With Duncan Jones' Warcraft movie set with an official release date and, as a result, an idea for when the movie will go into production, it was only a matter of time before the casting stories began rolling in. Late last month we learned that the production was eying both Paula Patton and Colin Farrell for two of the movie's biggest parts, and now Variety is reporting that Travis Fimmel, the actor best known for playing Ragnar Lothbrok on the critically-acclaimed History Channel series Vikings, is the top choice to play one another of the the main character in the feature video game adaptation.
While no deal is in place just yet, sources have told the trade that Fimmel is definitely the man that Jones and Legendary Pictures want for the part. Should the star sign on the dotted line he will reportedly play one of four lead roles. Unfortunately, because details about the film are being kept under wraps, exactly what those four roles are remains a mystery. The production is moving forward with a script from Charles Leavitt (The Mighty, K-PAX, Blood Diamond), but at this point there are no details available about either the plot or the ensemble of characters that will be involved.
Adding an update to the previously reported casting story about Patton and Farrell, Variety notes that the former is now in negotiations, while the latter has an offer on the table but has not yet started talks with the studio.
Fimmel's professional actor experience goes back to 2003 when he made his debut playing the lead role on the short-lived, modern world-set Tarzan series, and he has had mixed up his career since starring in both movies and television shows (albeit ones that weren't exactly super successful). His role on Vikings is certainly his biggest hit to date, with the second season of the show set to start airing next year. For those of you who don't watch, get acquainted with both Fimmel and Ragnar Lothbrok by watching the featurette below:
Warcraft will be one of the many, many big blockbusters set to come out in 2015, and production is expected to begin early next year so that there is enough time to do all the proper post-production work (and there will likely be plenty of it to do). More casting news should unfold in the next few weeks as the project continues to put all of its pieces together in the pre-production process, so stay tuned for more updates!
