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Arya Stark has met with The Last of Us movie producers
Maisie Williams - or as fans of HBO show Game of Thrones might know her, Arya Stark - has met with Neil Druckmann (of Naughty Dog) and Sam Raimi (of Sam Raimi) regarding the in-development film adaptation of The Last of Us, /Film reports. The 17-year-old actress was not in attendance for the Comic-Con panel where she was mentioned, but thankfully there was more to share, including the teaser poster you see above. Raimi, who is set to produce the film, said he's confident in Druckmann's vision and script. It was also revealed that Druckmann was originally planning to write opening and ending scenes that differed from the game, but Raimi convinced him to stick closer to the source material. "I started this process thinking I'd have to protect the story from producers," Raimi said to Druckmann. "And then I had to protect it from you." The film is still quite a ways off, but things seem to be moving at a good pace, with crew and potential cast all sounding confident and excited. [Image: Naughty Dog/Ghost House Pictures]
The Last of Us film moving ahead with Naughty Dog writing
Naughty Dog's stellar PlayStation 3 exclusive, The Last of Us, may soon appear in theaters, thanks to an agreement between the developer, Sony and Resident Evil: Afterlife production company Screen Gems. According to Deadline, the film adaptation will be written by Neil Druckmann who served as creative director on The Last of Us. Druckmann will also join Naughty Dog co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra as well as game director Bruce Straley in designing the film's overall creative vision. Ghost House Productions, a company led by Evil Dead auteur Sam Raimi, will assist with general production duties. "Screen Gems' Brian Dukes and Eric Ling brought this game to my attention insisting we go after it, and when I saw the quality of the storytelling, I knew the audience for this project was far greater than just the gaming community and that Neil Druckmann must write the screenplay," stated Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper. Missing from Deadline's report is any info on who might star in or direct the movie. This means you readers get to fill the comments below with speculative casting choices - well, except for Ellie. That one's a no-brainer. [Image: Sony]
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.
Sam Raimi explains why he's not directing the Warcraft movie [UPDATED]
It's been an awfully long time since we've heard much about Blizzard's Warcraft movie -- long enough that we wondered if the project had faded into legend, much like the Dance Studio. Sam Raimi was announced as director way back in 2009 and spoke enthusiastically about the project as recently as 2010. And since then? A heck of a lot of silence, right up until the beginning of this year when Blizzard announced that Duncan Jones would be directing the film instead. So what happened? Well, while doing press for his new movie Oz the Great and Powerful, Raimi explained: Blizzard had reservations about the story he and writer Robert Rodat had pitched them. Ramai and Rodat spent nine months working on a script before realizing Blizzard had veto power, and, in the end, things fell apart. It doesn't surprise us at all that Blizzard would insist on having full creative control, but it does surprise us that some kind of miscommunication might have killed Raimi's version of the film. Of course, this is just Raimi's perspective, but except for a single tweet from Rob Pardo, Blizzard is keeping mum on the deal. I don't want to create controversy, but there are two sides to every story...vulture.com/2013/03/sam-ra... - Rob Pardo (@Rob_Pardo) March 6, 2013 However, at least the movie is now moving ahead -- and even Raimi seems excited by Duncan Jones directing: "I loved his movie Moon, and I think he's a strikingly talented director. I bet that if anyone can do a great job with it, it's him." Now that we know that, we can finally get back to talking about important things, like debating our ideal casting choices. Update: Added comments from Rob Pardo.
Sam Raimi discusses why he's not doing the World of Warcraft movie
If you're of the mindset that a World of Warcraft movie directed by Sam Raimi would be a nice thing, Blizzard Entertainment is the reason you can't have nice things. That's Raimi's story, at least. He discussed his withdrawal from the project in a recent interview regarding other films and several projects he's no longer involved with, but the World of Warcraft departure merits a lengthy aside. According to Raimi, he had read the script that Blizzard had put forth and wanted to put together something better, so he enlisted the aid of screenwriter Robert Rodat. Rodat wrote the story, but when the story was pitched to Blizzard, the company wasn't terribly enthusiastic. He and Rodat continued to work on refining the script, only to find out later that Blizzard had completely rejected what they had done and wanted to go in an entirely different direction. You can read more details on the story from Raimi in the full interview.
