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This article contains information and lore exclusive to the Warcraft film universe, which is considered to be separate from the main Warcraft universe canon.
Warcraft
Warcraft movie poster
Official film poster
Directed by Duncan Jones
Produced by Robert G. Tapert
Chris Metzen
Charles Roven
Alex Garnter
Thomas Tull
Jon Jashni
Joshua Donen
Stuart Fenegan
Written by Charles Leavitt
Chris Metzen
Music by Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography Simon Duggan
Editing by Paul Hirsch
Studio Legendary Pictures
Distributed by Warner Bros. (formerly)
Universal Studios
Release dates(s) June 10, 2016[1]
Running time 120 to 150 minutes[2]
Country United States
Language English
Budget Expected to top $100 million[3]
Ratings

Warcraft (to be released internationally as Warcraft: The Beginning)[4] is an upcoming fantasy epic film based on the Warcraft series and set on the world of Azeroth. It is planned to be released on June 10, 2016.[1] It is expected to be rated PG-13.[5] Following a 123 day shoot from Jan 20 through May 23, the film is currently in post production.[6] The film's trailer made its debut on November 6 at BlizzCon 2015.[7]

Plot

The film is set in the era of the First War, and stars Anduin Lothar of Azeroth and Durotan of the Frostwolf clan. The two were chosen because they both represent the ideals of their races.[8] Strong female characters are also to feature.[5]

Literature

A prequel comic written by Paul Cornell and illustrated by Mat Broome titled Warcraft: Bonds of Brotherhood will be released on June 07, 2016.[9] A pair of tie-in novels written by Christie Golden, Warcraft: Durotan and Warcraft: The Official Movie Novelization, will be released on May 3, 2016 and June 7, 2016.[10] Warcraft: Behind the Dark Portal, a behind-the-scenes book by Daniel Wallace, will also be published on June 7, 2016.

Cast and crew

Cast

The following tables show the full cast of the movie:[11]

Main
Name Character Role Affiliation
Ben Foster IconSmall Human Male Medivh[12] Kirin Tor
Travis Fimmel IconSmall Human Male Anduin Lothar[13][14] General of the Azeroth Army Alliance, Kingdom of Stormwind
Dominic Cooper IconSmall Human Male Llane Wrynn I[13] King of Stormwind Alliance, Kingdom of Stormwind
Paula Patton IconSmall HalfOrc Female Garona Halforcen[12] Horde
Toby Kebbell[12] IconSmall OrcBrown Male Durotan[15] Chieftain of the Frostwolf clan Horde, Frostwolf clan
Robert Kazinsky[12] IconSmall OrcBrown Male Orgrim Doomhammer[15] Durotan's second-in-command Horde, Frostwolf clan
Daniel Wu[12] IconSmall Orc Male Gul'dan[15] Founder of the Horde Horde
Clancy Brown[12] IconSmall OrcBrown Male Blackhand[15] Warchief of the Horde Horde, Blackrock clan
Ben Schnetzer IconSmall Human Male Khadgar[15] Former student of the Kirin Tor, Apprentice to Medivh Alliance. Formerly: Kirin Tor
Ruth Negga IconSmall Human Female Taria Wrynn[15] Queen of Stormwind Alliance, Kingdom of Stormwind
Anna Galvin IconSmall OrcBrown Female Draka[15] Horde, Frostwolf clan
Minor
Name Character Role Affiliation
Callum Keith Rennie IconSmall Human Male Moroes Servant of Medivh
Terry Notary IconSmall OrcBrown Male Grommash Hellscream Chieftain of the Warsong clan Horde, Warsong clan
Dylan Schombing IconSmall Human Boy Varian Wrynn Prince of Stormwind Alliance, Kingdom of Stormwind
AI IconSmall Orc Boy Go'el Frostwolf clan
Burkely Duffield IconSmall Human Male Callan
Anna Van Hooft IconSmall Unknown Aloman
Dean Redman IconSmall Human Male Varis
Ryan Robbins IconSmall Human Male Karos
Toby Kebbell IconSmall Human Male Antonidas Medivh's teacher Kirin Tor
Dean Redman IconSmall OrcBrown Male Caged Frostwolf Frostwolf clan
Elena Wurlitzer IconSmall Draenei Female Draenei Mother
Michael Adamthwaite IconSmall Dwarf Male Magni Bronzebeard King

