I know some hearts were broken when Sam Raimi stopped being attached to the Warcraft movie as director. I have to say, though, the new guy is as appropriate for a video-game movie as it gets...
Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie and director of Moon and Source Code, is now attached. Now, you may ask why I think a guy known for cerebral sci-fi is perfect. It's simple, really. Both his movies feature main characters who essentially die and respawn over and over again, which is the quintessential gaming experience for many casual fans, and I suspect he was influenced by gaming in thinking such storylines up.
I'm less impressed with screenwriter Charles Leavitt, who gave us K-PAX and Blood Diamond, though to be fair, K-PAX was about an external mind using a human body as an avatar, either for real or in Kevin Spacey's imagination. At least the suits didn't say, "Hey, let's get the Kung Fu Panda guys because I hear there's kung fu pandas in this game."
With Legendary and Warner Bros. clearly trying to stake out some ground as equal in franchise power to Disney, I can see this moving forward quote a bit more quickly than before, as this is one that could easily keep going forever - and spin off into Starcraft, of course - if done right.
If you were writing a Warcraft movie, what would you focus on?
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The biggest mistake theyre making is going live action instead of CGI. Blizzard has WoWed us for years with their awesome CGI intros, why wouldn't they just make that look the template for the movie? I don't want to see a guy in some plastic costume on a green screen, I want to see over the top CGI ridiculousness.
You know, if they were going to do a movie based on any MMORPG property, I would have preferred City of Heroes as opposed to World of (Everquest Copy Cats) Warcraft.
But I’m still pissed and bitter at NC Soft for what they did to CoH…
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I like this idea but I think they should throw some small people in, not dwarves..just smaller humans. They should all come together and make a rag tag group led by a wizard or something. Maybe give one of those characters a magical power or amulet or something. The best part would be making them have to travel across the entire country to beat the bad guys. What do you guys think? Guys?
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@Dudley_DawsonSo, I have this idea for a great movie. It's about two gnomes who find a bracelet of power, and they have to take it to the Burning Steppes and cast it into the Cauldron. They form the Brotherhood of the Bracelet. Along the way they're trailed by a murloc named Gottom, who's obsessed with the bracelet, and nine bracelet bogeymen. It could be a three-parter, called 'Ruler of the Bracelet'. The first part would be called 'The Brotherhood of the Bracelet', followed by 'A Couple of Towers', with the climactic ending called 'Hey, the King's Back!'
@mjgollschewski @Dudley_Dawson Throw in some gratuitous nudity and we have a masterpiece.
Make your three main characters Jaina Proudmoore, Arthas Menethil, and Thrall. Depict the world before Arthas claims Frostmourne and build a saga or a series of movies depicting the Rise of the Lich King and his eventual defeat.
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I would focus on anything BUT the lore. That stupid, needlessly convoluted and straight-faced lore.
After a century of conflict the horde is threatening to break the walls of Ironforge, the last stronghold of the alliance. Both armies hone their blades in anticipation of a truly epic battle. The horde Dread Lords begin summoning their terrifying Infernals... but something is off. They look more purple than green. As the Dread Lords make impact tiny creatures explode from the meteor. Zerglings rush the field tearing through orcs and trolls while Infestors begin the process of assimilating the newfound biomass into the Zerg gene pool. The alliance lets out a loud cheer at the decimation of their enemy, not realizing how much worse things have gotten for them. Gazing to the sky a footman believes he sees an enormous zeppelin surrounded by a cloud of angry birds that belch lightning at the purple meteors but explains it away as the effects of stress and exhaustion.
Start off with the Orcs coming over to the realm of man and slaughtering every human they encounter. Then skip a few years where the war has taken a toll on Man, Elves, and Dwarf, that they are at each others throats for not doing enough to defend each others cities from the Orcs. The human kings son, Artha (I think that was his name), pleads and begs the king to use the Lich's sword, Frostmourne, against the alien force that's destroying their world only to have the king constantly rejecting the offer for fear of a greater evil. The headstrong prince secretly sets out for the forbidden weapon with his most loyal soldiers and his Dwarven friend, Muradin,against his fathers wishes, on his journey they fight off hordes of Orcs, and seeing destroyed villages only helps fuel his resolve. While his relationships with his friends beginning to fray as Muradin feels Artha has become too obsessed with Frostmourne. Soon his father catches wind of his sons plans, he sends out his most trusty and loyal Paladin to fetch his son. As the Prince draws near the sword he's confronted by said Paladin and Artha agrees to return, only to stab him in the back. When they finally reach the sword, Muradin warns the young prince of what he's becoming, which angers Artha, and sacrafices Muradins soul to the sword. He finally returns to his kingdom slays a vast number of Orcs and as his fathers stands in front of his son, Artha plunges the sword into his fathers heart.
