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Warcraft Movie In The Works?

Posted by Zonk on Tue May 09, 2006 09:32 AM
from the very-big-zug-zug dept.
Media Movies Entertainment Games
The New York Times is reporting that World of Warcraft maker Blizzard plans to make a big-screen adaptation of its very popular gameworld. From the article: "Many details of the film deal remained unsettled or undisclosed on Monday, including the choice of director, cast, the planned release date and the exact budget (rarely a firm number in the movie business anyway). But Blizzard and Legendary appeared united in wanting the project to be a major departure from Hollywood's undistinguished record in turning games into films. 'We try to make big, epic, immersive games at Blizzard, and we have a track record of making some of the best games in the world,'" Paul Sams, Blizzard's chief operating officer, said in an interview. 'Similarly, our goal is to make one of the best films in the world. With Legendary, they have a creative and management team that is so attuned with us it was like we were separated at birth. We want to make a movie that will not only appeal to our existing fans, but will also bring in people that have never heard of Warcraft before.'"
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[+] Diablo Movie Now in the Works? 101 comments
To go along with the still fairly-mysterious World of Warcraft movie, via CVG comes the word at Blizzplanet that a movie based on Blizzard's Diablo games may be in the works. "Few weeks ago, a rumor circulated the net that Gary Whitta would be working with Legendary Pictures to develop a Diablo film. The participation of Gary Whitta hasn't been confirmed, but surprise-surprise. Legendary Pictures website is listing DIABLO under the 'In Development' section. No press release has been made available. The news section has been replaced by a 'Legendary 2.0 is coming soon' notice. A week ago, the news section over at Legendary Pictures website had not been updated since Q3 2006. Stay tuned for any updates. A press release could be posted by them in a few days. Diablo is coming to the big screen!"
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  • How is this news? Blizard have been working on this project in secrecy for quite some time - there's even a clip [google.com] up at google video of short segment of the work.

    The animation is fantastic - far above what I thought modern PCs were capable of producing ;-)

  • I'm all game... (Score:4, Funny)

    by cheese-cube (910830) <cheese.cube@gmail.com> on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:38AM (#15292566) Homepage
    ...just as long as it isn't directed by Uwe Boll.

  • Why not do it themselves? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by tapo (855172) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:39AM (#15292581) Homepage
    If you've seen the CGI movies to any of Blizzard's games, you know that their ability to create 3D animation is astounding. Not only that, but it seems to only improve with time. I honestly believe they could be the 'Pixar' of mature content films.

    Why would they go for live action if they're so talented at this?

    (Though it isn't my favorite, this is their introduction to Diablo II: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8694655550 618960777 [google.com])

    • Re:Why not do it themselves? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Rob T Firefly (844560) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:54AM (#15292700) Homepage Journal
      The reception of "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" comes to mind. I liked that movie, but it performed so miserably that Square all but closed its Square Pictures division as a result. It's probably not a risk Blizzard wants to saddle itself with, when they can just throw it to someone who knows the film business yet keep enough creative control where the brand name isn't cheapened by a disaster of U** B*ll proportions.
    • "If you've seen the CGI movies to any of Blizzard's games, you know that their ability to create 3D animation is astounding. Not only that, but it seems to only improve with time. I honestly believe they could be the 'Pixar' of mature content films."

      Given Blizzard's track record for censorship, that is the funniest thing I've heard stated about Warcraft in weeks.

  • In related news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by DarkFencer (260473) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:41AM (#15292596)
    In related news, Blizzard has announced that tickets to the show will only be available in 'raid' and 'mini-raid' packages of 40 and 20 tickets respectively. Fans going alone will only see the first 30 minutes of the movie.
  • As though elfs and orcs are the sole commercial property of the Tolkein estate.

    Frankly, even if the broader constructs of WoW are "Tolkeinesque," I look forward to anything that even trys to be as good as the LOTR films were.

    Lowes is about to become the ultimate RP server.

    • As though elfs and orcs are the sole commercial property of the Tolkein estate.

      Hobbits are, as anyone who was into "Dungeons & Dragons" back when TSR had to quietly rename theirs to "Halflings" remembers.

    • As though elfs and orcs are the sole commercial property of the Tolkein estate.

      It's not just the races. When I played through WC3 I noticed names of places taken directly from Tolkien, and a lot of the plot was suspiciously similar to e.g. parts of the Silmarillion.

      There's also Arthas turning into an obvious knockoff of Moorcock's Elric.
      • People who get snobby about resemblances always amuse me. Tolkien himself borrowed heavily from Norse myth cycles, and Moorcock, jesus, borrows from everywhere.

        Does that mean it's not good? No. It just means that art is often derivative from other art. Is the whole of Impressionism soiled by the fact that it wasn't all done by one guy?

        So what if WoW is derivative? You certainly can't say they didn't do anything original, which is a hell of a lot more than you can say for any of the other multitude of copies out there.

