Blizzard announced the Warcraft movie in 2006, after a long and arduous search for a proper production outfit that shared their vision. This search ended with Legendary pictures getting the deal - and while the studio doesn't have spotless track record (Lady in the Water, I'm looking at you...), I think they've hit more home runs than strike outs, particularly with properties that resonate strongly with us geeks and fanboys. Whether or not you agree with their vision, it's safe to say the guys behind Legendary respect their source material a great deal - from the visually stunning 300, the somber and severe The Dark Knight, and the un-movie-able Watchmen. I even really liked Bryan Singer's reverent and messianic take on big blue in Superman Returns.

Now, after a drought of news regarding the film, Harry Knowles broke the news about Spider-Man and Drag Me to Hell director Sam Raimi landing the job of helming the Warcraft flick. Variety soon reported that Charles Roven, who produced The Dark Knight, was also joining the mix. Although a lot of things can still change from now until we see Azeroth on the silver screen (directorial musical chairs isn't uncommon in Hollywood), a lot of us at WoW.com were pretty stoked to hear Raimi being selected for the job. I mean, at least it's not Uwe Boll.

Raimi is a fanboy's director, and I'm sure we're all fans of the cult classic Army of Darkness, as well as aware of his signature cameos of the Delta 88 and childhood friend Bruce Campbell and brother Ted. Blizzard and Legendary have both noted that they want a director capable of directing an epic not unlike the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and we think Raimi's suitably up to task. He's got a really good sense of humor, too, something I'm sure Blizzard liked on his resume when he expressed interest in the film back in 2008. The question is, what kind of Warcraft movie should we expect?

Considering his Army of Darkness roots, I'm sure we'll see a lot of hilarious moments in a large-scale battle. He also directed Quick and the Dead, so we're pretty sure there'll be a lot of cool and stylish moments. He's shown that he can play around with big budgets in the Spider-Man franchise so it'll be interesting to see what he can do with upwards of $100 million. Will we see Campbell as Varian Wrynn? Ted Raimi as a Goblin trade prince? Dolly zooms! Montage sequences! The possibilities are endless.

Where will it be set? What period? Will we see Draenei or even the speculated new races? Who among the popular Warcraft lore characters will make an appearance? Will Griftah finish his tale? Do you agree with MTV's assessment? The movie speculation is going to go even wilder once the Cataclysm hits Azeroth, too! Share your thoughts on a Sam Raimi-directed Warcraft movie with us.

Tags: army-of-darkness, bruce-campbell, evil-dead, legendary-pictures, movie, quick-and-the-dead, sam-raimi, spider-man, warcraft-movie, world-of-warcraft-movie, wow-movie

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends