July 22, 2009 | by Rob Keyes 

World of Warcraft To Be Directed By Sam Raimi?

Sam Raimi to direct World of Warcraft movie

Harry Knowles at Ain’t It Cool News has been hard at work in recent weeks tracking down and verifying a very interesting piece of information: The director for the upcoming film adaptation of the biggest MMO ever, Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, will be Sam Raimi.

We all know Sam Raimi for his Evil Dead films, the three Spider-Man films (and the upcoming Spider-Man 4) and more recently for his well-received horror movie from earlier this summer, Drag Me to Hell.

The man has an insane amount of feature film projects in development and as we don’t know of any official dates for the production schedule of World of Warcraft, we don’t know when exactly we could be seeing this.

We do know that the fourth Spidey installment is set for a release date on May 6, 2011 and that Raimi’s been talking up another Evil Dead film in recent months. With this announcement of his involvement with WoW, that could push the Evil Dead project further away to the dismay of Bruce Campbell fans everywhere.

Don’t fret too much though, Campbell will likely have another guest cameo role in the next Spider-Man!

With Drag Me to Hell, Raimi went back to his horror roots and now he’ll be back working in the superhero side of things, only to move into the fantasy epic realm. World of Warcraft will have a very very large budget and it’ll be interesting to see what Raimi can do with an unlimited sandbox of characters, stories, landscapes and visuals to play with.

There’s a limitless potential here to make something very special and entirely new. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a massive film franchise spawn out of this if Raimi kicks it off to a strong start. Not a stretch considering the built-in fanbase who pay a monthly subscription to play the game.

Would you like to see a feature film based on World of Warcraft and is Raimi a good pick to helm it?

Source: AICN

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  • Jonn Holland
    I'm really not too surprised to hear this as Sam Raimi is no stranger to the fantasy genre. After all, he has been executive producer on sixteen episodes of Legend of The Seeker. If he does direct WOW then I suspect Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell will end up with parts in the film.
  • Phil G
    If Raimi is indeed on the WoW movie, that does get me a bit more excited.

    I tried the WoW universe, having only started last month. While it is a very nicely plotted out world and history they have in the game, I didn't continue playing largely due to the focus on PvP (player vs player action) and the difficulty of playing through the game solo (you almost always needed help for the best parts.)

    Still, I can see it as a very fun movie regardless. And we all know there are plenty of fans out there.
  • steven the git
    Rather he got on with making exciting and bizarre horror movies.
    When he has done something in the realm of fantasy - Evil Dead 3 - it didn't work as well (if I still love that movie) and I loathed Hercules and Xena.
  • Ron Davis
    I played WoW for about a year and always thought it would be cool to make a live action movie out of it....Raimi did great with the Spiderman movies so i doubt he will disappoint...
  • INK
    I would have rather seen Guillermo del Toro direct. The work with the fantasy world he has done on movies like Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy II would get me excited for this movie. Raimi still interested, but not must see ... yet.
  • No Name Face
    Been a warraft fan since the launch of orcs and humans...

    Are you guys kidding...
    If anyone should direct this it should be Peter Jackson...

    Also if this film is to be made it should not be made like a Doungon & Dragons Movie...
    THe World of warcraft is just the aftermath of righn of Chaos...
    so since Orcs and Humans there is much ground to be covered and therefor it would have to be like the harry Potter Films (aprox. Seven Films) in size. in order to tell the story right...

    that is a huge masive project and i think with the 11.5 monthly subscribers all paying $11.5 to see this movie
    thats 132,250,000 plus all the people out there who love Fantasy genre and all the origional Warcraft fans this movie like i said helmed by Peter Jackson, with the right Story will make some major Coin...

    may be peter Jackson could produce and make sure that Sam sticks very closly to Chris Metzens (who is the current creative director, of all pf Blizzard's current video games in Production (starcraft 2 ansd diablo 3. he provided the game's story concept and script) and Samwise's Artwork style
    (Samwise Dodier Sam "Samwise" Didier is the art director at Blizzard Entertainment. his style has been the artistic direction of choice for all Blizzard franchises. Didier's greatly exaggerated physiques and vibrant, bright color palette has dictated the artistic style of Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, and Didier has also designed and drawn many of the graphical icons found in Warcraft III and World of Warcraft)
    i think he might have a shot...

