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Filming wraps on the WoW movie
Director Duncan Jones says that's a wrap on his World of Warcraft film adaptation. "Final day on Warcraft now officially... wrapped," he tweeted. "Off to bed for three hours before a meeting in the AM. Good night/ good morning Twitter!" The movie is expected in March of 2016. Its cast includes Vikings' Travis Fimmel and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol's Paula Patton.
WoW movie release date moved to March 2016
The World of Warcraft movie has been delayed until 2016 according to a Blizzard tweet and a press release from Legendary Pictures. WoW Insider first reported on the tweet, which mentions the film's release day moving from December 18, 2015 to March 11, 2016. Filming is scheduled to start in January, 2014, with Moon and Source Code auteur Duncan Jones in the director's chair.
World of Warcraft film names lead actor
He's rugged, he's beardy, and now he's going to Azeroth to be a major motion picture star. Legendary Pictures has chosen actor Travis Fimmel to be a lead in its upcoming World of Warcraft movie. Fimmel is currently starring in History Channel's Vikings, where he plays rugged, beardy Ragnar. Variety says that he will fill one of four main roles in Warcraft, although his character is currently unknown. Colin Farrel and Paula Patton are also heavily rumored to take part in the film. Warcraft will be directed by Duncan Jones and written by Charles Leavitt. Production is slated to begin early next year.
The Daily Grind: What MMO would you like to see made into a movie?
So, that WoW movie has an official release date. It also has a skillful director, which is both good and bad. It's good because Duncan Jones may actually make a watchable film from video game source material. It's bad because I would've gotten a laugh out of Uwe Boll or one of his contemporaries soiling Blizzard's brand on the big screen. At any rate, assuming the WoW flick is financially successful, it could possibly pave the way for further MMO-to-film adaptations. Is there a particular massively multiplayer property you'd like to see made into a movie? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Video: A short history of the WoW movie
In light of the recent news about the WoW movie, WoW Insider thought we'd prepare a short recap of its history. We begin way, way back in 2006, when it was first announced that Blizzard and Legendary Pictures had agreed to collaborate on a live-action representation of the Warcraft universe. Since then, the movie has gone through several changes, in a six-year on-again-off-again saga. This is explored in more depth in the video above, but I'll summarize some of the key dates here: 2006: Warcraft movie announced, Legendary and Blizzard collaborate 2009: Writer Gary Whitta leaves, Sam Raimi is announced as Director with Chris Metzen. 2009: Robert Rodat is announced as screenwriter 2010: Announcement at BlizzCon that the script is "pretty much laid down" 2012: In July Sam Raimi left the team 2012: In August, Variety announced that Charles Leavitt was the new writer 2013: In January, Duncan Jones is announced as the new Director 2013: April sees the announcement that VFX will be handled by Bill Westenhofer 2013: Slashfilm asserts that the film will release in 2015, filming starting in January 2014. We'd love to hear your thoughts on all this, as I mention in the video, the script has obviously been a major stumbling block. What are you hoping to see? When are you hoping to see it? And will it be better than all the other video game movies?
World of Warcraft film set to shoot in 2014
Rumors have swirled around the oft-delayed and reportedly troubled World of Warcraft movie for years, but Legendary Pictures finally appears to be ready to move forward with production. Producer Charles Roven confirmed to SlashFilm that World of Warcraft: The Movie 3D IMAX Experience (suggested title) begins shooting in early 2014. Says Roven, "First quarter 2014 we're going to shoot that movie." Duncan Jones, director of Moon and Source Code, is taking the helm. Legendary still hasn't announced a release date or any plot details, but we can assume that the release date is Soon™ and the plot will revolve around humans, orcs, and a whole lot of sparkleponies.
Duncan Jones to helm live-action WoW film
OK, maybe the long-in-development World of Warcraft film isn't the worst idea ever since the project just picked up Duncan Jones as its director. If that's an unfamiliar name, consider that Jones is the indie maestro behind thoughtful sci-fi fare like Moon and Source Code. As Topless Robot notes, the fact that Jones' prior protagonists tended to die and respawn over and over again may make him uniquely qualified to helm a picture based on an MMORPG. The WoW movie, which is being produced by Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros., was at one time rumored to feature Spider-man and Evil Dead auteur Sam Raimi in the director's chair. Jones, who is also the son of rock icon David Bowie, is now charged with the task of translating one of the world's most successful games to the big screen. This isn't the first time that Jones' name has been floated in connection with the WoW movie, either. Early in 2011, the director was quoted as saying that the production "could be the launch of computer games as good films."
What's your dream cast for the Warcraft movie?
