that Vrabeck is looking to bring games based on Legendary's properties -- including the still-in-development The Lost Patrol, a tie-in with the upcoming 2010 theatrical thriller -- as well as original IP to consoles, mobile devices and online portals. The company's development effort will be based out of its offices on the Warner Bros. lot.Legendary's intent to add video games to its portfolio was actually revealed last year, but can now get into full swing under Vrabeck. While the production company is unproven in games, it has an impressive track record in Hollywood, having delivered the likes of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Watchmen. It's currently developing films based on World of Warcraft and Gears of War.[Via VG247]
The Queue: Going to the movies
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.The Queue is generally a weekday affair, but since this Saturday is going to be a busy day for us WoW players, we're going to be doing a special edition this weekend. You didn't forget about BlizzCon tickets going on sale this Saturday, did you? I hope not! If you have any BlizzCon related questions, get them in over the next couple of days, and we'll see what we can do for you this weekend.Erogroth asked..."What is the status on the Warcaft movie? I have not heard anything in a long time. Is it even in production? Will we ever see it? Is there even a website?"
Three words that sound like crack: Watchmen iPhone MMO
As with just about every group of comic book geeks out there, the Massively offices have been positively abuzz with discussion of the Watchmen movie coming out this Friday (or Thursday at Midnight, if you're like us and already have your tickets). Of course, with any hot movie property comes a video game, and it appears that Watchmen is to be no different. Well, no different, save that the Watchmen: Justice is Coming game is getting the MMO treatment - on the iPhone and iPod touch. In a special edition of the MMO Report on G4, details have been released on this new portable-platform MMO that's been developed by Last Legion Games in conjunction with Warner, Paramount and Legendary Pictures. The idea is that in Watchmen: Justice is Coming, players start out as regular everyday people out to combat crime in a 1970's pre-movie New York, who gain better items to gear themselves up. (Sound familiar?) While the combat appears to be old-school basic Street Fighter style, the general concept could be pretty cool. But really, who are we kidding? We'll probably buy it just to play an MMO with Rorschach in it and to check out this new iPhone tech. Since it goes live in the App store on the 6th, it will give us something to do while we're waiting in line to see the movie again. Be sure to check out the video behind the jump, or head on over to the official Watchmen: Justice is Coming site for some more screenshots.
Variety: Kathy Vrabeck to take post at Legendary Pictures
Kathy Vrabeck, a very knowledgeable and experienced video game executive, is reportedly in "final negotiations" to take a job at Legendary Pictures, the geek dream financier behind The Dark Knight, 300 and Watchmen. Variety has been told by several sources that she'll apparently oversee Legendary's video game initiative. The production company is currently working on movies based upon Gears of War and Blizzard's Warcraft. Variety previously reported that Legendary is also looking to purchase Epic Games.The news would be good for both parties, as Vrabeck bounces back from being let go leaving EA and Legendary recovers from that messy Brash Entertainment relationship. If Legendary continues its movie gold streak and is serious about pushing into the video game space, it could evolve into a major player.
WoW movie still needs a writer, Blizzard's CGI team won't be involved
When you've just released an expansion pack that sold more copies than most major stand-alone releases, all in less than 24 hours, you know you're sitting on a goldmine of a franchise. Blizzard, of course, is aware of this, what with World of Warcraft getting a licensed miniature game and a coming feature film adaptation.And speaking of the feature film adaptation, we have some elusive news about that. MTV's Multiplayer blog had a chat with Blizzard's Frank Pearce about the project. The scoop is that the studio, Legendary Pictures, is still looking for a screenwriter and director. Obviously, that means the movie is very early in development.MTV also asked Pearce if Blizzard's own world-renowned CGI animators would be involved in producing the special effects for the movie. Pearce said that the suggestion has "come up in discussions but it's not something we've really considered because it takes so long to generate just the brief amount of footage that we create for the game."
Since the WoW movie probably won't happen anyway, here's why it shouldn't
Above is the sole bit of evidence that the World of Warcraft movie has seen any completed work at all -- one item of concept art. We know very little about the film, and the only news we've gotten recently is that Uwe Boll will not be directing it (admittedly that's very good news). Joystiq blogger Kevin Kelly is perfectly fine with that, as he wrote a blog entry over at Spout about why this movie really oughtn't ever get made at all.Three reasons were provided: Dungeons & Dragons was a disaster, it couldn't earn back its huge budget even if every WoW player in the world went to see it, not even most WoW players know what the story of the game really is. There was a fourth reason, too, but it isn't so much a reason as why it shouldn't be made as why it won't be -- the concept art is all we have after two years.It's true that the movie couldn't make it on WoW players alone; it'd have to be appealing to people unfamiliar with the franchise, too. But we really doubt that's going to happen, and it doesn't matter anyway because, as we said, it probably will never get made![Via WoW Insider]
Why they shouldn't make the Warcraft movie
Our good friend Kevin Kelly (who writes for Joystiq) has apparently turned traitor -- over at the Spout blog, he's written up four reasons why they shouldn't bother making a Warcraft movie at all. His arguments go from shaky to solid -- he first claims that movies made from videogames just don't work anyway, In response, I'd submit to you Doom, and -- oh wait. Never mind. His second reason is that they just wouldn't make enough money, even if every Warcraft player bought a ticket, but I don't know if I'd worry about that: Transformers made money, and that movie was a high-budget pile of junk.His last two points are probably more solid, though -- he says that unlike Lord of the Rings, which the Warcraft movie is often compared to, most people (even players of the games who skip cutscenes) would walk in having no idea what the story was about, which means the story would have to be dumbed down or just be a confusing mess. And finally, we can't really argue with the last point: since that first piece of concept art, we haven't heard a peep out of Legendary or Blizzard about what's happening, so maybe the flick's not getting made anyway.And by the end of the piece, we've got to agree with Kevin: even if a big-budget worldwide movie release didn't get made, we'd much rather have a high-quality DVD of Blizzard's cinematics anyway (or maybe even a feature-length put together by the same department -- they do awesome work). The odds are against a live-action Warcraft movie already, it seems -- maybe it would be a better idea for Blizzard to just release something themselves.
Variety: Legendary Pictures in talks to buy Epic Games
Post-Brash media clash news now, with Variety's Ben Fritz passing on word from "multiple sources close to the companies" that film financier Legendary Pictures is in talks to acquire Gears of War developer Epic Games. There's very little concrete information beyond that, save for the obvious observation that Epic and its widely used Unreal 3 engine would make for a worthwhile, albeit expensive, purchase. Legendary Pictures declined to comment on the story, while Epic Games politely dodged the issue: "We have publicly announced that Epic and Legendary are partnering on the "Gears of War" movie. We're very excited about that project and have the highest regard for Thomas Tull and his organization."According to an earlier Variety report, Legendary Pictures has also had its hand in financing the impending Gears of War film, helmed by Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman and slated for release in 2009. We can't confirm who any of the cast members are yet, as we're still waiting for their face textures to pop in.
Sam Raimi thinks a Warcraft movie has potential
The hottest topic that didn't get discussed at BlizzCon this year was the WoW movie -- last year, we had a whole panel dedicated to how it was going, but this year, all we got was a vague mention that it's still being worked on. Still, the biggest question that hangs in the air is just who might direct it, and we've got our first rumor: Sam Raimi, he of Spiderman and The Evil Dead series. He's not exactly hired yet, but he is quoted by MTV Movies as being interested in the Warcraft story and universe.He's got my greenlight -- I don't know how good a movie it would be (Spiderman 3 is proof that Raimi, quirky as he is, can go off the rails at times), but any movie with Bruce Campbell in it works for me. And you know we'd get at least a cameo if Raimi took the helm. But at the very least, it sounds like Raimi has the right ideas to get a Warcraft movie together: "It has such great, adventurous characters in it," he says, "and such fantastic landscapes and rules."If you're going to start looking for directors, you could definitely do a lot worse. At least we know Uwe Boll will never direct it.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Breakfast Topic: Warcraft movie casting call
So the Wrath cinematic is out. It's gotten mixed reviews, with players like Mike Schramm generally unimpressed and disappointed there aren't any Gnomes, and other players, like myself, really liking it. In fact, I think it's the best World of Warcraft cinematic trailer to date. Whatever anyone thinks, though -- love it or hate it -- the cinematic has stirred thoughts about the World of Warcraft movie. Some people, impressed with the CGI, have even suggested that the movie should be done as a full-length animation a la Advent Children. It's almost unsettling not to have any news on the movie, despite Blizzard's modus operandi of keeping everything under wraps until "it's ready". In fact, the last news we heard was how Blizzard laughed off B-movie hack Uwe Boll. While that's certainly good news, it's been quite some time and we're quickly approaching Legendary Pictures' pegged release date of 2009. While I trust Legendary Pictures (behind Superman Returns, 300 and The Dark Knight), let's take matters into our own hands this morning and cast the movie. Even if it were done as an animation, you'd still need some actors for their voices. WoW player and Blizzard fan Brandon Routh expressed wanting to be in the movie, so why not? He'd make a good... uh... human, I guess. Varian Wrynn, maybe? We'll hear more for sure in the upcoming, sold out BlizzCon, but for now we can play casting directors and imagine who should play who in a Warcraft film. Who would you cast in the Warcraft movie?
