WARCRAFT: The Movie!

[Bayouwolf]

I just want to hear one of the peasants say "stop touching me" in a dreary english country drawl...or an orc say "ZUG ZUG"

I'd imagine it'll be like Final Fantasy, or <GASP> BeoWulf...but only gonna focus on unrealistic blue Elf breasts and massive pectoral muscles.

[Peven]

this will be Raimi's chance to do another Evil Dead movie without having to do another Evil Dead movie.......

[Fried Gold]

What's the rumour on who will be playing Leroy Jenkins?

[papalazeru]

What's the rumour on who will be playing Leroy Jenkins?

AHAHAHAH!

I didn't know what it was so I looked it up.

Leroy Jenkins

Awesome.

[Ribbons]

Sam Raimi may not be doing SPIDER-MAN 4 next... but you know what that means...

Hey folks, Harry here in the aftermath of the SPIDER-MAN 4 neutron bomb that blew up today... trying to figure it all out. More and more the word I'm hearing is that the existing SPIDER-MAN property was being pulled in too many directions. Acting talent had their voice in this, there was of course Raimi and his peeps, then there was the studio, and Marvel. Plus there was this crazy sense of urgency to get this done to meet an impending date. To a large degree, that's what happened on SPIDER-MAN 3. Too many cooks adding too many ingredients - and the final product was edible, just not repeatedly or with praise.
SO... it all exploded. Now what. Well, I'm not here to talk about Spidey. That's going to be a future discussion, after SONY interviews about a zillion would be inheritors to Raimi's throne. Then there will be a casting process after a lengthy script process - and in 3-4 years, if the Mayans didn't jinx us, we'll be talking about the eventual SPIDER-MAN film.

More importantly, what is Raimi going to do next. Well, I chatted with someone that knows - and I feel confident in saying that the next film we'll see from Raimi is going to be WARCRAFT... which after AVATAR, the concept of world building that particular universe could be astonishing - especially in 3D - especially after what Cameron just unleashed upon the globe. World creating Science Fiction & Fantasy... done by visionary filmmakers ... well, it is a premium. We got THE HOBBIT coming, looks like an AVATAR 2... but the word I hear is that today - the phone lines were burning between a certain legendary locale and Raimi's folks about firing up the furnaces to forge the weapons of war.

Some time in the next few months, I expect progress. I've heard that Robert Rodat (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, THE PATRIOT) has put together one helluva script. Personally, I was excited by Raimi doing WARCRAFT. I know he wanted to put out one last great SPIDER-MAN film, but I feel the powers at be - on all sides - just weren't adding up for that to happen. Now, let's see WARCRAFT move forward!!!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43599

[magicmonkey]

Time for Raimi to go all medieval again? If its anything like Evil Dead three then I think I just wet myself. Joy, a beaming smile, empty, distant eyes and a faint, but warming, smelly geek wetness. I cannot wait, this and The Hobbit? It'll be like ying and yang.

[Seppuku]

Only trouble is, if this takes off (which it will) the WOW spam on here will reach insane new levels. Joy.

[magicmonkey]

Only trouble is, if this takes off (which it will) the WOW spam on here will reach insane new levels. Joy.

Ah man, if this was marketed right, to the right people, we could addict and rid the world of all idiots!1 Sarah Palin level 43 paladin. I think I have a cunning plan... Its kinda like the British in China with the Opium war... wait...so, history does repeat itself*






*yes the magicmonkey also realises the cruel irony of his own chronic debilitating addiction to teh zone.

[DerLanghaarige]

Though a new Raimi movie is always an automatically must-see in my book, I seriously do not care in any kind for WOW.

[Bayouwolf]

Will the Bruce make an apperance as a peasant?

I can already hear him saying "Yeah...Whut...Stop touching me"....

[papalazeru]

Do we have to pay with credit cards at the cinema which also signs you to the subsequent following movies 15 movies. You also get 15 letters posted through your door everyday and every time you sit through the film you gain 'Wow Gold' which allows you to watch a better CGI'd version of the movie if you get enough.

[Bayouwolf]

Do we have to pay with credit cards at the cinema which also signs you to the subsequent following movies 15 movies. You also get 15 letters posted through your door everyday and every time you sit through the film you gain 'Wow Gold' which allows you to watch a better CGI'd version of the movie if you get enough.

Act right now and you can also get in on some wonderful offers from these other fine sponsors...

