Warcraft movie update: Metzen says "still getting it together"
by Dawn Moore 
Apr 29th 2010 at 6:00PM
While we still have no exact answer to that, Chris Metzen gave us a small update on the film in an interview over at vg247 published yesterday. When asked if a considerable amount of time was being spent on the movie, Metzen replied, "I wouldn't say "considerable" at all just yet. We've been through a number of story meetings, and we're still kind of getting it together with Raimi and his team and jamming on themes that we want to chase."
Sadly, the interview didn't reveal many specifics, but Metzen responded favorably when asked if he was concerned about dissappointing Warcraft fans: "Nobody wants to screw it up: we all want to hit it hard and have it be something that is as resonant and canonical as it can be. But given what Warcraft is, with all these moving parts, we're going to have to take some liberties here and there. I'm under no illusions about that fact ... "
It's hard to draw any new or concrete conclusions from the interview, but it's good to see that the movie is still being talked about. WoW.com will keep you updated as we learn more.
Filed under: Interviews, Warcraft Movie
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
rcs5024 Apr 29th 2010 6:04PM
I hope Knaack writes the movie script /sarcasm
Zalvi24 Apr 29th 2010 7:08PM
Warcraft movie update: we still dont know anything about it
Sithril Apr 29th 2010 10:11PM
Warcraft movie update redux: Knaak has joined the creating team and will be the script writting director! (is that a position?)
Yeechang Lee Apr 30th 2010 12:34AM
Actually, production was just about to start when Blizzard decided very recently to cut the number of main characters in the movie from 25 to 10. This required a complete rewrite of the script, causing the delay.
I think it's the right decision, though; lately big, epic-feeling 25-man movies (Pearl Harbor, Poseidon) haven't been nearly as popular as 10-man movies (Transformers) or 5-man movies (Dark Knight).
Pakisunny360 Apr 29th 2010 6:09PM
Just be happy that Uwe Boll( that's how u spell it right) isn't doing it
Rich Apr 29th 2010 6:12PM
/tanget -
Re: picture used for this article - was that from the original wow cgi trailer or BC's trailer? I ask because it's basically Nagrand - and if it was the vanilla wow spot then I find this interesting.
Sithril Apr 29th 2010 6:15PM
BC trailer.
ladeezluvlarry71 Apr 29th 2010 6:12PM
I love Metzen, but it's hard to every time he talks.
"We're so STOKED about this expansion, you guys!"
Taytayflan Apr 30th 2010 6:55PM
He also uses "jamming" a lot.
Tsaavik Apr 29th 2010 6:18PM
Anyone know where I can find a high-res version of the above picture. I forgot how awesome it was, I want a wallpaper!
Dawn Moore Apr 29th 2010 6:20PM
Ironically, I'd also like to see a high resolution version of the image I used for this article - I took the screenshot from the in-game cinematic and the resolution and color saturation were so poor I had to send it to a friend to make it look as good as you see it. If I had a better quality screen capture I would love to update this graphic since it's the one I've been using for our Warcraft movie posts. =)
elstor Apr 29th 2010 7:48PM
WTB wallpaper also. Any tech-savvies out there, DO EET
seanthehorde Apr 29th 2010 11:02PM
Here you go. Its not the greatest, but it'll do.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/353710/WoW%20Stuff/Sheep_Nagrand_1440x900.png
Resolution is 1440x900
seanthehorde Apr 30th 2010 12:07AM
Here's a couple more that have a nice border for wallpaper purposes.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/353710/WoW%20Stuff/Sheeped_1440x900b.png
seanthehorde Apr 30th 2010 12:10AM
Wtb edit button. The first one is blue.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/353710/WoW%20Stuff/Sheeped_1440x900g.png (Green)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/353710/WoW%20Stuff/Sheeped_1440x900i.png (WoTLK Ice)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/353710/WoW%20Stuff/Sheeped_1440x900r.png (Red)
Sithril Apr 29th 2010 6:16PM
"But given what Warcraft is, with all these moving parts, we're going to have to take some liberties here and there. I'm under no illusions about that fact ... "
Can someone explain to me what "take some liberties" means? Thank you.
Moonkinmaniac Apr 29th 2010 6:21PM
probably that it won't stick exactly to lore since the game is always evolving and that its a movie they're going to look at marketing it as such and the gaming community might not be happy with every detail.
Dawn Moore Apr 29th 2010 6:26PM
Metzen actually does explain what he means in the linked interview if you check it out. It was a bit of a lengthy and non-WoW related explanation so I cut it and added the ellipses to let readers there was more to the rest of the sentence =)
Daniel Apr 29th 2010 6:35PM
It means that nothing is sacred. From what I have seen Blizzard actually seems quite protective of its lore. At the same time, it's a game and a creative endeavor and not the tax code. That means that if they have to do something that doesn't fit with the lore in order to make the movie work or to make the game fun, they'll do it.
It's better to see the lore as a set of design guidelines rather than a mandatory set of rules that must be followed.
Rajah Apr 29th 2010 6:54PM
Of course I'm not privy to any inside information, but we can safely draw some very general conclusions based on past Hollywood experiences:
1. MANY story elements, even some you might think were crucial to WoW, will have to be left out. There's just no way that this amount of source material could be translated to the screen in even a dozen movies. Given the number of locations, characters, lore, and plots, at most we're going to see a tiny fraction of what any of us regard as WoW.
2. They will need to invent a main plot thread to tell their overall story, and this may bear little to no resemblance to what you're familiar with. Even when adapting a novel (or novel series like LotR) to the big screen they are always forced to discard side stories in favor of focusing more attention on the primary story they want to tell. When it comes to WoW, the difficulties are multiplied. WoW was never conceived as a linear story, with a beginning, middle, and end, and these are essential to making a movie that has commercial appeal. One hopes that whatever story they eventually settle on will contain at least nods to story lines we already know, but a lot of it will have to be something new and different.
3. They will need to invent main characters through which they tell their story, creating sources of conflict for them to overcome, and these may bear little to no resemblance to what you're familiar with. WoW works as a video game because you, the player, are the main character in your own telling of the story. The hundreds of NPCs you've helped or harmed (sometimes both) are little more than supporting characters. The movie will have only NPCs, but some of them will need to be distinguished as characters the audience can identify with.
4. They will need to invent a new look and feel for the movie. Blizzard does some splendid work on the huge number of audio and visual elements that make up the game, and have many of the same departments as a movie production company. But films have their own special needs, many of the techniques that work well on a computer screen would be just awful on the big screen. I suspect they'll be able to leverage quite a bit of music and sound effects, and they have a wonderful jumping off point to start with when it comes to set design, art direction, and so on.
This has only scratched the surface. When Metzen says that they will have to take "some liberties", he's not kidding.