Sam Raimi Signs On to Direct World of Warcraft Movie
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Juggynaut on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - 43 Comments Tags: blizzcon, comic-con, director, movie, sam raimi, spiderman, uwe boll, warcraft movie, wow movie
Juggynaut on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - 43 Comments Tags: blizzcon, comic-con, director, movie, sam raimi, spiderman, uwe boll, warcraft movie, wow movie 
Blizzard announced today that Sam Raimi, perhaps best known for directing the Spiderman movies, has joined on to direct "Warcraft," the live-action World of Warcraft movie adaptation. This is the biggest news about the movie in the last two years. I, for one, am glad to hear that Uwe Boll won't be on board to ruin the movie. This doesn't mean the movie will be great (See Spiderman 3), it's just a solid step in the right direction. Hopefully we get some more information about the movie at Comic-Con or BlizzCon!Check out the full press release here:
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – July 22, 2009 -- 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."
"Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft has become a second home for millions of players and Sam’s experience and talent make him the perfect director for this remarkable and action-packed world," said Atlas’ Roven. "Alex and I are proud to be working with Sam and re-teaming with our friends at Legendary and Warner Bros."
The film will fall under Legendary Pictures’ co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. "Warcraft is emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which our studio is best known. We have enjoyed great success with our partners at Legendary, and this is an incredible opportunity for us to work with Sam on a project that is so eagerly anticipated by so many," said Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.
Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft universe is a rich fantasy setting that revolves around the epic conflict between the opposing forces of the Horde and the Alliance. Since its debut in 1994, Warcraft has developed a loyal following across the globe, with several bestselling, award-winning PC games and a range of popular licensed products including novels, action figures, apparel, comic books, board games, and more. World of Warcraft®, Blizzard Entertainment’s subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the Warcraft universe, is the most popular game of its kind in the world. Its most recent expansion, Wrath of the Lich King™, is the fastest-selling PC game of all time, with more than 2.8 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and more than 4 million in its first month.
Further details about the upcoming Warcraft movie, including cast and targeted release date, will be revealed as development progresses.
Reader Comments (43)
You know, you could at least hit the period key at least once and then maybe people wouldn't point it out.
And to the topic, I always thought the whole "Warcraft movie" was just a rumor, so I was surprised when I saw this as the recent news. I'm glad they got the team they have right now, as someone else pointed out it could've included Micheal Bay or worse (in the case of Avatar) M. Night Shyamalan. I favor good story and directing over unnecessary special effects and plot twists.
this movie will be bad ass
2 scenes hopefully in the movie, both from warcraft RTS.
Thrall n Gromm facing off Mannaroth;
Illidan, Vash n Akama facing off Magtheridon.
Those fights would be epic.
My questions would be, "Will they include scenes from the 'Warcraft' novels explaining things such as the Dragonflight? How each developed into who they are now, and what caused them to take the path which they chose?" Mind you I have only made it through "Well of Eternity and just getting started with "The Demon Soul".
Warcraft the Comedy
Cast:
Cairne: Sylvester Stallone
Thrall: Arnold Schwarzenegger
King Verian: Jack Black
Bronzebeard: Danny DeVito
J. Proudmore: dunno yet :)
Narrator: William Shatner
Would be so funny ^_^
Movies bases on Video games almost always never make it. However the warcraft lore is pretty awesome and this may actually be good. Unlike Harry potter 6, the most fail movie ever.
I actaully remember Sam Raimi when he used to direct his younger brother Ted (Joxer) in the TV series for Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Xena (Lucy Lawless). Nice to see how far he's progressed.
Spiderman3 aside, I have always enjoyed Sam Raimi's style in movies and TV shows. Army of Darkness was hilarious and dramatic, a great B classic. Darkman! A cult classic again. The Grude. Timecop. The Quick and the Dead. Drag Me To Hell.
He has this dark style to bring out just the right amount of drama while throwing in enough comedy to keep your hair from turning white in terror (either from the story or the bad acting in some cases).
From what I got from Wiki, "...the movie will take place from an Alliance perspective and will be geared towards a PG-13 audience, with a storyline set one year before the beginning of the World of Warcraft storyline."
Whatever the story, you know geeks and gamers of the world will cram the movie theaters to see this movie.
i dont think jack black would make good varian even in the game his fase mad serious and jack black is ot much of a joker dont knoww the others
@cocopuff:
That's why it's a comedy, those actors would make it just so funny...
And if you don't know the other actors, what rock did you crawl under from?
i'll be happy as long as it doesn't become one long advert for how great the alliance is and how evil the horde is.
Great, told from an alliance perspective. How 'bout doing the feakin movie on a neutral platform and let the audience decide who the bad guys are.
i am getting the idea do actauly think taht the horde are the heoes i was under the impression that you understood that in this story alliance are teh good guys that it is how blizz made the which fraction is better argument aside no one that supostu play the hero look like the orcs do after all their is a reason why kil'jaeden chose the orcs as their newest recruit in the burning legion even though they later broke free from them blood elves have had 3 diffrent names though the history their hunger for power sundered the world of azeroth and create teh trogs and the naga is it neccery to remind you of the undead recent actions touren said to be very peacefulll people but if its that the case why are they with the horde yyou know how has horns satan
there is sooo many items in warcraft lore that would make a good movie. my bet is if this takes off, we could see a harry-potter-sized range of warcraft movies. i cant wait to learn what the movie is about :D if its set 1 year b4 vanilla wow as mentioned above, we could be seeing anything from admiral proudmoores attack on durotar to the capture of varian wrynn. if i could put anything in a wow movie, i would love to see Broxigar face off against the burning legion alone during the first war :D
Man i hope they don't make it stupid like the DBZ movie.. I think the only way to give Warcraft justice is for it to ge all computer like the trailers they make for the expantions
I've been following this since it was announced a year or two ago. I'll be sure to be seeing this even if I have to go by myself.
My friends that play WoW and I will probably go. If only to mock it later. Im sure it will be sold out at least one night around here; seems everyone plays WoW now.
I agree with most of you that a World of Warcraft movie could be awsome (note i said COULD be awsome). it depends on what the movie will be on and they need to make sure that they get the lore right!
Fuck yes! Now hopefully I will be able to understand all this damn lore. Also, like a post said before, a trilogy would seem to be awsome because theres Warcraft l, ll, and lll, correct me if im wrong, didnt play Warcraft. And also like what another post said, I hope they choose good actors to fit each character, the actor for Goku in the DBZ movie SUCKED!