Crew

  • Director - Duncan Jones[16]
  • Executive Producer - Stuart Fenegan[17]
  • Co-Producer - Chris Metzen[18]
  • Producer - Charles Roven[17]
  • Producer - Alex Gartner[17]
  • Producer - Thomas Tull[17]
  • Producer - Jon Jashni[17]
  • Writer - Charles Leavitt[17]
  • Visual Effects Supervisor - Bill Westenhofer[19]
  • Score Composer - Ramin Djawadi[20]

Locations

  • Azeroth
    • Dalaran
    • Dun Morogh
      • Ironforge
    • Elwynn Forest
      • Stormwind City
    • Goldshire
  • Draenor
    • Dark Portal

Development

Concept artwork of Draenor, Ironforge, Dalaran, and Stormwind City were shown, implying they all may make at least some sort of appearance.[8] Lion's Pride Inn and Elwynn Forest will appear.[5] A piece of concept art depicting the construction of the Dark Portal in the wastes of Tanaan was given to a fan at San Diego Comic Con 2014.[13]

Chris Metzen has compared the film to Marvel Comics' Ultimate line, in that the broad story is what fans know and love but the details are different[8] (the Ultimate line comics have their own canon independent of the core Marvel universe)[21] so therefore the film continuity (the film and its literature) is separate.[22][23] The movie has been described as a war story, but one told from the viewpoints of both sides.[5]

In a May 9, 2006 press release, Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures (makers of Batman Begins and 300) announced that they will develop a live-action film set in the Warcraft universe. Legendary Pictures has acquired the movie rights for the game universe, and both companies are now focused on translating the Warcraft experience to the big screen.[24][25][26]

New details about the movie were reveled at BlizzCon 2007.[2][27]

On July 22, 2009, Blizzard Entertainment announced that Sam Raimi would become the Warcraft movie director. Sam Raimi is the famed director for the blockbuster series, Spider-Man, and has generated 5 Academy Awards nominations in his career. Raimi also wrote and directed the cult classic The Evil Dead and its two sequels, and produced 30 Days of Night. He also recently wrote and directed the thriller Drag Me To Hell. In addition to film, Raimi has worked in television, producing such fantasy series as Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.[18]

The live-action film was set for release in 2009, but was later rescheduled to 2011.[28]

Uwe Boll attempted to apply for the job of director, from which Blizzard CEO Paul Sams replied "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you…especially not to you."[29]

According to IMDB, the manuscript writer will be Chris Metzen. (Jesse Wigutow was mentioned, but has been removed).[30] IMDB information on pre-release movies should be taken as suspect, though. IMDB generally only removes false information if someone reports it.

According to Mike Morhaime, there is a draft script.[31] Chris Metzen mentioned that the film will be action-packed and violent, stating "We're definitely not going to make a G or a PG version of this. It's not PillowfightCraft."[27]

During Blizzcon 2010, Chris Metzen said that they have the story ready and that Raimi and his team have agreed to it and that Blizzard is just "waiting for the big green light in the sky". Nethaera said in March 2012 that "It's still on the radar. We just don't have any current updates to provide."[32]

During Comic Con 2012 Sam Raimi confirmed that the Warcraft film moved on, due to Raimi's unavailability. "Actually, they don't have me directing World of Warcraft anymore because when I took the Oz job, they had to move on to another director," Raimi said. "They had to start making it."[33] Later Raimi explained that he and Robert Rodat were working on the script for a long time. He read a screenplay written by Blizzard, and it didn't quite work for him. Raimi told them he wanted to make my his original story with Robert, so they pitched it to Legendary and they accepted it, and then we pitched it to Blizzard, and they had reservations, but they accepted it. After Robert wrote the screenplay, they realized that Blizzard had veto power. Blizzward didn't approve this story, and they wanted to go a different way.[34]

On August 2, 2012 the studio announced that they've hired writer Charles Leavitt to pen the screenplay. Leavitt has already written one fantasy film for Legendary, The Seventh Son, which is due for release in October 2013. Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard President Bobby Kotick, who has thus far been hesitant about adapting his company's games into movies, issued a statement saying that if its "important to Blizzard, it's important to me. They're very excited about having a World of Warcraft film," Kotick told Variety. Kotick continued, "They've been very careful and thoughtful about the development process... I just think [Legendary founder and CEO] Thomas Tull has such a great track record. If there's someone we want to do business with, he's at the top of the list."[35]

On January 30, 2013, Duncan Jones—director of Source Code—was announced as the new director.[16] In May 2013 producer Charles Roven told Slash Film that Warcraft is currently planned to shoot in early 2014. "First quarter 2014 we're going to shoot that movie."[36]

Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros ended their partnership on June 24, 2013, but the film shouldn't suffer delays from this situation.[37] Thomas Tull, CEO of Legendary and producer of the movie, mentioned on July 1, 2013 that the script is not finished yet, because they "absolutely don't want to screw it up", a reference to that most movies based on video games have poor reviews.[38]

A teaser for the film was shown at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2013.[39]

In August 2013, it was announced that Legendary Pictures would present the film to Universal Studios in the upcoming months. It is up to Universal whether the film will be distributed.[40] It was announced later in the month that filming will begin in January of the following year.[41] Much of the film's production will take place in Vancouver.[42]

Casting started in late September 2013, with Colin Farrell and Paula Patton offered lead roles,[43] and with Paul Dano, Anton Yelchin, Travis Fimmel, and Anson Mount in talks for other roles.[44]

On October 1, 2013 a release date for the movie was announced: December 18, 2015.[45]

On November 9, 2013, during the 2nd day of BlizzCon 2013 there was a full hour panel featuring director Duncan Jones along with Chris Metzen & Rob Pardo about the movie.[46][47]

On December 4, 2013, Legendary Pictures made a cast reveal: Ben Foster, Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Toby Kebbell, and Robert Kazinsky would star in the movie.[12]

On December 19, 2013, Legendary Pictures revealed that Daniel Wu & Clancy Brown would join the cast.[48]

Plot development

Early development

The film was originally set in the era of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. This was scrapped, however, as there were notions that it would be too similar to Lord of the Rings and that Warcraft had reached its current level of popularity through its MMORPG, rather than the previous RTS games.[2]

The movie was later said to be set one year prior to World of Warcraft, primarily told from the Alliance's point of view. Characters such as Cairne Bloodhoof, Thrall, Sylvanas Windrunner, and Bolvar Fordragon would be likely to make appearances.[2] At BlizzCon 2007, Chris Metzen said that the main character was set to be a new hero described as a "kick-ass Human" and an "Anti-Thrall",[49][50] but not Varian Wrynn.[51]

Metzen also stated clearly that lore would be bent for the sake of the film.[50]

If the film works out the producers would be excited to continue the story. A trilogy hasn't been ruled out. Metzen has teased many trilogies if they put their mind to it.[5] Jones has mentioned the possibility of an additional two films as well.[52] Additionally, they are hoping for a TV series in the same vein as Game of Thrones if the film is successful.[5]

Concept art of Teldrassil was released in relation to the film, hinting that at least some of the film takes place there, and perhaps by extension, in Darnassus. Blizzard artists, such as Wei Wang, contributed over 4,000 art pieces for the film.[5] Collaboration existed, in that ILM took photos and scans of the actors playing orcs, and forwarded them onto Blizzard. Blizzard provided concept art based on these images as to how the orcs should look. The concept art subsequently formed the basis of the 3D effects.[53]

BlizzCon 2013

BlizzCon 2013 featured an entire panel on the movie. They revealed that the story was going to be around the time of Warcraft 1, and that the focus was going to be on Anduin Lothar and Durotan, as they felt it was important to portray both the Alliance and Horde. Concept art was shown of Dalaran, Stormwind, Ironforge, and Draenor.[47]

BlizzCon 2014

BlizzCon 2014 featured a movie panel. It was stated that the film had been moved from the World of Warcraft timeframe to that of the first game, due to the abundance of storylines and characters in the former, and how difficult it would be to translate them into film format.[54]

Production

The June to November period of 2013 was focused on pre-production. Half the cast is live-action actors and the other half are motion-capture technology based actors. Real costumes will be crafted for the actors performing with motion-capture technology to have photographic references for the animations. Physical props will be used in the case of Elwynn Forest and the weapons used by human characters.[5] Duncan Jones has likened the film's use of CGI as being "somewhere between Planet of the Apes, Fellowship of the Ring and Avatar.[55]

Production of the film is being documented as it progresses. Jones is hoping for a "the making of"-type book or "behind the scenes" DVD feature.

The music of the film is being designed to be true to the game series's soundtracks.