Make it like 300 only with orcs and shit, and not so much slow motion = win. Make it like the Dungeon Siege Movie with hammy villains, and poor cast selection = lose.
As much as I loved moon, I have a hard time imagining that this will end up as anything other than generic fantasy. I would bet money that there will be a prophecy involved. I think the only way that you could potentially make it interesting is by making it about the first Orc attacks. Make it about the human armies discovering that they aren't alone in the world, having to build alliances with the dwarves and elves to defeat the hordes of orcs. MAYBE then you could make it interesting.
@berkowitzofthejews I dunno, I think if WB wanted to play it safe and go with a formulaic approach they'd have stuck with Raimi or got a tried and true director like Gore Verbinski or Michael Bay.
Going with Duncan Jones is equivalent to Fox hiring Darren Aronofsky to direct the Wolverine sequel. A bolder, slightly more risky choice indicating a willingness to experiment with a different set of ingredients.
@berkowitzofthejews Warcraft IS generic fantasy.
I mean shit snacks. The only reason Warcraft exists is that the Warhammer dudes wouldn't license their IP, so they basically copied it with just enough variation to avoid a copyright suit.
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Alas, I'm not much of a Warcraft fan, so I can't claim to know anything that'd make a good story for the film...Then again, I'm also a huge adventure game fan, so I'll just say to adapt the plot from the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans adventure game. Hell, it would've had Optimus Prime in it, so that'd kinda be a step in the right direction.
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@SlyDante777 As long as somebody attacks him with fire, and he gets to say "Nobody puts flames on Optimus!"
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@Canadian.Scott @LYT I don't think MMO grinding counts as gaming - it's a compulsive disorder
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Duncan Jones for director? I think this is a great idea; I've really enjoyed his films.
As for what the movie should be about? I've always thought that it should be an adaptation of Orcs & Humans. The universe has gotten sooooo much more complicated than it used to be, which is fine, but especially for the first film let's just lay out what exactly happened first: Medivh studies magic, consorts with daemons, contacts Gul'Dan, orcs open portal, orcs kick human ass. I don't really know why they shouldn't make adaptations of all the games as their own separate movies, but it would get kinda complicated dealing with the expansion packs...guess they can burn that bridge when they come to it...
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Really? We got umpteen great fairy tale pitches yesterday but nobody's got one for Warcraft?
@LYT
Well, we need a team of assorted bad asses (5, to be exact).
A hot female human paladin whose father was killed by the Lich King.
The burly dwarf warrior and an elven priestess who looks like Galadriel who the Paladin rescues from obscurity fighting in the Nagrand Arena.
A smartass gnome rogue whose wisecracks are nearly as sharp as his daggers. He's there for the money, but who's growing emotional attachment makes him come back and shoot down Darth Vader--- I mean, bravely rescue his friends.
A emotionally unstable blood elf fire mage who enjoys burning things a little TOO much (gotta fan service the horde boyz).
They are pursued by the Lich King's minions. Through the trials and tribulations they bond and become more powerful. Eventually the fight a big boss, whose sword gives the paladin the chance to get revenge on the Lich King. The team bravely fights to the last, losing one or more members to reach the Lich King. The hot female paladin, against all odds, slays the Lich King, avenging her family and dead teammates.
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@LYT Maybe everyone is to busy buying mountains of $.99 Pronto Guacamole (TM) to be creative?
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@meth_zombie @LYT Nah, for the 99-cent price, you have to buy an entree with each one. Not worth it, unless you're looking to pitch "Intestinal Warcraft"
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@LYT That would make watching a 2+ hour movie about gold farming more interesting
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