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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.
Warcraft movie to begin filming in January 2014
We heard earlier this year that the Warcraft movie would finally start filming in 2014, but the recent fall-out between Legendary Pictures and distributor Warner Bros. left the fate of the Warcraft feature film in some doubt. Though we're still not certain who will be distributing the Warcraft movie, rumors are that the Duncan Jones-helmed production is moving ahead with filming starting on January 13th. The film itself is still mostly question marks for fans -- though a teaser trailer was shown at Comic-Con, we don't know what characters the movie will contain or what story-line it might tackle. But with filming set to begin in just a few short months, we're hopeful that we'll be getting more details soon -- a BlizzCon announcement seems like a safe bet.
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.
First Warcraft teaser trailer debuted at San Diego Comic Con
Multiple sites are reporting that a teaser trailer for the World of Warcraft movie - simply titled Warcraft, was shown earlier today at San Diego Comic Con. The panel, featuring Warner Bros. and Legendary films, showed trailers for the upcoming Seventh Son and Godzilla before whipping out the surprise teaser for the Warcraft film and announcing that filming begins in 2014. No footage of the teaser seems to be available online yet, but news sites described the trailer as a lone knight standing in an alien, desert world with a glowing green sky. After looting a discarded suit of armor, the knight is besieged by creatures coming over the hills. As an orc approaches, swinging his sword down, the trailer then cut to the logo. Although the trailer isn't currently available online, we may see it pop up at some point soon. Director Duncan Jones made a brief appearance to mention that the trailer is a "mood piece," and that official shooting will begin early next year. While some players may have been doubtful about the eventual existence of the Warcraft film, its eventual existence is growing more certain by the day -- and the teaser definitely has everyone talking. We'll update if the teaser itself shows up online, until then you can read more about it from Superherohype.
Warcraft movie will buck the bad game movie trend, according to Legendary Pictures
No, we don't have a release date or casting information yet, but during a recent press tour for Pacific Rim, Legendary Pictures founder and CEO Thomas Tull answered a few questions about the Warcraft movie to be. Will this be the video game movie that bucks the trend of bad video game movies? Tull thinks they can: by ignoring the video game aspect. "We don't know how to make a movie out of Warcraft, the video game," Tull explained to reporters. "It's the incredible story, and the war, and these races, and everything these guys at Blizzard have come up with. They have 100 books, and just this incredibly rich world that they've created." And fortunately, this is a sentiment director Duncan Jones seems to share. Before he was tapped to direct, he commented on the Warcraft film in a 2011 interview saying, "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." Of Jones, Tull explains, "This guy gets it." So we may still not know the details, but we're holding on to hope for a great Warcraft film on the horizon.
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.
Warcraft movie to be helmed by Source Code director Duncan Jones
The film adaptation of Blizzard's Warcraft universe, simply titled Warcraft, is moving ahead with director Duncan Jones, The Hollywood Reporter says. Jones, whose previous work includes Moon and Source Code, is an award-winning English director and the son of music icon David Bowie. Joystiq has also obtained separate confirmation that Jones is indeed signed to direct Warcraft.Legendary Pictures tapped scriptwriter Charles Leavitt back in August and has chosen to stick with his adaptation. Previously, Sam Raimi was up to direct but chose to opt out instead for another film, Oz: The Great and Powerful. The plan is to start filming Warcraft this fall, with a theatrical release in 2015.
Mass Effect film script in the hands of 'Rescue Me' assistant editor
Yes, not only is the Mass Effect movie still in the works, but its pre-production phase has actually progressed to Standard Hollywood Adaptation Step 43, Subsection A, where a new writer is attached to the project without any mention of the original talent.In this case, the movie is now being written by Morgan Davis Foehl, whose tenure in the motion picture industry is that of an assistant editor for Adam Sandler vehicles such as Click and I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, as well as the TV drama Rescue Me.The original writer attached to the project, Mark Protosevich, had already done some work on the script, according to Variety. Protosevich's history includes the screenplays for I Am Legend and Poseidon, in addition to writer and story credits on The Cell and Thor, respectively. Whether Foehl's job is to rewrite the existing script or begin anew is uncertain.This is a movie adaptation of a gaming franchise, however, so this is not likely to be last round of musical chairs the production staff will play. After all, the project hasn't even named a director yet, let alone lost one and replaced it several times – as outlined in the Standard Hollywood Adaptation Guidebook.
Sam Raimi off World of Warcraft film in light of Oz: The Great and Powerful
Camp director extraordinaire Sam Raimi is no longer in charge of the World of Warcraft film, he tells Crave Online. "They don't have me directing World of Warcraft anymore," he told the site. "Because when I took the Oz job, they had to move on to another director. They had to start making it."Given that Oz: The Great and Powerful is due out next March, it stands to reason that Raimi's been off the WoW film for some time – and that the film may actually be in production. Blizzard has yet to comment publicly on the news, or to say who is replacing Raimi, but we've reached out for more info.News arose that Raimi was out as early as October 2010, when Deadline reported that Raimi was out (due to his Oz gig) and the WoW film was on hold. It appears that the information was accurate, though it's still unclear whether or not the WoW film has begun production.
