Your World of Warcraft friends.
Variety reports that Sam Raimi will direct a film version of the video game “World of Warcraft.” “Dark Knight” alumnus Charles Roven will produce for Warner Brothers and Legendary Film.
So I know, you’re thinking, wait, isn’t Raimi committed to something else…? Well, yeah, but don’t worry–”Warcraft” (as the film is tentatively titled, a rather stupid choice) will film after “Spider-Man 4″ is completed. Filming on that is supposed to start early next year.
Anyway, back to “Warcraft” (sorry, I care more about Spider-Man)–it is of course a multiplayer role-playing game adored by millions of people. It is about an “epic conflict between the Horde and the Alliance.” Players create characters, choosing sides, social classes, and then try to acquire skills (and jobs and money) for them. How this is going to translate into a movie is not all that clear–I mean, it’s clear as in it will obviously be a fantasy swords-and-trolls type of movie, but what will make it specific to Warcraft, which has succeeded because of the role-playing appeal, is hard to see.
“Warcraft” is “emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which our studio is best known,” says Warner Brothers Picture Group president Jeff Robinov. And the word “branded” may be the problem–Warcraft may be a big fantasy movie, maybe even a good one. But WB seems almost physically unable to make a movie that’s not based on some kind of existing material–book, comic book, game, grocery shelf item. There is so little trust in Hollywood in the idea that a good movie can sell itself, and that’s sad.
There is such an immense amount of lore behind all of the Warcraft games that they literally can go anyway they want. You should look up some cinematic cut scenes on Youtube, I suggest WarcraftIII, return of Arthas. It is comparable to LOTR but is essentially endless.
The problem with a Warcraft movie is; depending on when in the history of the Warcraft world it is based depends on the events which can occur in the movie. If it is set prior to the events in World of Warcraft, the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) then the Lore constructed by Blizzard states that only certain events can take place…However: Blizzard have proved in the past that they can, and will, rewrite the Lore (Upsetting hardcore fans of the series) in order to produce a decent concept (Making newcomers to the series happy).
But what people have to remember is; the World of Warcraft is a constantly evovlving world, I mean there are novels, graphic novels, comic books being produced all the time which altar the Canon of the World but none-the-less add to the whole design.
So basically…there are certain events in the timeline of a Pre-WoW world that HAVE to take place, but the fine details are open to interpretation and with decent writers could make for an amzing movie…or a terrible spin-off (See: Dragonball Movie).