Bad news WoW enthusiasts, Sam Raimi will not be directing the long in-development movie adaptation of sprawling online role playing game World of Warcraft. Of course, this may come as little surprise as the last update on the proposed movie came at Comic Con 2010, where Blizzard Entertainment, the game's publisher, offered weak hope saying the film was still in the "treatment stage." Since then, Raimi produced Starz's Spartacus series and helmed Disney's big budget fantasy adventure Oz: The Great and Powerful.
It was while promoting this picture at Comic Con 2012 that Crave Onlineasked Raimi for an update on the World of Warcraft movie, and he confessed,
"Actually, they don’t have me directing World of Warcraft anymore because when I took the Oz job, they had to move on to another director. They had to start making it."
The good news for those of you yearning to see Blizzard's world of warriors and warlocks taking to the big screen is that it seems the movie is still a go…though there's been no word from Blizzard Entertainment on who might replace Raimi, or when the World of Warcraft movie might go into production. However, considering Raimi is now in postproduction on Oz: The Great and Powerful, and that film is due out in March 2013, it's safe to assume Blizzard is hoping to be go production within the year.
It's a shame that Raimi's schedule wouldn't allow for him to helm the WoW movie, because through The Evil Dead and Spider-Man trilogies Raimi has shown a quirky knack for weaving fantasy monsters into entertaining adventures. But now that he's definitively out, who would be a good replacement?
Personally, I'd like to see André Øvredal, who brought legend to life with the Norwegian fantasy thriller Trollhunter, be given this shot. The film centered on a trio of college students on a quest to chase down a mysterious poacher, but once they caught him they discover his prey is the mythic and towering trolls of Scandinavian legend. The effects and design of these beasts was awe-inspiring, and Øvredal balanced thrills with a satisfyingly dry sense of humor. What more could you ask for when looking for a World of Warcraft director?