[papalazeru]

Do we have to pay with credit cards at the cinema which also signs you to the subsequent following movies 15 movies. You also get 15 letters posted through your door everyday and every time you sit through the film you gain 'Wow Gold' which allows you to watch a better CGI'd version of the movie if you get enough.

Act right now and you can also get in on some wonderful offers from these other fine sponsors...

There will be millions of Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean in cinema's watching the movies and farming out the Gold to Western users. Blizzard will, without a doubt, bring out a a cushion for the cinema chairs so that Asian farmers can't get on the high seats. That should patch the problem.

[Lord Voldemoo]

god, after posting this I know I'm just gonna want to go shoot myself but...........

For a video game, WoW has a pretty rich lore and universe behind it, complete with gods, titans, a pretty robust "history", interesting characters (and villains), etc. When I heard that there was going to be a WoW movie made I was pretty terrified that it would be a Uwe Boll-esque crapfest, but with Raimi behind it it could actually be interesting. And yeah, like someone said earlier, in the post-Avatar universe the potential for visual awesomeness is through the roof.

[papalazeru]

SO. What do you all think of "AVATAR", now?
O how happy the lack of 500-lb. PC-locked shut-ins with garbage bags of cheese puffs! (btw, I know that guy. He's a very kind soul and not an ounce over 400)
And how many of you (sometimes correct!) nay-sayers and fun-pokers are now curious to check out the game world that inspired many of the magical elements of AVATAR? Hmmmm??

This movie had a budget of @ 400 million. As of now, only 3 or 4 weeks after opening, it has grossed OVER that much, worldwide. So far.
I think they did and INCREDIBLE JOB with the CG elements, and with the artwork and concepts. I fell instantly in love with the world they created. However...
Who else out there could have guessed the storyline and outcome without ever seeing a single frame? Especially after the 1st hour.

Are you feeling alright?

Wrong thread, mate.

This is world of Warcraft, and it's about getting bums on seats, probably big, studly, Warcrafter bums on seats so the cinema can charge double but the trouble is the seats aren't together.

mod edit: original post moved to the Avatar thread. thanks, papa! -thomasgaffney

[King Of Nowhere]

It's time to take Raimi's name out of the thread title

There comes a time in all great directors' careers when they must choose between not another sequel, a video game adaptation and, in recent years, the almost-always-panned (but-oh-so-high-grossing) "reboot." Sam Raimi has apparently gone with Plan D: Disney's Wizard of Oz 3D prequel, reports Deadline.com. In making his choice, Raimi seemingly puts off directing the World of Warcraft movie, to which he's been officially attached since last summer (he abandoned "Spider-Man 4" long ago).

While Legendary Pictures, which owns the WoW movie rights, has yet to reveal its next move, we have to imagine the studio is now in hot pursuit of David Fincher. After all, the director has been heavily applauded for his adaptation of the "Facebook story" and would seem a likely candidate to depict the dramatic significance of a billion-dollar fantasy sustained by socialized grinding.

Wait -- you mean it's supposed to be a live-action Warcraft universe movie? Like with orcs and elves and things? Yeah, we'd totally pick Oz, too.

[Ribbons]

Duncan Jones to direct World of Warcraft?

http://collider.com/duncan-jones-world-of-warcraft-movie/

[Ribbons]

Duncan Jones to direct World of Warcraft!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/63345

[so sorry]

Duncan Jones to direct World of Warcraft!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/63345

I'm most interested to know if there will be a cameo from Leeroy Jeeeeeeenkinssssss!

[Ribbons]

Some more information on the 'Warcraft' movie, courtesy of BlizzCon:

http://www.nerdist.com/2014/11/zug-zug-warcraft-movie-panel-invades-blizzcon/

Not even a level 103 raid boss could keep the hordes (and alliances) of eager Warcraft fans from descending on Anaheim today for BlizzCon. While people were losing their minds over the Pixar-meets-Team Fortress action of newly announced FPS Overwatch, the highlight was definitely the panel about Legendary’s hotly anticipated, Duncan Jones-directed Warcraft film, which was moderated by our own Chris Hardwick. Special guests Jones, VFX supervisor Bill Westenhofer, Blizzard SVP of Story and Franchise Development Chris Metzen, and eventually actor Rob Kazinsky were all in the house to talk about bringing the sprawling franchise to life.

