The World of Warcraft movie is officially on the move, after many months of stagnation we thought the project may have died a quiet death. However, behind the scenes it seems there were some exciting discussions and today, two years since the initial announcement, Blizzard and Legendary pictures have named their director, one Sam Raimi.
Raimi has directed both the Spider-man and Evil Dead series, and may be a perfect choice, as someone that can take a huge wealth of core material (with a strong fan following) and deliver something phenomenal.
Raimi is currently set to direct Spider-man 4 which is due for release in 2011, production hasn’t yet started on the fourth movie, which gives the World of Warcraft movie a release date, at the earliest, sometime in 2012. (Assuming Spider-man 4 begins early next year, takes one year to complete and meets its release date, and that the WOW movie has a similar schedule).
Press release
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.”
Comments 29 Responses to “Sam Raimi will direct World of Warcraft Movie”
I can’t remember Peter Parking being such a huge fag in the comics, yet in all movies it seems as thought the director wants to make buttsex with tobey mcguire…
If he fucks up this movie, let’s kill him?
yeah lets kill him, we’ll need 2 tanks 3 healers and 20 dps.
how much HP does he have?
How close to the game will they make it I wonder? How many tries will it take them to get inside an instance “Additional instances cannot be launched..” ROFL
If he fucks up this movie i WILL kick his ass. I totally agree with Chucky tho. So if he makes thrall a fag in this movie, hes dead for sure.
I wonder what part of the lore they will be doing in this movie.
ya he better not fuck this up i agree with u all. also some one should start a pull to see what people think witch side they will perferd by blizz in the movie.
Blizzard are not the kind of people to let others trample all over their vision; I’m sure they will have their own people on the production team too.
However, if anyone can pull this off it would be Sam Raimi. Definitely worth the 2 year wait from the original announcement that they were looking for a director.
if they choose to do the storyline of Arthas first it will be one hell of a movie
I will absolutely be looking forward to this.
Sam Raimi is a great instructor!
This movies gonna be gay. Almost as gay as comment number two.
is it a WoW movie or is it just Warcraft?
comment number nine if u don’t like WoW just leave it alone,
’I’ think it will be promising…Blizzard IS gonna keep a close eye on this one and the ppl will scream and clap at the end of the movie in the theater they will be begging for the next movie and lots more ppl will play WoW (which is kinda sad) all the servers will be full and we all will be grinding the lich king ^-^
(when ever he comes back to his castle.…)!!!!
I hope it’s not based on the World of Warcraft game, but the Warcraft story. How boring would that be? Imagine what it would look like if it went like your typical raid these days…
“Can we get this going now?”
” Yeah man, Naxx invites started going out like an hour ago. AFK while the main healer is taking care of her kid again”
“WTF! I just missed ANOTHER WG… SUX!”
“we still need another tank for this?”
“IDK, teh drood can OT I think… Murppie you have a tanking set?”
“Um, I’m what do I need for defense again?”
“BRB, Food.”
“That mage we pugged just DC’d again… this going to be fun.”
Oh yeah, a movie based on the World of Warcarft” would be a great idea… NOT!.”
I hear a lot of talk that this movie is going to be like “Wow” in some way. I don’t see them really starting this movie in the middle of everything, which in my opinion is where Wow kind of is. I think a lot of the hardcore warcraft fans are forgetting the root of the game when it started with the crappy graphics and basic strategy game functions (left and right clicking). The true story starts with Guldan and Lothar, the leaders of both sides waging war on each other. This is the root of the story, and so as time goes on it branches out into multiple stories based on upcoming heroes being introduced into the game.
I’m not a hardcore warcraft fan that knows every detail of the story, but I did grow up with the game as a little kid and it has always been my favorite game of all time. No other game can take its place.
I see a lot of potential in this movie to expand into great stories based on each hero and their conflicts. I definitely support the movies making, and alongside all your posts I too hope this movie follows the actual story lines that we all played and know.