    What do u guys think?
  • Manowar
    I played all versions of Warcraft pre WoW.

    I love fantasy so I can't wait for this movie.

    Warcraft online is a better game than Wow though.
  • Manowar
    No Name Face meant 11.5 MILLION subscribers...

    which would equal about at least twice to three times that many viewers would see the movie...
  • Slivertongue
    Hrm...this is a quandary. I've been playing WoW for four years now (my workmates got me into it with their constant babble about the game) and I really like it. The stories that have been set up behind the actual game play are very well thought out and written, and it would be nice to see some of that played out on the big screen. Sam Raimi is kind of a so-so choice, IMO. He's done some great work, but I don't know if WoW would be his kind of project. Raimi has a penchant for adding camp to almost all of his projects, and though the game of WoW has some silliness in it, the actual stories behind it are actually quite dark and serious. I think that should be focused on in the movie. There would definitely be a huge fan base that would go out to see this movie, from players to fantasy lovers alike.

    @No name Face - I agree that Peter Jackson could do a great job of this film, particularly because I think he'd put a lot of focus on the cinematic elements of Azeroth (there's potential for some very cool looking sets and locations). But Peter is working on the Hobbit I think, and he may just be getting a bit tired of working with Orcs and Elves lol.
  • John "Kahless" Taylor
    Come on guys! We all know that Michael Bay should direct this!

    (silence.....crickets chirping)

    Why are you all looking at me like that? :-D
  • tasouli
    This is a STUPID idea...its just going to be a bunch of nerds at the theater, why would they have a big budget and why on earth is Raimi doing this?
    BIG FLOP
    whats next another Resident evil movie
  • cj
    im not a big fan of the spidey movies...lets hope he does a beeter job here!!
  • The Critic
    Peter Jackson won't be doing this so it's pointless hoping it would happen. Raimi to ruin one of the greatest games ever.
  • Slivertongue
    @tasouli
    That's one opinion. I suppose you weren't much of a LOTR fan either then. Just because it isn't your cup of tea doesn't mean that it's a stupid idea.
  • Manowar
    @tasouli

    That would be 11.5 MILLION nerds at the theatre. which equals minimum 100 Million Box-Office.

    So why a stupid idea?
  • This should be great news for all WoW fans out there...
  • adrian
    @ John "Kahless" Taylor:
    Freakin Hilarous! Gangsta Orcs and leg humping demons
  • tasouli
    Actually am a HUGE LOTR and yeah it id just my opinion. But I can tell you this, unlike the LOTR trilogy, which was based on some of the best literature known to man, World of Warcraft is based on a video game.
    Furtheremore this will not have strong box office #'s because for one there will no women at this; no matter how much the men they know beg them to go. And this realm of sci-fi is beyond most people that are out of the video game era (which is most people that have graduated from college and have jobs.

    It IS JUST MY OPINION, but I dont see this being successful lnor a project that Raimi shoudl associate himself with. I see this turning into another one of those Eragon movies, just not making the cut
  • Slivertongue
    @tasouli
    Joshi pretty much hit it on the head. Your statement about women was completely inaccurate. I'm a woman and I've been playing WoW for years, and am part of a guild in game that is ALL women, of varying ages, backgrounds and walks of life. And even if you're not a gamer, I also know many women who like fantasy and sci-fi genres as well, who will see the movie for that reason alone.

    As far as how good of a movie it will be, that remains to be seen. As I said, there is literature out there for WoW that actually has a story. But Joshi brings out a good point in that it may end up being very similar to other movies of the same genre (i.e. LOTR)
  • Al.O.
    This looks promising but what he did with some of the Spider-man movies isn't the reason why this movie will be good.


    http://wvu212.wordpress.com/
  • Josh R
    This just got interesting. I'm not a fan of WOW in the slightest (I personally feel like the Warcraft franchise jumped the shark after Tides of Darkness, but obviously I'm in the minority there.)