A longtime Blizzard fan and World of Warcraft player, Duncan Jones was thrilled to be working on the project. ”When I heard that Sam Raimi was working on a World of Warcraft film, I was so excited and so jealous that he would get a chance to do that. Then fate found a way for me to take over,” he said. Jones had his work cut out for him. “There was a preexisting project that Sam Raimi had been doing, but it was very human-centric, very Alliance-centric. It didn’t put the orcs in the best light,” Jones recalled. “I thought it was very important that the film allowed you to be on either side of the conflict.”

Evidently, Jones was just what the doctor ordered. The story centers on Lothar and Durotan, who are heroes of the human and orcs respectively, and how they find themselves drawn into an inescapable conflict. Clearly, an even-handed storytelling approach was of paramount importance. Chris Metzen recalls when Jones first boarded the project that they had already tried a couple different routes on this film and their comfort level wasn’t great. ”This movie has to be 50% Alliance, 50% Horde.” Those were, evidently the magic words as far as the Blizzard team was concerned.

The film wrapped production back in April, but they are toiling away with the extensive VFX work required. Still, Metzen couldn’t help gushing over an early cut. “There’s a scene where the world’s gone to hell and Durotan is in his tent with his pregnant wife and he’s sitting in the dark, looking into the shadows, and Draka is sleeping; he’s just looking off into the distance,” Metzen excitedly recounted. “There is just a universe of depth in his eyes. It took me straight into the animus of the stories. A breathing, living person. A dad, a husband. Then I’m like, ‘Oh my god, I’m looking at an Orc. What did you do to me?!’”

With such a massive world to bring to life, staying true to the source material was important to Jones. “The most important thing is to be working as closely with [Blizzard] as possible. We needed them to be our Yodas,” he said with a laugh. “We have so many special effects. It’s Avatar and Lord of the Rings at the same time,” Jones explained matter-of-factly. The VFX are being approached with a very naturalistic approach, according to Westenhofer, who has been playing since Warcraft II and the World of Warcraft alpha. Still, as an Alliance player, he feels a little guilty. ”Can I really do justice to the Orcs? It’s the enemy,” he said. “Out of respect for all of you who have ganked me, we’re delivering some really good Orcs.” The Horde players in the audience cheered.

The VFX work is quite impressive, but so are the practical effects. Anchoring the panel on either side was a collection of Horde and Alliance armor that would make any cosplayer turn green with envy. Of the massive sets, Metzen mentioned a very special day on location for him: ”I got to stand in the middle of the main street in Stormwind. There’s the mailbox. There were tears in my eyes.” As a former Alliance player myself, I feel you, bro.

They also confirmed a variety of characters; much of the casting was already known, but it was cool to see some of the character renders like Rob Kazinsky’s Orgrim and Dominic Cooper’s King Llane.

Lothar is our Alliance lead and will be played by Vikings star Travis Fimmel. In Metzen’s mind, Fimmel is a bit younger than he’d pictured Lothar as being, but the actor brought a tremendous amount of depth to the role. Additionally, Ben Foster will be playing Medivh, a human magus charged with guarding mankind from the Burning Legion. Though the slides went out of order at this point, Rob Kazinsky will be playing Orgrim, Daniel Wu will be Gul’dan, Clancy Brown will be playing Blackhand (and was the voice of Thrall in the never-released Warcraft Adventures), Ben Schnetzer will be Khadgar, Paula Patton is Garona, Ruth Negga will be Lady Taria, and Dominic Cooper will be King Llane.

The highlight of all the casting announcements though was when Rob Kazinsky himself came out wielding a massive replica of the Doomhammer. After a thunderous applause break, Kazinsky recounted his experience playing the game. ”I started in Burning Crusade as a warrior,” he said with a smile. He has also played a Death Knight since patch 3.1 in a world top 100 guild, and has over 500 days played on his account. He also namedropped more armor sets than I could write down. Clearly, the man knows his stuff.

For Kazinsky, working on Warcraft was a dream come true, and being at BlizzCon to share that was overwhelming for the actor. ”I’ve been to BlizzCon before as a fan,” said Kazinsky, “and this is very much a case of one of us getting to do this.” What will we see from his portrayal of Orgrim? ”Obviously, Orgrim is the best character in the lore. He’s the most handsome,” he said jokingly. “I love playing him. You’ve got Durotan who is the wise, all-seeing chief, and you have the hard bastard next to him. Not very bright. You see the evolution of Orgrim from being someone’s brother, someone’s best friend to being a leader in his own right.”