Legendary Pictures hosting Mass Effect movie panel at Comic-Con
Looks like the reports were true: Legendary Pictures has announced the contents of its very first San Diego Comic-Con panel, a list of films that notably includes the silver screen adaptation of BioWare's interstellar RPG, Mass Effect. According to the event's description, the panel will feature "Game creator, Casey Hudson and screenwriter adapting the game to film, Mark Protosevich," writer of I Am Legend and, more recently, Thor. We have so many questions we'd like to see answered at this panel. For instance, will they hire an actor who resembles our very own, Elephant Man-esque version of the game's protagonist, Accident Shepard? More importantly, is the film going to be, like, really terrible? Is Shepard going to have his very own wisecrackin' Hanar sidekick? Let us know, so we can start getting in a place where that kind of disappointment won't outright kill us.
Report: World of Warcraft movie on ice, as Raimi commits to Disney's 'Oz' prequel
There comes a time in all great directors' careers when they must choose between not another sequel, a video game adaptation and the almost-always-panned (but-oh-so-high-grossing) remake/reboot. Sam Raimi has apparently gone with Plan D, as in Disney's Wizard of Oz 3D prequel, reports Deadline.com. In making his choice, Raimi seemingly puts off directing the World of Warcraft movie, to which he's been officially attached since last summer (he abandoned "Spider-Man 4" long ago). While Legendary Pictures, which owns the WoW movie rights, has yet to reveal its next move, we have to imagine the studio is now in hot pursuit of David Fincher. After all, the director has been heavily applauded for his adaptation of the "Facebook story" and would seem a likely candidate to depict the dramatic significance of a billion-dollar fantasy sustained by socialized grinding. Wait -- you mean it's supposed to be a live-action Warcraft universe movie? Like with orcs and elves and things? Yeah, we'd totally pick Oz, too.
Sam Raimi discusses Warcraft movie
Sam Raimi revealed quite a bit of information about his work on the Warcraft movie in a recent video interview with Collider.com at the Saturn Awards. Many promising things were said during the interview, but some points of interest include: Raimi and scriptwriter Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan, The Patriot) are working on a treatment for the film. So far they've written a 40-page document. Raimi is playing WoW to get a feel for the game world. He has a level 72 character. Legendary Pictures (Batman Begins, Inception) is excited about the project and Legendary Pictures founder and producer, Thomas Tull is a big fan of the game. The movie will be set entirely in the Warcraft universe. No video game component will exist in the film. (Thank Elune.) Raimi also addressed where he is at with the Oz prequel, a project he signed onto last week. Raimi is now currently signed on to direct both films, and though he does not provide any confirmation on which film he will direct first, in the interview he seems much more invested in the Warcraft film at the moment. He says in the interview, "well, right now, I'm not really committed to Oz. We're going to have to wait and see how that all goes, but I did read it. I love the script. I think it's a great project. It's something I'd like to become involved with." For the highlights from the interview, hit the jump.
Report: Mass Effect movie rights obtained by Legendary Pictures
We're wary of video game-derived movies, which is a pretty fair stance for a genre that has Mortal Kombat sitting unchallenged atop its pinnacle, but the effort to bring Mass Effect to the big screen sounds legitimate enough to pique our interest. THR reports that the film rights have been picked up by Legendary Pictures (the studio behind 300, The Watchmen, The Dark Knight and the still-in-development Gears of War). BioWare's Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Casey Hudson will reportedly be brought on as executive producers. Mark Protosevich, the writer behind I Am Legend and the upcoming Thor, is in talks to pen the adaptation. The question, of course, is who will play the game's lead, Justin Shepard, the brave space adventurer that bears a striking resemblance to a slightly handsomer, moderately more chiseled version of Joystiq's Justin McElroy. The author of this post thinks the choice is clear. [Via Slashfilm]
Warcraft movie update: Metzen says "still getting it together"
It's been months since we've heard a peep on the Hollywood news lines about the Warcraft film or director Sam Raimi. When Spider-man 4 was canceled in January, there was speculation that Raimi might be headed to the Warcraft film next. A month later, we reported a rumor that Raimi's next project might not be Warcraft, but a film adaptation of The Shadow. Seeing as Sony let the rights to the film lapse in March, it doesn't sound like The Shadow is in any state of serious development; but it does raise the question of what exactly is Raimi up to right now? While we still have no exact answer to that, Chris Metzen gave us a small update on the film in an interview over at vg247 published yesterday. When asked if a considerable amount of time was being spent on the movie, Metzen replied, "I wouldn't say "considerable" at all just yet. We've been through a number of story meetings, and we're still kind of getting it together with Raimi and his team and jamming on themes that we want to chase." Sadly, the interview didn't reveal many specifics, but Metzen responded favorably when asked if he was concerned about dissappointing Warcraft fans: "Nobody wants to screw it up: we all want to hit it hard and have it be something that is as resonant and canonical as it can be. But given what Warcraft is, with all these moving parts, we're going to have to take some liberties here and there. I'm under no illusions about that fact ... " It's hard to draw any new or concrete conclusions from the interview, but it's good to see that the movie is still being talked about. WoW.com will keep you updated as we learn more.
