Hey folks, Harry here for one last night in Austin before flying down to Geek Mecca aka Comic Con. The great thing about Comic Con is it shakes a lot of juicy fruit from the tree of movie coolness - and we get tons of material, but not much of it is exclusive. As it is a pretty intense rat race there of all us online types chasing the same stories. Well...
This is one of those exclusives that untold geek hours have been spent trying to get to the truth of the matter. I first heard this 3 weeks ago, and spent a lot of time trying to nail this story down. And we finally have.
The last major update that we had on AICN on the WORLD OF WARCRAFT came from Moriarty here, back in 2007 The last major bit I heard was a rumor that Uwe Boll was offering Blizzard untold tonnages of gold left crowns of undetermined origin to direct - and that allegedly BLIZZARD laughed his ass out of the place. In Mori's piece we were supposed to get this movie in 2009 with a $100 million budget. With LEGENDARY's main man telling BLIZZCON that it'd be over that figure. And there was some concept art.
Well, I don't have concept art. I don't have the firm release date, but I do know who is directing the WORLD OF WARCRAFT film and that is Sam Raimi. It will come out in trades later this week or next. But you can take this one to the bank. Sam is going to make a huge budget fantasy bit of unfuckingimaginable coolness - and it will be yanked from the WORLD OF WARCRAFT.
Now - isn't that the sort of Awesome we're supposed to get to kick start Comic Con with? I think so.
I really think this is going to be amazing. How about you?
Blizzard Entertainment® and Legendary Pictures Sign Sam Raimi to Direct Upcoming Warcraft® Movie
Raimi, acclaimed director of the blockbuster Spider-Man series, will bring the forces of the Horde and the Alliance to life in epic live-action film. Charles Roven's Atlas Entertainment will produce alongside Raimi's Stars Road Entertainment.
* Press Release
* Source: Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
* On Wednesday July 22, 2009, 1:00 am EDT
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.
This movie will be huge.:rofl
Yeah but unlike Halo and Metal Gear, Warcraft is a franchise that matters and is popular around the world.
DAY ONEspoiler (click to show/hide)unless i have a raid scheduled[close]
I'd rather have the jackass that directed GI JOE. GOD DAMMIT.They could certainly do worse than Raimi, imo. Spiderman 3 was shit, but the first two were solid
So there's not much to work with story wiseThere's 3 games and several novels. I think they can find something to work with in there.
Ted Raimi as Leeroy Jenkins
Gary Whitta actually wrote the script for this! (http://http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=16774739&postcount=107) :lol
Is there any nerd property that man doesn't have his hand in nowadays?spoiler (click to show/hide)If Sam Raimi makes a Gary Whitta penned film, I think I will be heartbroken that I was not the first Internet fanboy to write a Sam Raimi movie. :'([close]
YES. OH GOD YES. :-*Ted Raimi as Leeroy Jenkins
Fixed.
Bruce Campbell should be the Lich King.
That was staged, FYI.
Xena :rock
Day 1
I’ll say it: I, Sam Raimi, am a genius. My decision to hire actual World of Warcraft players as extras was a stroke of brilliance. We get lots of publicity, they work for free and some of them are bringing their own swords! This is going to be great.
Day 2
OK, problems. To start with, there’s a huge line of extras waiting to get on the set, and every time we get a bunch of them in, the scenery crashes. My technical advisers say this is normal for a launch, and they’re working on it. In the meantime, they suggest that I build several identical sets, and encourage the extras to transfer to the other sets.
Day 12
We’ve got the set problem worked out, but I’m still getting a lot of complaints from the extras. They’re saying the sides are unbalanced, that the Horde side has Scarlett Johansson and the Alliance just has Halle Berry. I asked my technical advisers what calms nerds down, and they said I should add a Scarlett Johansson to the Alliance and a Halle Berry to the Horde to make things fair. They also said, and I’m quoting here, “Nerf Shia LaBeouf.” I fired them.
Day 33
I can’t believe how hard it is to get any work done on this project. There are extras goofing off everywhere, but it takes an hour of asking around to get a group of 10 of them together to shoot a scene. And then, just when we’re about to start filming, one of them suddenly has to leave because his mother needs him to clean his room or something.
Day 48
I’m starting to regret firing the technical advisers. Someone needs to explain to me how these dorks think. For instance, whenever the extras “kill” someone during a battle scene, they immediately stop fighting and start grabbing pieces of his costume. Even the ears! If I didn’t know better, I’d think someone was paying them for detached body parts, but that’s crazy talk.
Day 75
Why is it that every time we wrap for the day, one of the extras asks me to “open a portal to Dalaran”? Is he asking for drugs?
Day 103
I can’t tell you how pissed off I am. I keep giving the extras simple instructions for the final battle scene: When Kel’Thuzad raises his staff, run left. When he raises his orb, run right. That’s all there is to it, but every time we shoot, a bunch of extras run the wrong way, right into the pyrotechnics. Every time! We must have tried shooting the scene two dozen times and someone always screws it up. Worse yet, we keep having to put shooting on hold while they get their armor repaired.
Day 108
I think I’ve got it. A production assistant suggested I provide the extras with incentives they understand. I’ve ransacked the prop department for every cheesy fantasy tchotchke and outfit I could find, and I’ve started handing them out at the end of a day’s work. I thought I’d have to give everyone something, but it turns out I can just give them, like, five things and let them fight over who gets them. They’ve set up their own elaborate rules for who gets what, but it’s made them a lot more efficient, and I’m finally getting some decent scenes filmed.
Now if I could just get them to stop dancing.