The Orcish language was developed for the movie by a linguist who also worked on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and Avatar.[5]

Post-production was handled by Industrial Light and Magic.[56] At the start of post-production, ILM had to work on over 1000 visual effects. By May, 2015, 50 remained.[53]

Weta Workshop carried out work on physical props and costumes for the film. 84 full suits of armor were produced for Stormwind's royal guard, along with hundreds of weapons and shields. Specific pieces of armor and weapons were created for major characters, including King Llane. The weapons were created through a combination of steel and lightweight materials.[57]

Lore differences

Movie Lore
Anduin Lothar has a deceased wife and a son. Queen Taria Wrynn is his sister. Anduin Lothar has no family and is the last of his ancient bloodline.
Durotan is killed by Gul'dan in a duel. Durotan is killed by Gul'dan's assassins.
Go'el is born near-dead and Gul'dan uses the fel to save him, turning his skin green. Thrall is born sane and with green skin.
Llane Wrynn has a daughter and a son. Llane Wrynn I only has a son.
Garona chooses to help the human against the Horde. Garona is a spy of Gul'dan and the Shadow Council.
Llane Wrynn I asks for Garona to kill him in front of the Horde. Garona is forced to kill Llane Wrynn I by the Shadow Council.
Moroes is a member of the Kirin Tor. Moroes is a civilian.
Khadgar joined the Kirin Tor at the age of 6 and left it at 17. Khadgar joined the Kirin Tor at the age of 17 and was sent to study with Medivh.
Medivh is crushed to death by a stone golem sent over his head by Khadgar. Medivh is stabbed by Khadgar and decapitated by Lothar.
Dalaran is a flying city. Dalaran is still grounded.
Alodi is a cubic artifact held by the Kirin Tor. Alodi was a half-elven mage and the first Guardian of Tirisfal.
Blackhand is killed by Lothar in a duel. Blackhand is killed by Orgrim Doomhammer.
Orgrim Doomhammer is Durotan's second-in-command and a member of the Frostwolf clan. Orgrim Doomhammer is Blackhand's second-in-command and a member of the Blackrock clan.
The Frostwolf clan is exterminated on Gul'dan's order. Members of the Frostwolf clan are sent into exile.

Trivia

  • Easter eggs referencing the film will be placed inside the World of Warcraft game series.[5]
  • Clancy Brown, who plays Blackhand, previously worked on the Warcraft franchise in the canceled game Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, where he voiced Thrall.[58]