Raimi tackling another movie before Warcraft
You remember the Warcraft movie, right? A couple weeks ago, we learned that Spiderman 4 had melted down, and director Sam Raimi, and the entire cast, are being swapped out while the Marvel Empire reboots the franchise. The link here is that Mr. Raimi is also the one who's directing the Warcraft film for Legendary Pictures. The Spiderman fiasco drew rumors that Warcraft was coming that much sooner, since Raimi was now free to work on it. However, news appeared yesterday that his next project is The Shadow, so it looks like we're going to have to be patient a little longer. But hey, we're Blizzard fans, right? We can be patient. And honestly, I'm still not convinced that a live-action Warcraft movie is a good idea. I mean, I like a lot of Raimi's work, and Legendary Pictures has made some great films, but... I dunno. We'll see.
What we know about the Warcraft movie
Last week, we reported that the Warcraft movie may be on its way. Previously there had been speculation that the film's development would be pushed back, since director Sam Raimi was tied up by problems with Spider-Man 4. Raimi then unexpectedly walked away from Spider-Man 4, citing creative reasons, and it suddenly looked hopeful that he might soon be turning his attention to the Warcraft film. So now, in preparation for more news on the film, we will be bringing you up to date on what we currently know about the Warcraft movie.
Spider-Man 4 canceled; Warcraft movie soon?
Sam Raimi will no longer be directing Spider-Man 4, and neither will anyone else for that matter. Sony Pictures announced today that they are canning the current Spider-Man franchise and will be rebooting it in the summer of 2012 with an entirely new director, cast, and crew. Raimi's decision to withdraw from the project supposedly stems from the summer 2011 release date, and how it would compromise the creative integrity of the film. This all comes after news that complications in the Spider-Man 4 script threatened to delay the film. For Blizzard fans, this could mean that Raimi is now free to shift his focus to the World of Warcraft movie. However, Mike Fleming of Deadline Hollywood cites an alternative project option to the Azerothian epic, The Given Day, a novel written by Dennis Lehane, author of Shutter Island and Mystic River. No official announcements from Raimi or Blizzard yet, however Fleming is a very reliable source for rumors in Hollywood. [Thanks to everyone for the tips!]
Spider-Man 4 delayed, possibly impacting Warcraft movie
The latest buzz out of Hollywood is that the fourth installment of the Spider-Man movie franchise has hit a snag. Director Sam Raimi is apparently in the midst of some major creative differences with Sony Pictures executives over the script and the villain lineup. A little bit of drama in Hollywood is nothing new, of course, but in this case its become bad enough to delay the movie, with the May 6th, 2011 release date now in serious doubt.
Robert Rodat to write the Warcraft screenplay
Sam Raimi spoke with MTV News about his upcoming Warcraft movie, and while he didn't confirm (or deny, we guess) the whole subtitle thing, he did mention a new writer. Robert Rodat is apparently putting a screenplay together -- he's best known for writing Saving Private Ryan (and of course if we can get a Warcraft movie as good as that Spielbergian epic, we'll all be happy), and he's also penned Fly Away Home and The Patriot. Most recently, says his Wikipedia page, he did some work on 10,000 B.C., though if you saw that movie, you probably wouldn't be able to tell, anyway -- it was terrible.Raimi says he wants to stay faithful "to the Horde and the Alliance and the mythology that takes place in the game," as well as "choose one or some of the lands that are portrayed in the game with as much accuracy and authenticity as possible." He calls Rodat a great character writer, and says a great character-based story within the world of Azeroth is his goal. Sounds good. The picture above is the only art we've ever seen of the movie (it was presented at BlizzCon a few years ago), but since then, it sounds like the movie has changed quite a bit, so we'll have to wait and see what Rodat and Raimi are coming up with.
Who plays what in the WoW movie?
Back-channel discussion here at WoW.com central has, while not occupied with the question, "What happened to those socks I was going to pack for BlizzCon?", concerned itself with who we'd like to see in the WoW movie. Our Twitterers got in on the act and started sending in a number of suggestions for actors and actresses they'd like in certain roles. Bruce Campbell -- well, he's a given, but there doesn't seem to be any agreement on what he should be playing. Ditto such popular picks as Summer Glau and Judi Dench, although Alexstrasza was often floated as a character for the latter. The Alexstrasza talk got me to thinking about having seen Mission Impossible on an idle evening recently. While it's your basic (though slick) action flick, the standout character was Vanessa Redgrave's Max-the-arms-dealer. Not only was her entrance thoroughly unexpected, but she was cool, controlled, overflowing with sardonic amusement, and unaffected by the thought of having someone killed. While I would love to see her fight Judi Dench's M from the Bond movies, that won't happen, but now I've wondering who would make a better dragon (black, not red). Of course, all of this is entirely academic because we have no idea what the movie is even going to be about, but I am entirely certain that Vanessa Redgrave is a dragon (although possibly this is not news). We've talked a lot about a possible plot and the music for the film, but if you got the opportunity to cast it, who would you put in which role?
