WoW: Coming to a Theater Near You?
by Mike D'Anna 
May 9th 2006 at 8:00AM
Well, we knew it had to be on the drawing board somewhere. It seems that Legendary Pictures, producers of both the latest Superman & Batman films, are interested in bringing World of Warcraft to the big screen, according to this IGN article. The film would likely hit screens via Warner Bros., as they have handled most of the distribution for Legendary's releases so far.This could be exciting news for all Warcraft fans, but we all know just how well video games usually survive translation into the film medium. Alone in the Dark, Doom, Silent Hill....Super Mario Brothers, anyone? Still, just by the law of averages, they have to get one right sometime...here's hoping the best for WoW's big-screen maiden voyage.
Filed under: Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sarno May 9th 2006 9:24AM
Silent Hill is the best vg-movie out there. Period. Don't ever put it on the same list as the Mario Bros. movie or Alone in the Dark.
Nippon May 9th 2006 9:28AM
What are you talking about? Silent Hill was a great movie!
Mike D'Anna May 9th 2006 9:30AM
Sorry, guys...wasn't impressed at all with Silent Hill. Sure, it may indeed be the best game adaptation to date, but that's not saying very much....sort of like what's the best smelling type of poo.
SoapyShoes May 9th 2006 9:57AM
I still liked SH. You could have replaced it with House of the Dead or Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. It seems like the current trend right now is to bash this above average movie, even though it wasn't as bad as a lot of movies out there (video game adaptation or not).
Fabian May 9th 2006 10:26AM
The advantage that Warcraft has is that it already has a very solid history and storyline. Come on, what can anyone expect of a movie where the plot and history of the game its based on fills up half a sheet of paper? (thats the case for mario at least - I don't know too much about the backstory of the other games).
So theres hope that with a solid background they are able to do the movie right. Another advantage of World of Warcraft is that it's designed to be a world where lots of storys take place and lots of lives are being lived. You don't have to follow the tight storyline of an ego-shooter (Doom anyone?) but instead can invent a new story inside that world.
Given these points, I think it is possible to do a WoW movie that doesn't suck. If they manage to do so, is completely different question.
But that's just my two copper ;-)
Nippon May 9th 2006 12:59PM
I think you expect too much out of video game adaptations. Silent Hill was great horror movie. Your not going to get the Godfather out of a video game adaptation.
If you want Warcraft to be an artsy movie that might suit you, take the flight path from darnassus to silithus. That should satiate your need for an epic warcraft artfilm = boring as hell.
Bloodfeast (Garona - Horde) May 9th 2006 1:30PM
A co-worker sent me this link, and we got to talking - video game movies aside, I have mixed feelings about how this could work. The previous poster made a great point - Warcraft does have a very well established lore and ongoing story plots - those of us who are into that lore would probably love the story that the movie could provide..
How this is executed would make all the difference. If it's really rad CGI, with great voice acting, even a shaky storyline could be carried through.. If they opt for live action.. well.. I'll still go see it.. but for pure comedy value (Think Dolph Lundgren as The Punisher)
Oh - as I write this, that same co-worker is reading a report confirming that this movie is in production.. Let's see how this works.. hope it builds on the Arthas storyline..
J. Merill May 9th 2006 11:20PM
What I'd like to see is Blizzard use their people to do the movie. They are great at CG and their little 1-2 minute movies have been outstanding to watch...
I am with the others tho, cast real characters and the such, and most likely it will crash and burn.
Edge May 10th 2006 2:06AM
Hmm i think this is a really cool idea, especially if it is CGI, But aside from all other video game movies this really has potential. But storylines would be the key to what could make or break this movie. I think that as said by another poster that they should build on something around arthas. Or even basically lay out wc3 in movie form or something...cuz well those cut scenes were good
any ideas on story?
Max Niederhofer May 10th 2006 7:52AM
I wish they'd just make it cinematics-animation. Real characters usually ruin it. The WoW trailer is gorgeous and I'd pay good money to see a feature length version of it.