Warcraft Movie In The Works?

The New York Times is reporting that World of Warcraft maker Blizzard plans to make a big-screen adaptation of its very popular gameworld. From the article: "Many details of the film deal remained unsettled or undisclosed on Monday, including the choice of director, cast, the planned release date and the exact budget (rarely a firm number in the movie business anyway). But Blizzard and Legendary appeared united in wanting the project to be a major departure from Hollywood's undistinguished record in turning games into films. 'We try to make big, epic, immersive games at Blizzard, and we have a track record of making some of the best games in the world,'" Paul Sams, Blizzard's chief operating officer, said in an interview. 'Similarly, our goal is to make one of the best films in the world. With Legendary, they have a creative and management team that is so attuned with us it was like we were separated at birth. We want to make a movie that will not only appeal to our existing fans, but will also bring in people that have never heard of Warcraft before.'"

Comments

Re:Why not do it themselves?

[Rob T Firefly]

The reception of "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" comes to mind. I liked that movie, but it performed so miserably that Square all but closed its Square Pictures division as a result. It's probably not a risk Blizzard wants to saddle itself with, when they can just throw it to someone who knows the film business yet keep enough creative control where the brand name isn't cheapened by a disaster of U** B*ll proportions.