Though they didn’t show any new footage or trailers at the panel (you have to be at BlizzCon in person to see clips), they did trot out a massive boom mic in order to record some battle cries from the assembled audience. Let me tell you — the reverberations of thousands of people screaming “For the Alliance!”, “For the Horde!”, and “For Azeroth!” were palpable, if not deafening. Of the long, winding road to bringing the world of Azeroth to the big screen, Metzen, perhaps, put it best: “To finally see this thing come together, fried every single circuit I had.” We’ll have to wait until March 2016 to have our circuits fried, but this is a good head start.

I actually want to go into this knowing relatively little. I've never played WoW in my life but I like Duncan Jones and would like to be pleasantly surprised. But I'm intrigued by this idea of having multiple perspectives, the humans only being one of them.

[TheButcher]

Warcraft - Official Trailer (HD)

[Fried Gold]

Well that looks cliche-ridden, unoriginal and uninteresting.

Either it's a bad trailer or it's continuing the trend of computer game adaptations.

[TheButcher]

Well that looks cliche-ridden, unoriginal and uninteresting.

Either it's a bad trailer or it's continuing the trend of computer game adaptations.

How ‘Warcraft’ Aims to Break the Video Game Movie Curse

[Ribbons]

Well that looks cliche-ridden, unoriginal and uninteresting.

Either it's a bad trailer or it's continuing the trend of computer game adaptations.

I really liked Duncan Jones' other two movies, so I'm holding out hope that Warcraft is better than it looks. But it doesn't look great so far.

[Lord Voldemoo]

Well that looks cliche-ridden, unoriginal and uninteresting.

Either it's a bad trailer or it's continuing the trend of computer game adaptations.

I really liked Duncan Jones' other two movies, so I'm holding out hope that Warcraft is better than it looks. But it doesn't look great so far.

I agree. I'm also holding out some hope that this is a little deeper than it appears. There is plenty to draw from in the lore of that "Universe" to make this an interesting movie. I'm just wondering how much it has been dumbed down for the big screen and the n00bs.

[so sorry]

Well that looks cliche-ridden, unoriginal and uninteresting.

Either it's a bad trailer or it's continuing the trend of computer game adaptations.

I really liked Duncan Jones' other two movies, so I'm holding out hope that Warcraft is better than it looks. But it doesn't look great so far.

I agree. I'm also holding out some hope that this is a little deeper than it appears. There is plenty to draw from in the lore of that "Universe" to make this an interesting movie. I'm just wondering how much it has been dumbed down for the big screen and the n00bs.

Don't worry, I don't think n00bs will be seeing it. His has Last Airbender like box office numbers written all over it.

[TheBaxter]

this looks like the most unfunny Shrek movie yet

[Fievel]

this looks like the most unfunny Shrek movie yet

It's a darker, grittier Shrek.

[TheBaxter]

this looks like the most unfunny Shrek movie yet

It's a darker, grittier Shrek.

Shrek-tre?

[TheButcher]

Early Warcraft reviews say it's for diehard fans only

So pretty much like every video game film ever that isn't directed by Uwe Boll (whose movies are for people that hate themselves and want to die).

THR:
Warcraft': Film Review

[TheButcher]

$160 Million-Budgeted ‘Warcraft’ Faces Tough Battle at Box Office
Development on the feature adaptation of “Warcraft” began 10 years ago in 2006. Filming didn’t start until January, 2014, and lasted for four months, primarily in Vancouver.

[TheButcher]

Review: High-fantasy 'Warcraft' can't shake game-to-movie adaptation problems
Duncan Jones obviously meant this one, but is that enough?

[TheButcher]

‘Warcraft’ Wows With China Pre-Sales Records
How Big Is Its Box Office Game?

Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures’ big screen adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment’s video game juggernaut, Warcraft, hits China on June 8, two days ahead of its North American release. This is a savvy move to target the world’s second largest box office market — which has a long and fervent history with the game — during a holiday period. Pre-sales are through the roof and climbing. But along with possibly setting new box office benchmarks, a Middle Kingdom win for Warcraft will also be a key moment for Legendary and its burgeoning relationship with Wanda .

Opening estimates on Warcraft’s five-day launch range from $100M on the conservative end to about $150M. In local currency, I’ve been hearing 800M rmb to a possible 1B rmb which would put the range at $122M-$152M.

