world-of-warcraft-movie
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The DOFUS movie aims to release in 2016
World of Warcraft isn't the only online game that's working on a movie adaptation. DOFUS has an animated feature that will be coming out in French theaters on February 3rd, 2016. The feature is called DOFUS -- Book I: Julith and will be fully animated. The project has cleared the pre-production phase and is going forward to meet the 2016 release date. The studio released a screenshot (above) from the film, illustrating its art style. Ankama said that it doesn't know when or whether the film would be made available outside of France: "At this time, we can't announce any plans for the international communities, but if that changes, we will inform you as quickly as possible."
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.
Casting for Warcraft movie continues
Two weeks ago, we heard about the first actors selected to be in the upcoming movie based on the Warcraft universe. Now we learn about two more who will be joining the cast of the movie set to release March 11th, 2016. Universal Pictures has announced that Clancy Brown and Daniel Wu will be in the production. Besides acting in movies like Homefront, Highlander, and Shawshank Redemption and television series like Sleepy Hollow, Brown has done a great deal of voice-over work, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Wu is best known for his roles in Chinese-language films as an actor as well as a director and a producer.
First cast members for World of Warcraft movie revealed
If you were secretly hoping your leet World of Warcraft skills would land you a leading role in the upcoming live-action movie adaptation, we hate to burst your bubble but the first cast members have been revealed. Universal Pictures has announced that Ben Foster, Paula Patton, Rob Kazinsky, Travis Fimme, and Toby Kebbell have all be signed on to the project. Another cast member, Dominic Cooper, was named, but remains in negotiation. Each of the stars have various television and film credits to their name. The Azeroth-based movie is set to release in 2016 after being delayed from December 2015.
World of Warcraft movie slips to March 2016
The already long-in-development World of Warcraft film has been delayed. "Release date for WARCRAFT from @Legendary Pictures released by @UniversalPics is moving from December 18, 2015, to March 11, 2016," reads a tweet from the official World of Warcraft Twitter account. No reason is given for the change, and on contacting representatives from World of Warcraft creator Blizzard Entertainment, we were told to ask the film's producers at Legendary. They, of course, were off celebrating the holidays. This latest delay will prolong the film's production cycle yet again, though that should come as little surprise to any who have been following the project. It's been at least seven years since the film adaptation was revealed to the public and nearly five years since a director was attached to the movie. Whether this glacial production pace negatively impacts the final film remains to be seen - assuming any of us are still alive when the movie finally debuts.
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.
Warcraft movie slated for discussion at BlizzCon
The upcoming Warcraft movie will get its own one-hour panel at BlizzCon 2013. The panel will feature director Duncan Jones as well as Chris Metzen and Rob Pardo on hand to discuss the transition of Warcraft from game to screen. Taking place from 1-2pm Saturday on the Main Stage, the one-hour presentation may just clear up some burning questions players have had about the film -- like what exactly the film is going to be about, among many, many other things. The movie itself was first announced as a possibility all the way back in 2006, and the last time we had a panel at BlizzCon dedicated to the film was a Q&A panel back in 2007. Since then, discussion about the movie had mostly dwindled out, leaving many to wonder if we'd ever see Warcraft on the big screen at all. 2013 marked an absolute flurry of new information on the film, as Duncan Jones was announced as the new director, filming was rumored and later confirmed to begin in 2014, a mood piece teaser was shown at San Diego ComicCon, story and casting rumors flew, and we were at last given an actual release date for the film: December 18, 2015. So what can we expect from this year's movie panel? That's a very good question. No doubt discussion of the evolution of the film may take place, although whether or not any questions will be taken at the panel hasn't really been made clear. But that small teaser piece from ComicCon hasn't aired anywhere since it was shown in San Diego. Will we get to see the teaser? Will we get a different teaser? Will casting be announced for the film? If you're headed to BlizzCon or you've signed up for a Virtual Ticket, you won't want to miss this panel -- and for those not attending, we'll be covering it here as well.