I think most of the movies Raimi and Roven were ok if not great. This is my opinion: the movie making buissness is about making movies that the public want to see, which is up to date special FX, a good story line, indepth characters and a good production to behind the movie. Its also about making money, and I think to make that money they’ll try to make a second and third movie which will leave an opening for more indepth storyline and characters. For example…the first movie might focus on more of one side then the other, then the second one will focus on the other side, and finally in the third one they might smoosh them together. I really have no idea but I think the movie(s) will be great and can’t wait to see it!
My dad tells me that Sam is a good director but I dont know how they’d start the story without chopping it up too much to try to fit 4 games worth of stuff in or having a gay to be continued thing at the end. Ill go see it just because I like warcraft and WoW but I hope I wont be wasting my money.
You all know you will be going to see this movie either way, whether its good or not. So in the end, blizzard will make its goal of having another cash cow. And for you people who are talking crap…you obviously care enough to take the time to look up info on it and to write comments.…we all know you will be in the theatres watching this as well, so eat it.
Sam Raimi?? Of Drag me to Hell fame??
It’s a shame, i was hoping for a better director.
Oh great, dont need to see the Warcraft movie when it comes out then, it will be crap if DMTH is anything to go by, even Spiderman wasnt that great.
I’m going to keep my eye on this, i hope they don’t make it too short or dumb it down for the “kids”
anyone know when its coming out?
uul peter jackson bsan bol bogjnii ezen shig laitai yum hiihgui yu olon angitai
I have a really good suggestion, not sure whether most of you will agree with me on this. If the movie would to follow the original storyline, it would be really really boring. Who would spend money to watch something you have already seen? It’s visiting the cinema the second time to watch a certain movie. What i suggest they do is to set another character as the main. Something to do with defense of the ancients. The title could be something like Warcraft: Defense of the Ancients. Maybe the main character could be rogue knight, who was born as an orphan and furion brought him up in the forest. And of course we must add arthas in, but i think arthas should already be on the corrupted side, or should be possessed by frostmourne, and the part where he goes on the journey should be the flashback. That what’s make the story interesting! Rogue knight, sven, as a boy, grows up in a world of chaos, thus he has to go on an adventure to deal with this, blah blah blah. Isn’t that more interesting then watch it as arthas fight the hordes and then get possessed. In the end, you just say WOW, nice animation! Instead, WOW, that was a great storyline, the animation is so good and i want to watch it the second time, and introduce to my warcraft friends, who have never thought this was not going to be a story like warcraft: the lich king. That is possible!
Some Guy From Singapore, are you mental? Id rather it stuck to the normal lore instead of your batshit crazy idea, as it works. It never gets boring, but you want a Rogue Knight whose an Orphan brought up to avenge the wronged and all that cliché bullshit? Why do you think Warcraft lore is great? It isnt cliché.
i think that this movie will encourage more ppl to join the wow playing addiction lol
but mabey might have more people atleast try the damn game but not be all so addicted also leroy jenkins is the godfather of wow Peace Niggie
Omg, now i pray to GOD, to live healthy and catch this movie. i can’t wait to see the huge army of orcs going to war. May GOD give strength and wisdom and health to Sam Raimi, for making the greatest trilogy saga of all time. I just heard that first subtitle will be “The Rise of the Lich King : Arthas”
Omg why the fuck does blizzard pick sam raimi? 300’s director or peter jackson would do best for this kinda movie. And the main charac doesn’t have to be the one in the game. Why not create a new human warrior on ajourney for sumthin then meets all the major warcraft characters along the storyline.
Hope the alliance and the horde ban together and like /pwn the lichking like, a epic 30 min fight against the lich kings forces leading up to him with the king of Stromwind and Thrall like making Arthas their bi%ch.
I have been waiting for this movie for years!. WOW! WOW! WOW!. there is no thing more i can say..@.@
why not peter jackson of LOTR? he handled the very same fantasy world of elves, orcs, human, undead, pretty well.
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