Corona | Coming Attractions

Legendary Pictures has hired screenwriter Charles Leavitt to rewrite their stuck in development hell World of Warcraft movie. With a new add-on slated for release this fall, the timing is good for Leavitt to come onboard the project, give it a fresh coat of paint, and use the interest from the Mists of Pandaria expansion pack to attact interest from a new director.

Leavitt wrote the screenplays for K-Pax, the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller Blood Diamond and the upcoming Seventh Son.

While on the red carpet at last week's Saturn Awards, director Sam Raimi was asked what the latest word was on the movie. Raimi said that they currently have a 40-page treatment "that needs a lot more work" but both he and the writer, Robert Rodat, continue to work on it. "We're finding the characters and through the characters finding the story," said Raimi. "We're just trying to create realistic characters that can live in the world of Warcraft as if you were in the game itself."

Raimi also commented that the places we'll see are "cinematic and fantastic" and that seeing the classes in battle "will be really cool."

In an interview with MTV, director Sam Raimi revealed for the first time the name of the screenwriter penning the Warcraft movie: Robert Rodat. He was nominated for a Best Screenplay Academy Award for Saving Private Ryan and also penned the screenplays for Fly Away Home and The Patriot.

Raimi said that Rodat is working on an original story but one that uses what has been established in the game's canon. "We want to be really faithful to the game," Raimi told the site. "We would have our writer, Robert Rodat, really craft an original story within that world that feels like a World of WarCraft adventure. Only obviously it's very different 'cause it's expanded and translated into the world of a motion picture."

Raimi also added that the film will remain true to "the Horde and the Alliance and the mythology that takes place in the game, and the archetypes that the game presents. I think we would try and find touchstones within the game to make it accurate and true and choose one or some of the lands that are portrayed in the game with as much accuracy and authenticity as possible."

Ain't It Cool News is exclusively reporting that Spider-Man and Drag Me to Hell director Sam Raimi will direct the World of Warcraft movie.

"It will come out in trades later this week or next," writes the site's creator Harry Knowles. "But you can take this one to the bank."

First announced in May 2006, there has been little news about the proposed Warcraft movie since. Representatives from Blizzard and Legendary Pictures continued to mention that development was continuing on the film at BlizzCon events but the movie's projected release date (2009) will obviously not be reached.

How the involvement of Raimi with the WoW movie would effect the development of Spider-Man 4, which the director has stated he will make for a May 2011 release, remains to be seen.

UPDATE! Late in the evening Blizzard Entertainment sent out a press release confirming Raimi will direct the Warcraft movie. The full press release follows:

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and Legendary Pictures announced today that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct the eagerly-anticipated major motion picture based on Blizzard Entertainment®’s award-winning Warcraft^® universe. Raimi has, in the course of his career, clearly demonstrated a genius for developing and adapting existing fictional universes for mainstream audiences while staying true to the spirit of the original content.

Raimi directed the Spider-Man trilogy, which has broken box-office records around the world and garnered five Academy Award® nominations. Known for his imaginative filmmaking style, richly drawn characters and offbeat humor, Raimi wrote and directed the cult classic, The Evil Dead and produced 30 Days Of Night. He most recently wrote and directed the supernatural thriller, Drag Me To Hell.

“At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story,” said Raimi. “I am thrilled to work with such a dynamite production team to bring this project to the big screen.”

Charles Roven’s producing talents were recently seen with last summer’s blockbuster The Dark Knight, which grossed in excess of $1 billion, was nominated for eight Academy Awards® and won two. His body of work also includes the widely acclaimed Batman Begins and the sci-fi classic 12 Monkeys. Roven, with Atlas producing partner Alex Gartner, will be producing with Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, Legendary’s Chief Creative Officer Jon Jashni, Raimi and Raimi’s producing partner Joshua Donen. Raimi’s partner, Robert Tapert, will be an Executive Producer and Blizzard Entertainment’s Senior Vice President of Creative Development, Chris Metzen, a Co-Producer.

“Partnering with Sam Raimi exemplifies Legendary's mandate of marrying the highest quality intellectual property to world-class filmmakers,” said Legendary’s Tull. “Sam's passion for Warcraft is undeniable and we know that he will create an incredible film worthy of Blizzard's phenomenal franchise. We look forward to collaborating with our partners at Warner Bros. and continuing our successful relationship with Chuck in bringing this rich new world to the screen.”

“Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures have a shared vision for this film and we searched at length to find the very best director to bring that vision to life,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “From our first conversation with Sam, we could tell he was the perfect choice. Sam knows how to simultaneously satisfy the enthusiasts and the mainstream audience that might be experiencing that content for the first time. We're looking forward to working with him to achieve that here.”

“Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft has become a second home for millions of players and Sam’s experience and talent make him the perfect director for this remarkable and action-packed world,” said Atlas’ Roven. “Alex and I are proud to be working with Sam and re-teaming with our friends at Legendary and Warner Bros.”

The film will fall under Legendary Pictures’ co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. “Warcraft is emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which our studio is best known. We have enjoyed great success with our partners at Legendary, and this is an incredible opportunity for us to work with Sam on a project that is so eagerly anticipated by so many,” said Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft universe is a rich fantasy setting that revolves around the epic conflict between the opposing forces of the Horde and the Alliance. Since its debut in 1994, Warcraft has developed a loyal following across the globe, with several bestselling, award-winning PC games and a range of popular licensed products including novels, action figures, apparel, comic books, board games, and more. World of Warcraft^®, Blizzard Entertainment’s subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the Warcraft universe, is the most popular game of its kind in the world. Its most recent expansion, Wrath of the Lich King^™, is the fastest-selling PC game of all time, with more than 2.8 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and more than 4 million in its first month.

Further details about the upcoming Warcraft movie, including cast and targeted release date, will be revealed as development progresses.

While Legendary Pictures showed the first piece of concept art from its Warcraft movie to the BlizzCon crowd last weekend, Ain't It Cool News got a hold of a nice resolution version of the Teldrassil tree. The site also has a much larger version of the art.

Legendary Pictures president Thomas Tull spoke today at BlizzCon, revealing new details about the gestating Warcraft movie. Among the items shared by Tull with the assembled crowd:

• The movie will have a budget over $100 million dollars.
• They are seeking an A-list director for the movie, someone in the leagues of Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) or Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins).
• The storyline will not follow a quest adventure but instead have a wider focus. "It's more of a war movie," Tull said. "Well, okay, it's absolutely a war movie. Cultures grinding up to a horrible moment where it just all spills over and gets out of control. Less of an adventure party quest-type situation. More of an armies building to an inevitable convlusion type situation."
• They are working with an unnamed writer.
  
• They are constructing the movie so it will be rated PG-13.

A live-action movie based on Blizzard Entertainment's bestselling World of Warcraft computer video game has been announced. The movie is being creatively developed by Legendary Pictures, the same company behind Batman Begins and the upcoming Superman Returns. Legendary has a distribution deal with Warner Bros. so it would be a near certainty that the Warcraft movie would be distributed by that studio.

Below is the full press release announcing the film:

IRVINE, Calif. — May 9, 2006 — Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and Legendary Pictures today announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop a live-action film based on Blizzard Entertainment®’s award-winning Warcraft® universe. Based on the terms of the agreement, Legendary Pictures has acquired the movie rights for the best-selling game universe, and both companies are now focused on translating the high-quality Warcraft entertainment experience to the big screen.

“We searched for a very long time to find the right studio for developing a movie based on one of our game universes,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “Many companies approached us in the past, but it wasn’t until we met with Legendary Pictures that we felt we’d found the perfect partner. They clearly share our high standards for creative development, and because they understand the vision that we’ve always strived for with our Warcraft games, we feel there isn’t a better studio out there for bringing the Warcraft story to film.”

“One of our goals at Legendary Pictures has been to bring heroic stories to life in groundbreaking ways, and it’s inspiring to work with a company such as Blizzard that takes that approach with each of its products,” stated Legendary Pictures chairman and CEO Thomas Tull. “The Warcraft universe is possessed of such a rich mythology and, as such, serves as an ideal platform as we go about translating that universe into what we intend to be a major event film.”

Blizzard’s Warcraft games have developed a loyal following since the series debuted in 1994. Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness™, released in 1995, won multiple Game of the Year awards and is still considered one of the best games ever made, and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos™ broke multiple sales records when it launched in 2002. World of Warcraft®, Blizzard’s latest entry in the critically acclaimed franchise, has quickly become one of the world’s most popular online games, with more than 6 million paying customers worldwide.

“From our first Warcraft game to our latest novels, our intention has always been to develop a rich fantasy universe that could support stories and products in many forms,” stated Chris Metzen, Blizzard Entertainment’s vice president of creative development. “In addition to being a truly rewarding experience for us, the creation of this motion picture also feels like a natural next step for the Warcraft universe.”

“It’s not always the case that interactive game properties lend themselves to proper adaptation to film,” said Jon Jashni, Legendary Pictures’ chief creative officer. “We are intending to approach this as we would the adaptation of a best-selling novel: respect the essence of all that it is but also build upon that fertile base while translating it into a new medium.”

Further details about the upcoming Warcraft movie, including director, cast, and targeted release date, will be revealed in the months ahead.