Warcraft movie release date announced
Players lucky enough to attend the San Diego Comic-con this year saw a concept trailer. Filming dates have been announced, and rumors have run rampant about who will star. Today, however, takes the cake -- the official Warcraft Twitter has just announced the release date for the Warcraft film. We're pleased to announce that @Legendary Pictures' WARCRAFT will be released by @UniversalPics on December 18, 2015. - World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) October 1, 2013 Considering how little we actually know about the subject of the film, the script, or the actual identity of the actors cast in the film -- much less if the film has actually wrapped up casting -- the announcement of a release date comes as a bit of a surprise. But when one thinks of just how long most players have been waiting for the release of a Warcraft film, having a firm date to look forward to is an absolute blessing. We've waited for years, and now we've got a date to mark on our calendars. Will you be in theaters December 18, 2015?
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 to finally start filming in early 2014
It's been a long time coming, but the Warcraft movie may finally be filming in the first quarter of 2014. Producer Charles Roven told Slashfilm of the 2014 date, so there's a good chance we'll see Warcraft on the big screen by 2015 -- the release date that was floating around when Duncan Jones was announced as the movie's director early this year. As to the details of story or casting, no one knows anything for sure -- but with filming starting in 2014, we're bound to find out more details soon. Thanks to readers Craig and Timothy for the tip!
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.
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.
Rumor: Sam Raimi's next project is the Warcraft movie
According to Ain't It Cool News, Sam Raimi's next project will be the Warcraft movie. This follows on yesterday's announcement that Spider-Man 4 is canceled, and that Raimi is done with the Spider-Man franchise. The Spider-Man movie series is going to undergo a reboot (yes, already) with entirely new cast and crew, which means Raimi is free to work on other projects. If AICN's sources are correct and Raimi is going to be working on the Warcraft movie next, this is great news for the movie. While it is probably still a few years away from release, the fact that he's focusing on it now is a good indication the project is moving forward in the right direction. AICN points out that with the success of Avatar the time is ripe for creating immersive virtual worlds, and you'd be hard pressed to find a more immersive world than Warcraft. Although lets all hope that the Warcraft movie doesn't become a cheap rip off of Avatar -- but with Raimi at the helm it's likely in safe hands.
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.
Saving Private Ryan's Rodat writing WoW movie
The good news about the Sam Raimi-directed World of WarCraft movie is that the game's built-in audience, by nature, has something else to do while it waits for details about the eventual film. The better news: those details are actually emerging.MTV Movies Blog reports that the massively multiviewer onscreen RPG now has a writer: Robert Rodat, best known for writing the script for Saving Private Ryan. Hey, this movie might turn out okay! Of course, he also worked on the script for 10,000 BC. So this movie could be somewhere between Saving Private Ryan and 10,000 BC.As for new details about the plot: Raimi didn't really bring up any when talking to MTV. But he did describe the ideal approach: to capture "the Horde and the Alliance and the mythology that takes place in the game, and the archetypes that the game presents. I think we would try and find touchstones within the game to make it accurate and true and choose one or some of the lands that are portrayed in the game with as much accuracy and authenticity as possible."[Via WoW.com]
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?
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.
Bruce Campbell and Metzen on the movie at Comic-Con
I have geeked out many times while writing for this site, but I think this is the geekiest geekout I've ever geeked out about: Bruce Campbell talking about World of Warcraft. He's hanging out at Comic-Con promoting Burn Notice (a series that I'm still watching, if only because of him), and IGN cornered him on the topic of his friend Sam Raimi's new movie, based on our very own Azeroth. Campbell says he has no idea what Raimi has in mind for the movie, and that he only just heard about the job when we did. But then he says something that will lift all of our geeky hearts: when it comes time for casting, Bruce says, "I'll get a call." And Raimi will say to him, "You play some schmuck. Some idiot guy. Some garbage man."We can't think of too many garbagemen in Azeroth -- Topper Mcnabb, maybe? But the fact that Campbell knows about the movie and is ready to take a role is good enough for us. And he isn't the only person speculating on the part he might play: Chris Metzen brought up Campbell at Comic-Con and suggested he might play a CG-based character, like a goblin. That doesn't sound so awesome to us, though -- you've gotta let that world-famous mug shine through. It does seem a little unlikely that Campbell would play a really huge part, but a lot of people have brought up Varian Wrynn, and we can't really think of any part more fitting (plus, maybe that means the movie will focus on Horde instead of Alliance). Hail to the King, baby!Keep an eye over on our sister site Massively for more Comic-Con coverage all this weekend, and if we hear any more about the movie, we'll be sure to let you know.[via BlizzPlanet]
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.
