Sam Raimi Directing World of Warcaft Movie
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
It would appear so. The acclaimed director recently signed on to direct a film adaptation of the massively popular massively multiplayer online role playing game. The film will be produced by Legendary Pictures and Dark Knight producer Charles Roven. Raimi will supervise devolpment while shooting Spiderman 4 and will be begin production after that film wraps.
What does this mean for Spiderman 5, which is rumoured to be a the second part of a two-part story arc beginning in Spiderman 4? Will Raimi utilize over-the-top, hyper-violent fantasty action a la Army of Darkness? Or will he go a more epic, elegant route like Lord of the Rings? Remember when Raimi was rumoured to direct The Hobbit? You think he was still just itching to direct a fantasy epic and felt this was the next best thing?
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Actually, I would think that Warcraft fits Sam Raimi’s sensibilities rather well. I hope he’s found plenty of investors for it though, otherwise it will surely go the way of the Halo movie: too expensive to produce, so the studio drops it.
That deal might not have fallen through if their were a director of Raimi’s stature attached.
I’m not sure, Ive heard conflicting things, but I think Neil Blomkamp was a major hurdle for the studio.
Perhaps I should have said Bioshock then? It’s in limbo right now, despite the involvement of Gore Verbinski.
Drag Me To Hell was a disappointment so it’s back to spider-man and now world of warcraft. It’s not improbable that we’ll never get another Sam Raimi horror.
This is what I’ve been sayin. You CANT make a movie anymore unless it’s adapted from a breakfast cereal or a fast food meal or something. This is why it’s important to make sure you go see Moon. Not because we can reverse the trend, that’s unlikely, but because we’re not gonna have too many more Moon’s or District 9’s in the future. Original stories are going out of style.
I can’t wait for Martin Scorcese’s Connect Four The Motion Picture.
In world gone checkerboard…
…one man must place the circles in the holes…
This summer…
Boy: Connect Four!
*pieces fall in slow motion and form a Jesus pose*
Martin Scorsese’s “Connect Four” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
In just over one week, Drag Me To Hell made back its $30 million budget (half of which was from the opening weekend alone), and was mostly a critical success, with a 92% on the Tomatometer. Currently, the worldwide gross stands at nearly $58.5 million. Don’t forget, there are still the DVD sales to consider in the future.
All in all, the film was a success for Universal. Granted, it’s not making Spider-Man money, but so what? Is that what only counts as a success anymore? If you feel the movie was a “disappointment” for you as an entertainment, fine. I get that. I liked the film, but I didn’t love it like some did. At the end of the day, I was pleased and I felt that Raimi still delivered the fun, visceral horror and excitement he’s been known for all these years.
But, to say the film was a disappointment in terms of its performance in the marketplace (as well as critically, apparently) is just not true. Personally, I’m not too excited for the idea of Sam taking on a WoW movie as his next project. I’m not into the game like others are and I’ve already seen and enjoyed Hercules and Xena, so I don’t need this as well.
I’m fine with him going back to Spider-Man, as long as he can redeem himself and the franchise from the previous, unfocused mess that was Spider-Man 3.
all that’s true john but it was a box office dissappointment (not a dissappointment for me, I liked it a lot).
And now between the multipicture deals for these franchise films it looks like he has no forseeable plans to return to horror. From what I”ve read he’s tied up for at least 3 films.
John, I should’ve made it clear above when I said “disappointment I just meant Box Office disappointment.
I’m saying that the market is demanding fewer DMtH’s and more WoW’s
Rusty, my entire post above is chock full of proof that the film was/is in fact NOT a box office disappointment. Do you need the links as well? ‘Cause I got ‘em.
Oh, never mind. I don’t even know why I bothered. It’s things like this that are why I don’t post here very often. Sorry Rusty, but I won’t be your Randy. Forget I said anything. Let’s talk about Warcraft instead, or Command and Conquer. I wonder what THAT movie would be like?
I know where the information comes from John. I understand what you’re saying about the domestic total being greater than the reported budget. And generally speaking that does mean the film can claim to be a hit.
but…
1. they kept the budget low and barely managed to turn a profit.
2. I see your foreign / dvd sales and I raise you marketing / theater distribution.
3. The saw films all make 50 – 60 million, The Stangers made over $50 million last summer. And Halloween made over $50 mil the summer before that.
4. it was a high profile release from an a list director.
You’re right in saying it might’ve been a success. But a meager one. It disappointed.
and now Sam Raimi is booked for 6-8 years doing shit I don’t care about and has no plans to return to horror.
@ It’s things like this that are why I don’t post here very often.
first of all… comments like mine are the reason you don’t post here very often!? Really?
? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?