The Duncan Jones-helmed fantasy actioner has logged 129 rmb ($19.6M) in advance ticket sales as of this afternoon locally and currently has the 3rd highest midnight pre-sales total of all time, behind Furious 7 and Avengers: Age Of Ultron; it will pass the latter today. All of the 285 midnight IMAX screenings have been sold out at 5.5M rmb ($837K); that tops record holder Furious 7’s 5.4M rmb ($822K at today’s exchange rates). Midnights kick off Tuesday night.

IMAX pre-sales for the full weekend are currently at $6M giving the format its best PROC advances ever. The Orcs and trolls have topped Captain America: Civil War’s $3.7M which was logged as of the day before opening. Azeroth will be seen in the Middle Kingdom in both 2D and 3D theaters.

Given all of those numbers, some are speculating that Warcraft could outpace Furious 7’s $391M total box office which set a record last year as the highest-grossing movie ever in the Middle Kingdom. It has since been overtaken by local titles The Mermaid and Monster Hunt.

There is no question that Warcraft is a monster itself, although there are a couple of factors to keep in mind when comping to Universal’s own F7. That film opened on a Sunday, logging the highest box office, widest release and biggest attendance ever in one day for China with 420 rmb ($68.8M) at the time. The Orcs invade Chinese theaters officially on Wednesday, coming at the end of the high school exams period and as the Dragon Boat Festival holiday kicks in on Thursday. As one person put it, “that’s like having five Saturdays in a row” although some people will be working.

This is not a Universal release in China where it is going out through Legendary, China Film Group and Huaxia. (I understand Universal is in for about 25%-30% of the full reported $160M budget and it will reap the benefits of all releases as part of the overall pie.) This is a quota movie, meaning a 25% return from Middle Kingdom turnstiles. Legendary has four local equity partners: Tencent, CFG, Huayi and Taihe.

The Dalian Wanda Group of course acquired Legendary in a stunning $3.5B deal in January, but had already pledged its muscle behind the film back in September when it said it would use its network to promote and market Warcraft. Wanda and CFG’s involvement here means the film will make a bigscreen invasion. Total counts aren’t divulged until just before opening, but as one watcher puts it, “It will get the most showtimes from when it opens on Wednesday.” I’m already hearing that on Tuesday night there are 2:30 AM showings being added after the midnights. It is also possible that screenings run from Wednesday as early as 7:30 AM and going through to 4AM.

The offshore total box office through Sunday was at an estimated $70M. Reviews have not been out of this world of Warcraft, but that’s not stopping the rush. Strong plays in Russia and Germany have helped to drive that, although the UK ended up being somewhat frontloaded this past week. Gamers have raced out to see Azeroth realized in a feature version, while fantasy fans have also picked up the joystick.

No doubt the film skews male, but it is expected to move beyond gamers in China. If it reaches critical mass at open, it should continue to have momentum above the initial rush. A key factor in bringing girls and women into the multiplexes is local heartthrob Daniel Wu who starred in last year’s hit, Go Away Mr Tumor. He has been on the promotional circuit, doing a Q&A this past week with co-star Paula Patton at the Beijing Film Academy and getting the word out via Instagram and other social media. Travis Fimmel, Ben Foster and Dominic Cooper also star.

Warcraft has 26 different Chinese brand partners involved in the marketing and tie-ins which is larger than any film before it by a factor of two. Among them are Lenovo and Tsingtao – but this isn’t product placement, so don’t expect Anduin Lothar to be knocking back a beer in the film.

Legendary began pulling out the marketing stops about 18 months ago with The Legendary Warcraft Experience at Joycity in Chengdu. There, fans got “the biggest free movie-themed exhibition ever mounted in China” which featured character statues, and over 150 props, weapons and costumes from the film. Fans were also able to take part in a virtual reality ride on the back of the mythical Gryphon as it flew over Azeroth.

China, which has a penchant for fantasy, has had a decade-long fascination with World Of Warcraft; its name there is understood to translate to “World Of Magical Beasts.” The market is estimated to make up about half of the game’s five million players, according to the BBC. The history has been fraught at times, however, as the government exercized controls over the years — only serving to increase the game’s popularity.

In the early days, when the 3D rendered worlds were first made available, it caused a seismic shift in Chinese gaming. The University of Edinburgh’s Lara Arnason recently told The Telegraph that as players were drawn together in the physical spaces of internet cafes and the online realms, “It was the first converged media experience. People were able to form real friendships, and have shared experiences and shared failures, with real online communities of real people. It quite literally changed the game.”