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.
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%
Breakfast Topic: What are your Warcraft movie predictions?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. With the Warcraft movie on the horizon (though probably the distant horizon, at best), a lot of us are wondering what it might be like. Sam Raimi, the director of the recent Spiderman movies, is still supposedly attached the direct the film. Outside of the director, though, there aren't really any people set in stone to work on the project. That leaves open a lot of speculation of who might land starring roles. Of course, that will also all depend on what story they end up using. As far as I know, they will not be basing the plot off any specific plot line we have now. We won't be seeing a movie about the Lich King or Deathwing's attack on Azeroth, though many of the important lore figures are likely to be around. Instead, this movie will focus on an as-of-yet unknown hero. I predict the main character will be human, both from the popularity of the race in game and the ease of casting a human, relatively. (There just aren't that many orcs in Hollywood.) I'd also go as far as to say this human will be functionally close to a warrior or a paladin, since American movies love to see brute force fighters and wrathful avengers. Someone like Chris Hemsworth is someone I could see being a lead actor. There are just so many potential plot lines, character choices, and talent specializations that could be chosen for this movie. What do you think the movie will be like? Are you expecting a typical adventure plot or something that is highly tuned to Warcraft themes? A star-studded cast or a bunch of talented unknowns?
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.
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.
Blizzard: World of Warcraft movie has slowed, but still happening
Blizzard Entertainment took the stage here at Comic-Con in San Diego to talk about World of Warcraft-inspired merchandise, and when the topic of the WoW movie came up during the Q&A, Vice President of Creative Development Chris Metzen confirmed that though the process has slowed recently, the movie is still happening. Director Sam Raimi is still "very, very passionate" about getting the movie made, but Metzen said that a treatment is still being hammered out. If that gets approved, he said, then "hopefully it'll start moving very quickly, very soon." Metzen and the rest of the panelists also talked about the next lore-based novel to be released -- it's called The Shattering, and will set up a lot of the events leading up to the Cataclysm expansion. Metzen cautioned the game's fans that there are "dark times ahead" for Azeroth with the return of Deathwing and quakes destroying large parts of the game world. "It's going to get rough out there for a while," he admitted. "But there's a plan. The great heroes always rise to the top."
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.
Sam Raimi: movie director, level 72 WoW player
You always like to think that the director working on a film adaptation of your favorite video game is actually a fan of the game. Some claim to be, but World of Warcraft director Sam Raimi appears to be the genuine article. Speaking with Collider, Raimi revealed that he's currently rocking a level 72 character in WoW, this after someone wiped his level 29 shaman "by accident." Raimi also talked about his WoW film due in 2013, of course, confirming that it won't be a Tron-like affair with segments set in the real world and the gameworld -- "It will all be taking place in the world of Warcraft," he said. Also offered: his list of likes about the franchise from a director's perspective, including its scale and locations, calling the world "incredibly, engrossingly terrifying." [Image credit: CHUD]
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.
WoW Insider Show Episode 125 with Project Lore
Despite the fairly slow news week, we had a good WoW Insider Show podcast this Saturday, with Project Lore writers Tim "Heartbourne" Tusing and Jimmy "DJTyrant" Blocksom stopping by to offer their unique perspective on reader emails, the week's top stories, and having too little to talk about, for once. We discussed Sam Raimi's newfound freedom to work on the Warcraft movie, the Blizzard dev chat on Twitter, why tauren paladins really aren't that broken, and a myriad of other topics. As always, you can email theshow@wow.com to have your email answered on the air, and if you have any guests you'd like to see on the show (or you'd like to be a guest yourself!) you can get a hold of us the same way. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page:
The best of WoW.com: January 6-13, 2010
It's been a busy week over at WoW.com and in the WoW world. We've heard from our sources late last week that the internal friends and family alpha will be beginning for the next World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm. And while this has lots of people excited, chances are you probably will never get in -- unless you know someone. There were also lots of other interesting stories this past week, from the WoW movie being pushed up thanks to Spider-Man's demise, to security holes and care packages, to papercrafts that prove none of us have any real artistic talent. The best of WoW.com for the week is after the break.
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.