I dispute your version of events.
Seriously, up until this post I thought I was being quite polite.
Rusty, should we all go see AntiChrist as well?
I am definitely looking forward to that one because I love Lars Von Trier. Though I wasn’t that big a fan of his last one Boss of it All.
Do you like his earlier films? I recommend Idiots, Breaking the Waves, Dogvlle, Manderlay and of course his tv series Kingdom.
Leeeeeeeeeeeeroooooooooooooy JENKINS!!!!!
I mean seriously people, does this movie have any hope whatsoever?
I’ve seen many articles about this, and this (The article that is listed as the source, not specifically this article) is the first article I’ve seen to specifically say that the movie is based on World of Warcraft. Most of the articles say that the movie is just purely Warcraft.
Warcraft is a setting that probably has as much source material done on it to put it on the same level with a Lord of the Rings or a Dungeons and Dragons. The story probably isn’t as good as Lord of the Rings, and a lot better than Dungeons or Dragons. So it would fit somewhere there in the middle. I tend to think that it’s much closer to Lord of the Rings than Dungeons and Dragons (Which really has a generic “story” in the best of cases). However, Warcraft isn’t quite at the level of a masterpiece of novels.
Still, it is important to note that it has more source material available to it than most other movies do. Including 4 computer games (Along with expansions), over 10 books, several table top RPGs, etc. Again, I think it has more than enough material for them to pick out a good story, and there are several good stories to be told. Whether or not that will work out is yet to be determined. But to dismiss the movie because it has an MMO is just being uninformed.
This movie has been in the works since 2006. It was previously announced as based on “Warcraft”, and not “World of Warcraft”, but since then, it’s probably become a better fit to base it, at least slightly, on WoW due to it’s popularity. Still, last I heard, the movie would actually take place before the WoW storyline began.
I’m curious where all the snickers and ill will is coming from here. I’m going to assume that few, if any of you, have actually played any of the games, much less paid attention to the story. Blizzard is notorious for having really good stories. That is under-emphasized with WoW, but in previous games (Especially Warcraft 3, IMO), the story has really been one of their strongest assets.
Anyway, this is a much better idea than the Sims movie.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but my lack of interest simply comes from the fact that I’m just not into this genre (fantasy, wizards, orcs, ogres, dragons and such) all that much. A little of it goes a long way for me. I’m sure they’re fun games with rich, immerse characters and stories, I’m just not a big fan of that type of gameplay, either (MMORPG). I’m not the audience for it, is what I’m saying.
I have nothing against it. I’m sure Raimi is more than qualified and it will probably make billions of dollars just off the popularity, like you said, but I have no ill will towards it myself.
And what do you think about PT Anderson’s upcoming PacMan? I was skeptical at first but after his panel at comic con where he made it clear was huge fanboy he is of the original game I think I can safely say it should be interesting.
Not sure about Igmar Bergman’s Count Chocula though. Have to wait and see if they get the costume right.
@ Anyway, this is a much better idea than the Sims movie.
why?
The more I discuss things with you, the more I think that your shtick is one big comedy act.
My question about Sims is a real question. What about WoW will make for a better film than Sims?
I’m legitimately interested in having a discussion about what makes for a good movie in this age of increasingly flimsy premises.
The Count Chocula thing I made up though. Sorry Count Chocula fans.
I totally wanted to see a Count Chocula movie!!! My dreams are ruined!!
The Sims doesn’t have a story. It’s a “make your own story” sort of game. Warcraft, and yes even World of Warcraft has a wonderful and vibrant story. It’s fantasy based, which will turn a lot of people off, but there is a lot to it. In Warcraft 3, it was the story of a Human Paladin that gets corrupted by an evil entity known as the Lich King. He turns against humanity, and brings about an age of destruction that hasn’t been seen for a while. World of Warcraft picks up from there. While the story may not be immediately evident in the quests and such that you do (Although, they are definitely there. Especially in the Death Knight beginning quests), the overall story of the game, which Blizzard does a decent but not great job of presenting, continues to move the story ahead. I haven’t been able to keep up with the entirety of the story, but it is definitely interesting.
In any case, like I said before, this movie has been said (By Blizzard) to be occuring prior to the events of World of Warcraft. So while it may carry that name, it’s the story of Warcraft 3 that really matters. Beyond that, I’m not sure that I want to have this debate with anyone that has already closed off their mind to the potential of a movie “based on an MMO”.
Video Games can tell stories in ways that movies can’t. But movies can tell stories in ways that Video Games can’t. In theory, they are good companion pieces. In execution, they very rarely work. So, while I’m extremely skeptical, I will not write this movie off.