If Warcraft hits as expected in China, it kicks off the Legendary/Wanda relationship in a big way. It will also be an interesting moment in the changing landscape of the international movie business. While it could surprise based on the momentum being generated offshore, Warcraft is looking at about a $25M domestic opening this coming frame. But being a beast in the Middle Kingdom, and coming off those German, Russian and other numbers, encourages the likelihood of a franchise. The film’s subtitle is The Beginning so the sequel seed has already been sown. A source says, “The world is changing with China becoming a bigger and bigger piece. When you have a film that can really play internationally and very strongly in China, maybe that allows you to take a risk and the opportunity to make a franchise out of international. China has more and more of a role to play.”

Another source contends, “The movie makes its money back. China and Russia are nothing but good news for Legendary and Wanda.”

Warcraft producers are Charles Roven, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Alex Gartner and Stuart Fenegan. Jillian Share, Brent O’Connor, Michael Morhaime and Paul Sams are exec producers. Rob Pardo, Chris Metzen, Nick Carpenter and Rebecca Steel Roven co-produce.

[TheButcher]

THR:
Box Office: Can 'Warcraft' Win the Battle Without the U.S.?
Legendary's big-budget video game adaptation has already won over fans in Germany and Russia, and is counting on doing mega business in China.


Deadline:
‘Warcraft’ Invades China With $46M Day One; Sets Non-Weekend & Imax Records

Warcraft blasted out of the gate today in China with $46 million (302M rmb) at the box office as of 10 PM local time. The Legendary Pictures/Universal Pictures adaptation of the popular video game franchise set a record for the best first-day box office for a non-weekend release in the Middle Kingdom. The previous title holder was Avengers: Age Of Ultron with $28.3M (185.86 rmb).

[TheButcher]

AICN:
Harry plans to watch WARCRAFT a lot more than the average critic!!!
I have to say – if you’ve ever rolled dice for a character sheet, if you dream of fantastic realms that are so much more vivid than our limited existence here.
Seriously – we only have HUMANS. WTF…

[TheButcher]

Why ‘Warcraft’ Can Bomb in US This Weekend and Still Be a Blockbuster

Legendary and Universal Pictures’ “Warcraft” may bomb this weekend in North America, but it’s doing bang-up business overseas.

The video-game movie broke records as it opened Wednesday in China — most notably beating the first-day, non-weekend box office mark held by Disney-Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” by nearly $20 million.

As of 10 p.m. local time in Beijing, the movie brought in RMB 302 million (U.S. $46 million). “Age of Ultron” made RMB 185.9 million (U.S. $28.3 million) when it opened in the country.

The studio expects that record-setting gap to increase as midnight approaches.

Directed by Duncan Jones (the late David Bowie‘s son), the film beat IMAX records, too. “Warcraft” made RMB 35 million (U.S. $5.33 million) from the specialty screens, beating the previous record of RMB 31 million (U.S. $4.7 million) set by Universal’s “Furious 7.”

In China, “Warcraft” also broke the IMAX midnight show record (RMB 9.03 million / U.S. $13.8 million) and its pre-sale record (RMB 53.8 million / USD $8.2 million).

Meanwhile, the big-budget video game adaptation is expected to tank at the domestic box office as it opens this weekend.

“Warcraft” was made for a whopping $160 million, not counting marketing costs, and is expected to debut to roughly $25 million in North America, both analysts and Universal predict.

Sizing up to be much more of an international play, the movie had already amassed $75 million abroad in 25 markets before opening in China, where it had been tracking strongly in advance of its holiday opening.

“We can’t just look at it from a North America perspective,” said comScore senior analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “It’s a fairly new phenomenon that the international component is offsetting negativity from an underwhelming North American debut,” he said, citing “Transformers: Age of Extinction” as a prime example.

Unlike the fate predicted for “Warcraft,” the 2014 Paramount blockbuster sequel directed by Michael Bay was considered a success domestically. Still, it made nearly 80 percent of its $1.1 billion from international markets.

Typically, if a movie bombs domestically, it is considered a failure. But examples of disproportionately strong international grosses are multiplying.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows,” which had a lackluster North American debut at $35.3 million last weekend, needs to replicate the success the original had overseas.

The previous TMNT reboot barely recouped its production budget on $191.2 million in domestic grosses. Profits from the film depended more on the $302.1 million the movie made abroad.

“All eyes have always been on the North American debut,” said Dergarabedian. “But that’s becoming a misconception.”