Gears of War movie development soldiers on
Variety reports that Legendary Films has ponied up an undisclosed chunk of change to help New Line with the continued development of its Gears of War film adaptation. As the story points out, Legendary – which also helped finance The Dark Knight – isn't known for getting involved with flicks that are in development hell.As we've previously reported, the Gears movie is being helmed by Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman and has the game's designer, Cliff Bleszinski, serving as an executive producer. The film had originally been slated for release in 2009 by New Line before the studio became a part of Warner Bros. Its parent company hasn't offered an updated release timeframe since, but the partnership with Legendary suggests that it remains serious about getting Microsoft's second best selling franchise onto the silver screen.
Gears of War movie gets more financing
Variety reports that Legendary Pictures has signed on to co-finance and co-produce the upcoming Gears of War film adaptation. This comes in the wake of Legendary financing another film based on a little game called World of Warcraft. Legendary also recently had its hand in The Dark Knight, which is currently tearing up the box office. Epic guru Mark Rein said of the deal, "Legendary's appetite for the synthesis of gaming, film and pop culture meshes perfectly with our own." Well, that's good. We all like it when appetites for synthesis mesh.
Thomas Tull on the World of Warcraft Movie
At his keynote address for the Hollywood & Games conference, Thomas Tull, Legendary Pictures chairman, talked briefly about Legendary's work with Blizzard on the upcoming World of Warcraft movie. Of course he doesn't give us anything concrete, but some of the things he's saying gives me a good feeling about the film's prospects. For example:I have very strong feelings -- from the movie side -- that making movies based on games just because they sold well is a really bad idea. There've been some like that that weren't up to snuff just out of the gate. It doesn't matter to us if it's based on a graphic novel like 300, or a TV show – if there's a great universe and story, that's what's interesting to us.A well-done movie based on the lore of World of Warcraft could be a cool thing -- and it certainly sounds like that's what the people at Legendary want to do. [Fan art by Ya Lee, and thanks Simon for the tip!]
Diablo movie in the works? [Updated]
No, this isn't the latest World of Warcraft news, but since I think many of you are as much Blizzard fanboys/girls as I am, this tidbit may be of interest. Rumors are starting to circulate about an upcoming Diablo film in partnership with Legendary Pictures (yep, the same folks we know are working on the World of Warcraft film -- though, no, we don't have any recent updates on that project). How did this rumor get started, you ask? Well, if you check Legendary's home page, you'll see a project called "Diablo" listed under their in development section (in the "Films" section on the lower left, you have to scroll down a bit to see it). And how do we know this is Blizzard's Diablo and not something else? Blizzard holds the trademark to the name "Diablo" for films and games, and they've taken steps to protect the trademark in the past -- the Vin Diesel movie A Man Apart was originally to be called El Diablo. However, Blizzard sued, claiming they trademarked the title and intended to make a movie based on their game, and the title was changed. And since Blizzard has already partnered with Legendary to bring World of Warcraft to the big screen, this seems plausible, though I imagine Blizzard is going to be saving any big announcements like this for BlizzCon.[Via BlizzPlanet]Update: Legendary has removed "Diablo" from their in development section. A mistake, perhaps?
Blizzard's Paul Sams on the Wow Movie
Everyone has been buzzing about the announcement last week of a live-action Warcraft film, and now Gamespot has an interview with Blizzard exec Paul Sams, where he discusses some of the goals in bringing WoW to the big screen." We're not trying to take what we've done and...try to make a literal translation to the big screen. What we want to do is to make a great movie that happens to be set in a video game universe. That's a differentiator, and a key differentiator."It sounds to me like they have the right attitude about the project, as no direct adaptation, if one is even possible, is going to please everyone. The best idea is for them to craft a solid, compelling story that happens to be set in the gameworld we all know & love, and just try to make a good film first & foremost. From this interview, it seems that's exactly what they're trying to do, so lets just hope the suits don't stick too many fingers in the pie between script & screen...
