World Of Warcraft Movie

In May 2006, Legendary Pictures announced that they had acquired the rights from Blizzard Entertainment to make a World of Warcraft movie. There was the sound of enormous rejoicing from gamers around the world and then … a great silence. As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in joy and were suddenly silenced. Since then, the silence from Legendary and Blizzard has been fairly deafening. Two years later and still no news on the project. Apparently it’s still in development but they haven’t hired the “someone along the lines of a Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan type” they wanted to direct the project.

First and foremost, it’s only been eight years since Dungeons & Dragons came out, and gamers are still feeling the sting. This was a big budget (relatively — $45 million dollars wasn’t that small in 2000) movie based on another extremely popular role playing game. However, it tanked at the box office and is generally loathed by both fans of the game and moviegoers alike. Over the top acting from Jeremy Irons, deadpan lines from Thora Birch, and a ridiculous storyline that didn’t pay attention to the years of manuals and expansions didn’t help.

They followed that up with a direct to TV sequel in 2005 that tried to right all the wrongs: it included specific items from the games, made reference to many of the expansion sets, and had characters who followed the “rules” of the game. Plans were that it would lead into a series on the Sci Fi Channel, but that possibility faded into forgotten realms. The blurb for the series, which was to appear in 2009, has since been removed from the Sci Fi Channel website.

The movie has been long in the making; Blizzard made a deal with Legendary Pictures for a film adaptation of Warcraft back in 2006. With Charles Roven, the producer of The Dark Knight also on board, it’s a team that’s almost bound to succeed in transforming the battle between the horde and the alliance to the big screen. And if the first movie, which Raimi will start working on after he finishes Spiderman 4, turns out to be a success, we can probably expect sequels, as there’s plenty of Warcraft lore to fill up several full features.

As far as the Warcraft franchise itself is considered, some will say that having a movie adaptation is jumping the shark; others will flock to the stores to buy the latest WoW expansion (which will inevitably coincide with the movie), and others (me included) will simply lay back with a huge bag of peanuts and enjoy the movie. Notice that I’m talking about a “Warcraft” movie; although the movie will most probably be based on World of Warcraft, the Warcraft universe has existed long before that (Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was launched in 1994.).

At its core, 'Warcraft' is a fantastic, action-packed story," Raimi said in a statement.

The director, who has headed up all the Spider-Man flicks including the upcoming "Spider-Man 4," is known for bringing three-dimensional life to the comic books characters. Now he's taking on material with an even less flesh and blood story: a videogame.

Raimi's most recent effort, "Drag Me to Hell," garnered critical praise as a fun, tightly-paced take on the horror genre, with Daily News critic Joe Neumaier writing, "This is how it's done."

The first three "Spider-Man" movies are all in the top-20 top grossing films of all time, with the original "Spider-Man" leading the franchise in the number 8 spot after raking in $407,681,000 in the U.S.

Known as a multiplayer online role-playing game, players create a character avatar and interact with other players on the Web, forming guilds, fighting monsters, and amassing skills that help them complete quests.

First released in 1994, it's by far the dominant video game of its kind, with 11.5 million monthly subscribers.

"Wrath of the Lich King," the most recent expansion version, sold 2.8 million copies the day it was released in November 2008, and went on to sell 4 million copies in its first month.


Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and Legendary Pictures announced today that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct the eagerly-anticipated major motion picture based on Blizzard Entertainment®’s award-winning Warcraft® universe. Raimi has, in the course of his career, clearly demonstrated a genius for developing and adapting existing fictional universes for mainstream audiences while staying true to the spirit of the original content.

Raimi directed the Spider-Man trilogy, which has broken box-office records around the world and garnered five Academy Award® nominations. Known for his imaginative filmmaking style, richly drawn characters and offbeat humor, Raimi wrote and directed the cult classic, The Evil Dead and produced 30 Days Of Night. He most recently wrote and directed the supernatural thriller, Drag Me To Hell.

"At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story," said Raimi. "I am thrilled to work with such a dynamite production team to bring this project to the big screen."

Charles Roven’s producing talents were recently seen with last summer’s blockbuster The Dark Knight, which grossed in excess of $1 billion, was nominated for eight Academy Awards® and won two. His body of work also includes the widely acclaimed Batman Begins and the sci-fi classic 12 Monkeys. Roven, with Atlas producing partner Alex Gartner, will be producing with Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, Legendary’s Chief Creative Officer Jon Jashni, Raimi and Raimi’s producing partner Joshua Donen. Raimi’s partner, Robert Tapert, will be an Executive Producer and Blizzard Entertainment’s Senior Vice President of Creative Development, Chris Metzen, a Co-Producer.

"Partnering with Sam Raimi exemplifies Legendary's mandate of marrying the highest quality intellectual property to world-class filmmakers" said Legendary’s Tull. "Sam's passion for 'Warcraft' is undeniable and we know that he will create an incredible film worthy of Blizzard's phenomenal franchise. We look forward to collaborating with our partners at Warner Bros. and continuing our successful relationship with Chuck in bringing this rich new world to the screen."

"Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures have a shared vision for this film and we searched at length to find the very best director to bring that vision to life," said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. "From our first conversation with Sam, we could tell he was the perfect choice. Sam knows how to simultaneously satisfy the enthusiasts and the mainstream audience that might be experiencing that content for the first time. We're looking forward to working with him to achieve that here."

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