[TheButcher]

Warcraft’s Orcs, The Lord of the Rings, and Non-Human Storytelling
Fantasy is never about the humans.

[TheButcher]

/film:
‘Warcraft’ Is the Most Successful Video Game Movie of All Time

In all, Warcraft has earned $377 million. $339 million of that is from outside the U.S., and over $200 million of that is from China alone. Which means that 90% of Warcraft‘s total gross is coming from abroad. This is far from the first film to succeed overseas after flopping at home, but that 90/10 split is extreme. For comparison, even Pacific Rim — another recent illustration of the power of the Chinese box office — earned just 75% of its gross outside the U.S.

All of this means a Warcraft sequel is not only possible but likely. Although Universal and Legendary haven’t announced anything official yet, the ending of Warcraft was pretty clearly written with a potential follow-up in mind, and Jones has told fans he’d “love” to direct a follow-up if the opportunity arises.

It’s not entirely surprising that Warcraft has performed better outside the U.S. The video game is huge in China, and Legendary (which is now owned by the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group) made special efforts to appeal to the Chinese market. And the country’s power is only growing. Analysts estimate that China could surpass North America as the biggest movie market in the world by the end of 2017. Warcraft‘s success story might seem like an anomaly today. But it seems very possible that in another few years, we’ll realize it was the start of a new normal.

BOM: Warcraft
Production Budget: $160 million
Domestic Total as of Jun. 19, 2016: $38,432,955
Foreign: $339,979,059
= Worldwide: $378,412,014

[Maui]

All of this means a Warcraft sequel is not only possible but likely.

Yes, please! Wrath of the Lich King.

Like others have mentioned in the thread, Duncan Jones has done some good stuff. I really liked 'Moon' and 'Source Code'. He plays WoW, he knows the game inside and out. He delivered exactly what the gamers wanted to see on the big screen. Non Wow players didn't like this movie because they were opposed to the Orcs being civilized and getting along with the human population.

I liked the movie!

[TheBaxter]

All of this means a Warcraft sequel is not only possible but likely.

Yes, please! Wrath of the Lich King.

Like others have mentioned in the thread, Duncan Jones has done some good stuff. I really liked 'Moon' and 'Source Code'. He plays WoW, he knows the game inside and out. He delivered exactly what the gamers wanted to see on the big screen. Non Wow players didn't like this movie because they were opposed to the Orcs being civilized and getting along with the human population.

I liked the movie!

no, we're just opposed to them coming across the border, stealing our jobs, going on welfare and having anchor babies.

ooops, i'm sorry. that's not the orcs, that's the canadians.

[Peven]

the only good orc is a dead orc!

[TheButcher]

no, we're just opposed to them coming across the border, stealing our jobs, going on welfare and having anchor babies.

Keep America Orc Free!
- Donald Trump

Read the First Full Issue of ‘Orc Stain,’ A Gorgeous Comic that Looks Like a Beating Heart

[Maui]

[Ribbons]

As a non-fan, I have to say I found this movie very confusing.

[Peven]

I know a couple people who are hardcore WOW players and they didn't care for it at all

[TheButcher]

/film:
‘Warcraft’ Sequel Teased By the Film’s Official Chinese Social Media Account

[Ribbons]

As a non-fan, I have to say I found this movie very confusing.

I know a couple people who are hardcore WOW players and they didn't care for it at all

Yeah. It feels like it's about 50% trying to do its own thing and 50% fan-service adaptation. I can see it alienating people on both sides.

That said, I watched the movie again (this time through not-entirely-legal means) and got a lot more out of it. I understood the world enough that I could focus on the strength of the story, which was better than I gave it credit for. I actually kind of hope they make a sequel now.

[so sorry]

As a non-fan, I have to say I found this movie very confusing.

I know a couple people who are hardcore WOW players and they didn't care for it at all

Yeah. It feels like it's about 50% trying to do its own thing and 50% fan-service adaptation. I can see it alienating people on both sides.

That said, I watched the movie again (this time through not-entirely-legal means) and got a lot more out of it. I understood the world enough that I could focus on the strength of the story, which was better than I gave it credit for. I actually kind of hope they make a sequel now.

Flip-flopper!

[Ribbons]

I'll have you know, sir, that I usually make my mind up about a movie before I even see it.

[Peven]

i have noticed that about you over the years.....I was going to say something about it, but you know me, never one to voice my opinions if I think they might be unpopular