With the much-anticipated seventh installment of the Star Wars film series looming on the horizon, it is not unlikely that the existence of the upcoming World of Warcraft (WoW) movie has gone under the radar. A substantial amount of hype has understandably been paid to the space opera franchise, but as someone who has invested a greater amount of time dabbling into the genre of high fantasy instead of science fiction, I would like to dedicate this week’s ONtaku article to the realm of Warcraft in the face of its impending silver screen debut.
On Nov. 6, 2015, the trailer for the film adaption of the popular video game was released. The film was originally scheduled for release on Dec. 18, 2015, but due to the coinciding release of Star Wars’ latest episode, the movie’s release was pushed back to the following year so as to avoid direct rivalry with the much beloved space opera. Warcraft is set for release in the U.S. on June 10, 2016, and from what we can glean from it, the movie will follow in epic WoW fashion.
Directed by Duncan Jones, notable for his previous work on Source Code, the adaptation of the mass multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) appears to be comprised of a large amount of fancy post-production magic involving green screens—something which fantasy buffs everywhere should have had enough of thanks to Peter Jackson’s final installment of The Hobbit trilogy that signed the end of Tolkien’s cinematic reign. I must admit, however, that the mix of prosthetics, special FX makeup and CGI work—especially on the orcs of the Horde—looks absolutely stunning. Weta Workshops, the New Zealand-based prop company who worked on Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, teamed up with Legendary Pictures to create the armoured costumes and weaponry.
With Vikings actor Travis Fimmel cast as the main human protagonist, Anduin Lothar, and Tobey Kebbell—who featured in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Fantastic Four—as the orc protagonist, the film appears to hold quite a bit of promise in the way of dramatic performances. Set in the Warcraft universe—originally introduced in the real-time strategy game Warcaft: Orcs & Humans, released in 1994—the plot of the film seems to focus on events that supposedly happen during the First War. The main protagonists—one a man of the Alliance, the other an orc from the Horde—provide a sense of duality. Both sides of the conflict, following the arrival of the orcish clans to Azeroth via portal, seem to be given screen time—something I am incredibly excited for as someone who has played for both factions.
With the introduction of something so outlandish as orcs and sorcery, with a large player populous spread over thousands of private game servers accessible around the world, I can only assume that Warcraft will see a fair amount of success in the box office. As someone who spent a considerable amount of time funneling their sad, meager teenage earnings into sustaining Blizzard Entertainment’s multimillion-dollar video game franchises, it is safe to say that I am nonetheless excited to see how well a film adaption of this game fares under the scrutiny of not only the general public, but in the eyes of WoW fanatics everywhere.
In addition to the much anticipated film adaption, World of Warcraft: Legion—which will be the video game’s sixth expansion—is also due for release in summer 2016. According to an article released on Nov. 27, 2015 for Polygon, the alpha test for Legion is ongoing, while the wider beta test is planned for sometime late this year.