    However, if they give Raimi creative control, I think we could end up with an enjoyable flick. We've never really had a video-game flick with someone of his caliber directing. He could very well break the mold.

    But one thing worries me. Generally speaking, the people who play WOW are the same people who will nitpick over every last detail of the film, so I think despite the huge built-in fanbase, this definitely is not a sure-fire success.

    That said, if this pushes back Evil Dead IV then I'm gonna be pissed.
  • Doom3524
    I am hoping the story has some of the major players in the WoW universe in it, and isnt just a Humans vs. Orcs story. I know thats where it all started, but it has come so far since then. I want to see Varian Wrynn, Lady Jaina Proudmoore, Thrall, Lady Sylvanis etc....Maybe do a story with the Burning Legion or Illidan Stormrage as the villain. Maybe.....just maybe they could do the story that leads up to, and climazes with the Battle at Mount Hyjal......
  • Doom3524
    WAIT!!!

    How's this sound for innovative and new.......

    Maybe have 2 different movies cone out at the same time, right. Both being the same story and same timeline. One from the Horde point of view, and one from the Alliance point of view. You film them at the exact same time with cameras on both sides so the budget doesn't become way too much and they can keep it relatively the same as it would be with 1 movie. Then ending battle could have both Horde and Alliance in it so they end the same way, just from the different perspectives.

    They should be released at the same time of course. I wonder if any franchise has ever had the top 2 movies in the theater at the same time??

    I know I would go see both because you would always be wondering what the Horde (or Alliance) was doing at this point in time.
  • Doom3524
    See, I think thats the big misconception. Although yes, the Horde and Alliance are at "war" most everything they try to accomplish have the same end. I think the double faction movie concept could show the different means to get to that same end. I think a straight Horde vs. Alliance movie would....

    A) be too much biased toward one side than the other, and half (probably more likely the Horde half) would leave the movie angry that their side got beat down.

    B) leave people wanting more of a background for the main characters from the faction not spotlighted

    C) be too oblivious to the larger threats of Azeroth

    As apparently a fellow player of the game you know how passionate we can be about our faction (I am alliance myself) and giving both sides their just due would be the best way to go in my opinion. Again, everything at this point is opinion based since all we know is that Raimi is directing it.
  • John "Kahless" Taylor
    I still play PacMan. Are the visuals for WoW any better? :-)
  • Doom3524
    Joshi,

    I am still waiting for them to allow Horde and Alliance players to actually work together in game. I am hoping that maybe they allow that for Arthas, but I am not holding my breath. I think that he is a big enough evil for everyone to put their differences aside and to team up (as we have seen in the Wrathgate video you spoke of). Let there be a quest that lets you speak to the opposite faction only in Dalaran and Icecrown (maybe a gnomish translating device that you get at the end of the quest chain) and let people team up to take Arthas down. That would be pretty exciting in my opinion.
  • Phil G
    @ Doom3524

    That was one of the things that discouraged me from playing WoW, lol. I might still go back to it sometimes, but I didn't like the whole "war" mindset they had going on between two factions. Every time I go to a city, there's always raids of some kind and it's just a bit annoying. Or, if I'm at Stormwind or outside it at the local village, there's people dueling each other and it looks like a war going on. It really is too much PvPing for my tastes.

    Well, I know it is called WARCRAFT, but meh. ;)
  • pj
    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    WHY HIM ........... ITS GONNA BE A NORMAL MOVIE ...... I HOPE IT DOESNT TURN INTO A FREAK SHOW FOR ADVERTISING THE GAME
    HOW EVER I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT HE CAN MAKE IT RIGHT EVEN FOR AD.

    IM NOT A WOW PLAYER BUT THE STORY AND PLOT OF WARCRAFT UNIVERSE IS VERY RICH AND EXCITING...............BUT SAM RAIMI..... IDONT KNOW
  • pj
    noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
  • No Name Face
    @ pj

    i agree but heh,

    ok...
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