Gallery

Press

Actors

Behind The Scenes Character Posters

Videos

References

 
  1. ^ a b Micky Neilson on Twitter (2015-04-23)
  2. ^ a b c d BlizzCon 2007: New Details of the Warcraft Movie. IGN (2007-08-04).
  3. ^ Alex Ben Block 2013-06-24. Warner Bros., Legendary End Talks to Renew Pact. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on 2013-06-25.
  4. ^ Simon Reynolds 2015-11-02. Warcraft: The Beginning poster revealed ahead of trailer release on Friday. Digital Spy. Retrieved on 2016-05-12.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j BlizzCon 2013 – The Warcraft Movie Panel Details in a Nutshell
  6. ^ Duncan Jones on Twitter
  7. ^ 2015-10-14, Activision Blizzard to Host Investor Day on Nov 6 at BlizzCon 2015. Blizzplanet, retrieved on 2015-10-16
  8. ^ a b c BLizzCOn 2013 Movie Panel
  9. ^ Blizzard at Comic-Con (2015-07-09)
  10. ^ Christie Golden on Twitter (2015-09-07)
  11. ^ Warcraft: Origen (2016) - Full Cast and Crew - IMDb
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Twitter / Legendary: WARCRAFT movie fans! Cast reveal... (2013-12-04). Retrieved on 2013-12-05.
  13. ^ a b c Jim Vejvoda 2014-07-26. SDCC 2014: Duncan Jones Gives Fans Their First Look at Warcraft. IGN. Retrieved on 2015-02-20.
  14. ^ @Legendary on Twitter
  15. ^ a b c d e f g BlizzCon 2014 - Warcraft Movie Presentation
  16. ^ a b Warcraft Movie Update: Director Signed!
  17. ^ a b c d e f 'Warcraft' Movie Lands 'Source Code' Director (Exclusive). The Hollywood Reporter (2013-01-30). Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  18. ^ a b BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® AND LEGENDARY PICTURES SIGN SAM RAIMI TO DIRECT UPCOMING WARCRAFT® MOVIE
  19. ^ Medievaldragon 2013-04-25. Legendary Pictures and Blizzard Entertainment Welcome Visual Effects Supervisor Bill Westenhofer. Blizzplanet.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-03.
  20. ^ Medievaldragon 2015-03-09. Ramin Djawadi Finishing Warcraft Film Score. Blizzplanet.com. Retrieved on 2015-03-19.
  21. ^ Marvel Canon
  22. ^ Micky Neilson on Twitter
  23. ^ Christie Golden on Twitter
  24. ^ http://www.blizzard.com/press/060509.shtml[broken link]
  25. ^ Warcraft Movie Announced. IGN (2006-05-08).
  26. ^ Game Maker to Put Product on Big Screen. New York Times (2006-05-09).
  27. ^ a b Warcraft Movie Details Revealed At BlizzCon. Kotaku (2007-08-05). Retrieved on 2013-12-05.
  28. ^ Medievaldragon 2009-10-12. Sam Raimi Announces Robert Rodat as Warcraft Film writer. Retrieved on 2009-10-18.
  29. ^ Shawn Adler 2008-04-18. Uwe Boll Won't Ever Be Entering The World Of Warcraft. Retrieved on 2009-06-01.
  30. ^ Warcraft (2016) - IMDb.
  31. ^ Chris Faylor 2008-10-28. Warcraft Movie Not Expected in 2009, Still Needs 'A Lot of Work'. Retrieved on 2009-02-24.​ “I don't know about the 2009 date, but it is still something we are very excited about," Blizzard president Mike Morhaime responded when asked about the film. "We do have a draft of a script, it isn't final," he added. "I think we still need to do a lot of work.”
  32. ^ Blizzard Entertainment Nethaera 2012-03-15. World of Warcraft Movie. Retrieved on 2015-05-18.
  33. ^ Comic Con 2012 Exclusive: Sam Raimi Won't Direct the World of Warcraft Movie
  34. ^ Sam Raimi Reveals Why He Departed the Warcraft Film
  35. ^ K-PAX Scribe to Pen World of Warcraft
  36. ^ Legendary Plans First Quarter 2014 Shoot for ‘Warcraft’
  37. ^ Medievaldragon 2013-06-25. Breaking News: Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros End Partnership, Warcraft Film Continues. Blizzplanet. Retrieved on 2013-06-25.
  38. ^ Charlie Jane Anders 2013-07-01. How World of Warcraft Could Break the “Sucky Video Game Movie” Curse. io9. Retrieved on 2013-07-03.
  39. ^ SDCC 2013 – Legendary Entertainment Duncan Jones Reveals Warcraft Film Teaser (2013-07-20). Retrieved on 2013-07-21.
  40. ^ Mark Julian 2013-08-17. World of Warcraft movie moves to Universal. Video Game Films. Retrieved on 2015-02-20.
  41. ^ Luke Karmali 2013-08-29. Warcraft Movie to Start Filming in January 2014. IGN. Retrieved on 2015-02-20.
  42. ^ World of Warcraft film to shoot in Vancouver[broken link]
  43. ^ Colin Farrell and Paula Patton Up for WARCRAFT Leads. Collider (2013-09-22). Retrieved on 2013-09-24.
  44. ^ Paul Dano, Anton Yelchin, Travis Fimmel, and Anson Mount on the Short List for WARCRAFT. Collider (2013-09-23). Retrieved on 2013-09-24.
  45. ^ @Warcraft on Twitter
  46. ^ Warcraft movie slated for discussion at BlizzCon. WoW Insider (2013-10-18). Retrieved on 2013-12-05.
  47. ^ a b Warcraft Movie Presentation. MMO-Champion (2013-11-09). Retrieved on 2013-12-05.
  48. ^ Twitter / Legendary: #WarcraftMovie update! Daniel ... (2013-12-19). Retrieved on 2013-12-19.
  49. ^ Legendary Pictures - World of Warcraft Film Blizzcon video (2007-08-14). Retrieved on 2013-12-05.
  50. ^ a b Blizzcon 07 Legendary Pictures panel
  51. ^ Amanda Rivera 2007-08-04. Liveblogging the BlizzCon movie panel. WoW Insider. Retrieved on 2015-02-20.
  52. ^ 2015-07-08, Duncan Jones Wants To Make Two Warcraft Sequels, live from SDCC 2015. YouTube, retrieved on 2015-07-26
  53. ^ a b 6 Things We Learned About Warcraft From Its Director. Wired (2015-05-27). Retrieved on 2015-05-27.
  54. ^ Chris Hardwick 2014-11-24. BlizzCon 2014 – Warcraft Movie Presentation Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet. Retrieved on 2015-03-11.
  55. ^ Warcraft Film – Duncan Jones Says CGI is a tool that can be done well. Blizzplanet (2015-02-20). Retrieved on 2015-02-20.
  56. ^ Star Wars effects studio working on Warcraft film, an Orcs vs. Humans origin story. GameSpot (2013-11-09). Retrieved on 2015-05-09.
  57. ^ 2015-10-12, NYCC 2015 – WETA Warcraft Movie Armor Props. Blizzplanet, retrieved on 2015-10-15
  58. ^ Chris Metzen on Twitter

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