@Randy
My despondency over this movie has much to do with the history of video game to movie adaptations. I would say Resident Evil is probably the best of the lot with D.O.A. being cute only because of the cheese factor.
Also the record on well done fantasy/D&D movies (including great cheesy ones like Army of Darkness) is also not encouraging.
That’s a fair complaint. If that’s where you’re remarks come from, I totally understand that. But WoW carries a negative connotation with many people on this site. So I just wanted to make sure that people were aware that Warcraft actually has a strong story.
But as you said, that’s never stopped them from ruining other franchises.
Thinking about Sam Raimi and this Warcraft or WoW movie reminds me of the show he produces on the CW, Legend of The Seeker. Anybody here watch that show?
Legend of the Seeker isn’t a CW show, it’s syndicated. That means it is very difficult for me to watch it has been moved around to the point that it could have been dropped in my area for all I know. I have seen a few of the episodes, and it was enjoyable enough, but I haven’t kept up with it.
Perhaps WonderJenn has had better luck than I. She wrote a review of the show shortly after it started that was fairly positive: http://www.geekshow.us/content/television-content/television-reviews/review-the-legend-of-the-seeker/
Like Randy said above, there is plenty to choose from when adapting a story from the Warcraft universe. If done with enough care and attention to detail, this has the potential to be the first legitimately good video game movie. Then again, it could certainly be horrible when all is said and done.
Okay Sam Raimi’s work in Xena/Hercules should give us some hope. I suppose we’ll know more when the tone of the movie comes out.
Spike Jonze and Charlie Kauffman need to reunite to make a Sims Movie. I’m being totally serious.
So, same question as I posed to Randy. What about SIms makes for a compelling movie to you?
Warcraft has a built-in unverse and plenty of narrative choices and story structure to choose from between the games and the novels. Even if it were restricted to just the games, there is more story in there than you might think. The gameplay is based around real-time strategy conventions or MMO mission structures. However, these things are placed on top of an actual narrative that unfolds over time. Warcraft has more story to adapt than movies like Mortal Kombat, Super MArio Bros, or Doom could have ever hoped for.
The Sims doesn’t really have much of a narrative beyond “see what the fake people are going to do”. If someone wanted to make a successful movie out of it, they’d have to come up with some sort of gimmick or hook. Perhaps making it with some sort of meta commentary about the people who play the game rather than a straight-up narrative adaptation.
Sims Movie- A man is living what he assumes is an ideal life; nice TV, perfectly structured house, etc. One day he learns that a friend of his was burnt alive in his house after all the doors mysterioulsy dissapeared during a cooking mishap. This begins to question some of the other bizzare quirks of his exsistince that he had always just put aside in his mind. What follows is a twisted, comical and profound odessey into a world that becomes less real the more the Man discovers.
It’ll be like The Truman Show meets Synecdoche, New York
I’ve already seen The Sims movie. It’s called The Nines, starring Ryan Reynolds and it’s awesome.
The Nines is ok until the end twist when you realise it’s actually terrible.
But is it the strength of the stories that gets people exited anyways? If we’re judging on the merrits of story don’t all video games up short. All of them are shallow compared to novels. You probably be better off adapting the upteenth LoTR’s nockoff.
Transformers has more of a narrative than Legos. But that doesn’t mean Transformers The Move would be better than Legos The Motion Picture.
And Faraci’s seen District 9!
http://chud.com/articles/articles/20239/1/COMIC-CON-09-DISTRICT-9-IS-AMAZING/Page1.html
More importantly, he loved District 9. His short description there has me really excited to see it in a few weeks.
Anything can make a good movie. But ultimately many things start on better ground. When I’m looking for things to pour money into for a movie basis, I’m going to look at something with a story I can adapt. The Sims movie that Nick pitches could be interesting. But the only reason to attach “The Sims” to the title is to bring in people on the name alone. And I’m not sure that’s a good idea, based on the number of people that would scoff at the idea. They would be close to offsetting. I have no problem with The Sims. Fun game. But I don’t want a movie based on it.
Legitimately, they could want to do a movie based on WoW for story purposes. It’s probably more likely they also want it for it’s name appeal. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be a good combination of both.
That’s actually not bad Nick. But isn’t this the same territory Kaufman’s been mining for years and doing great without paying royalty checks to video game makers?
What does Sims bring to the table? Would you rather see sims than a Charlie Kaufman original (speaking of course in abstract terms. whose to say which fictional film would actually be better)?
Well, the whole plot revolves around the main charecter living inside of The Sims video game. Its a bit like how the actor in Being John Malkovitch was John Malkovitch as opposed to a fictional actor.
Personally, I’d rather have an original C.Kaufman film to look forward too. Although I’d probably be more interested in Sims than in WoW.