A few weeks ago, Hollywood headlines were filled with talk that director Sam Raimi is trying to secure Hilary Swank for his next film, Oz: The Great and Powerful. Now, I know that's not especially interesting to the Warcraft community, but it got me thinking about the Warcraft film again, since Raimi will eventually be directing it. Who will Raimi try to cast in the Warcraft movie? Then around the same time, the WoW Insider team got word on the further developments of Michele Morrow's campaign to land the role of Sylvanas Windrunner. This sparked the idea that someone on staff should put together a dream cast for the future Warcraft movie. As the token film school dropout, I jumped on the assignment and promptly put together the most expensive movie cast list ever. Be sure to let us know what your picks for the Warcraft film would be! %Gallery-122920%
Duncan Jones has high expectations for Warcraft film
Video game adaptations generally make for pretty bad cinema. Whether its Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, or Tomb Raider, films that originate on a PC or gaming console aren't normally mentioned in the same breath as Citizen Kane or The Godfather. Duncan Jones, director of 2009's indie smash Moon (and the forthcoming Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle Source Code), says that perception could change with Sam Raimi's World of Warcraft adaptation. "I really believe World of Warcraft could be the launch of computer games as good films. And from the little I've read of interviews with him the way he's approaching it makes so much sense," Jones told Badass Digest over the holidays. So why have so many video game adaptations failed to capture audience hearts and minds? Jones posits that it may be due to the fact that few filmmakers understand games or gamers. "I'm very cynical of the number of directors who say they're actual gamers [...] I'm a real gamer and I think there are less real gamers involved in directing only because you have to spend so much time making films that there's no time to be a hardcore gamer," he said.
Director predicts Warcraft film will break video game movie trend
Last week, Badass News posted an article detailing an interview with director Duncan Jones in which the Warcraft movie was one of the main topics of discussion. Jones is the son of David Bowie and director of the impressive science fiction flick Moon, as well as Source Code, another sci-fi title being released later this year. Though the interview reveals nothing about the production of the Warcraft movie, Jones thinks that the film is going to break the ongoing trend of terrible film adaptations of video games. In the article, Jones says he believes it's possible to make a good adaptation -- it just has to be approached properly. "A good game adaptation is where you find the story or the emotional aspect that's at the heart of a computer game and you replicate that on film. It doesn't mean you need to have first person perspective or try and capture the mechanics of a game," he says. Jones thinks the Warcraft film will be the film to break the mold because director Sam Raimi seems to be approaching the film correctly. "From the little I've read of interviews with him, the way he's approaching it makes so much sense. It's what I was talking about – it's not worrying about how the game plays, it's about creating the world of the game and investing the audience in that world." Jones explains that he's a serious gamer himself and is skeptical about other directors who claim the same. He doesn't think most directors have the time to be both hardcore gamers and filmmakers. Jones, on the other hand, says he stays up all night to accommodate his gaming habit and cites titles like Starcraft 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops. He also says he's looking forward to Diablo 3. Jones admits that he's "hugely jealous" of Raimi's getting the chance to direct the Warcraft film; the writer of the article goes so far as to suggest that Jones have a chance at directing it, since Raimi set it aside to work on The Great and Mighty Oz. That's not really quite how Hollywood works, though, so unless Raimi steps down from the project himself, I wouldn't count on his losing the project just yet.
15 Minutes of Fame: Film follows fantasy of fighting Onyxia
Work Warning: Brief profanity in the video. From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. Just as Azeroth prepares to explode in all its cataclysmic glory, films on gaming seem to be exploding onto the scene. There's the documentary from LFG Productions (many of you may have seen them filming at BlizzCon and our reader meetup last month) that will be following leading raiding guild <Blood Legion> in a full-court press into Cataclysm. There's The Raid, another take on raiding life that we also saw at BlizzCon, and the "zanier" take on gaming culture of Gamers. In contrast to all those documentaries comes the short narrative film /afk. This live-action film, featuring extensive in-game footage produced by a whole host of well known machinimators -- Gigi, Teagen the Rogue, Baron Soosdon, the list goes on -- tells the tale of a WoW gamer whose psychiatrist informs him that he is gaming-addicted and should delete his character. Game over? Not quite. "The problem is that he always had this dream to solo Onyxia," explains creator Benjamin Dressler, "and he doesn't intend to leave without reaching that goal." /afk debuts on YouTube later this week with a unique, in-game event that literally "unlocks" the premiere. On Nov. 19, Aventhor, the night elf character from the movie, will appear on Alleria (EU-A) at 7 p.m. GMT and Drenden (US-A) at 5 p.m. CST. Find him and unlock "/afk"! Players must find Aventhor on each server and perform his quests to unlock the movie on YouTube. For more details on the premiere event, see the video at the end of the article -- and join us after the break for a peek behind the scenes with creator Benjamin Dressler.