  • Voice (Score:5, Funny)

    by Inverted Intellect (950622) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:45AM (#15292625)
    I just hope they can get the guy who did all the voice overs in WCII to do some work on the movie.

    "Don't you have a kingdom to run"? -Footman
    "Stop rocking the boat! you're making me seasick *puking sound*" -Elven destroyer

    "Yeeessss Massssterr" - Death Knight
    "I'm the smart one! No, I'M the smart one!" - Ogre mage
  • As long as they find a way to sneak in a line by a dopey sounding guy saying "Ready to Serve", I'll be happy.

    The WarCraft series had quite a bit of personality prior to going MMORPG, and (although I haven't had a chance to play it) I would assume they have quite a large base of backstory to draw from in the World of WarCraft game.

    Sounds interesting...

    MTW

  • Ooooh (Score:4, Funny)

    by LiquidCoooled (634315) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:59AM (#15292747) Homepage Journal
    Stand in line for 90 minutes waiting for your ticket to be validated.
    Then when you get into the theatre just as the action hots up random people are ejected forcefully and then forced to stand back in line outside.

    Of course they want it to be big, they always do. Its not like it will be the first movie to hit the spot.
    They are standing on the shoulders of such greats as Street Fighter, Tomb Raider, Pokemon and Doom..

  • OMG Hunter item (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:59AM (#15292749)
    Naturally this movie is a hunter only item. If any one else tries to see it then they should be labled a ninja and booted from the theater.

  • My favorite part (Score:3, Funny)

    by faloi (738831) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @10:01AM (#15292767)
    I really liked the part where all the guys with the dragon loot caught the guy fresh off the farm and killed him. Then camped him for four hours. That was hillarious! Much better than when it happens to me in game.
  • "Many details of the film deal remained unsettled or undisclosed on Monday, including the choice of director..."

    My vote is for Uwe Boll.
  • This is the obvious next step for Blizzard. Forget StarCraft II or even putting Ghost back into production. No one wants those; they want another crappy movie based on a video game.
  • Less than 10% of films based on a video game title survive in any fashion.

    Blizzard, spend your money on infastructure upgrades first. This is a little more important to us, your subscribers of WoW.

    Horde still suck.

  • Intereted, but (Score:5, Funny)

    by cordsie (565171) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @10:24AM (#15292923)
    I'm interested, but I don't have a lot of time to go out to the movies these days. Can I pay someone in China to go see it for me?

  • Blizzard's Reputation (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Avatar8 (748465) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @10:29AM (#15292957)
    Over the past several years, Blizzard has yet to produce any product that was less than outstanding: Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft and WoW.

    While the gaming industry is getting more similar to the movie industry there are still differences that have been the bane of most game-based movies. I will optimistically have faith that Blizzard can navigate these pitfalls.

    You only need to look at the stories and mini-movies in their games from the last five years: Diablo II chapter movie sequences are a good example. Ghost's story in Starcraft and the Undead Prince in Warcraft III are others.

    I'd think they would have better luck making a Diablo movie first. I think the story is simpler, has more chances for pulling the audience in and obviously lots of opportunities for special effects and unique scenery. (Imagine a male barbarian, female paladin and male mage travel together.... oh wait, that's Conan. ;-)

    Starcraft, too, would make a good movie.

    The real questions that occur to me are:
    -What time will they choose? (WC III, WoW, before?) Maybe there will just be lots of history explanation and flashbacks.
    -What storylines will they follow? There are so many in WoW, but what is the "central" plot line?
    -From which point of view will the movie be? I can guess Alliance, but it would be interesting if they did a second movie from the Horde perspective.
    -Live action plus CGI special effects, or full digital animation? They'd get more general masses with live action, but they'd have the hardcore following of gamers and anime fans with full digital.

    Regardless I think this will be worth seeing, and again, I trust that Blizzard will do a quality job. Let's hope the director and producer(s) they get listen to them.

  • Script exerpt (Score:4, Funny)

    by Trails (629752) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @02:35PM (#15295265)
    "... fade into snowy wooded glade, midafternoon. Lots of conieforus trees, bunnies hopping around, mountains in background, stone veranda visible on mountains. Focus on two wagons, with sevral dwarves standing by them. The main protagonist Urmomishot approaches the dwarves. Dwarf1: ! Dwarf2: ! Dwarf3: ! Urmomishot approaches Dwarf1 Dwarf1: Those hundreds of troggs over there have been giving me grief, please go kill 10 of them. Urmomishot approaches Dwarf2 Dwarf2: I have to deliver a package 30 metres down the road, but I'm lazy. Do it for me. Urmomishot approaches Dwarf3 Dwarf3: I need 15 pieces of wolfhide to make you a shirt you don't need. Go get me the hide. A gnome runs up. Gnome: Hey can u spar soem copr? kthxbye ..."

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