I think if they made a Warcraft Movie, they could just do WC 3. They could quickly gloss over the previous events, explain them with a Star Wars-esque crawl, or some exposition. But the important part is that Orcs from another world came to conquer, destroyed a lot, were defeated, and now the Alliance has interment camps that are breaking the bank. Meanwhile, the ghost of the wizard who helped summon the Orcs is trying to warn people to go west, as a mysterious illness begins to spread. That right there is enough information to lay out a WC 3 movie for the uninitiated.
One problem I have with the Warcraft movie we got was the effects. They shot for the moon and it came off cheesy. Maybe the technology is better. Warcraft stuff might be hard to pull off. It is more near the level of Star Wars as far as tech and costumes than LotR.
Animation may be a better method. I mean, I would be happy with an animated series on some service - Disney+, Netflix, Amazon, where ever. Disney + is tempting with the access to Star Wars and Marvel stuff. Amazon is tempting with the Tolkien show they are working on. But if a Warcraft Animated series was announced, I would subscribe to which ever place had it. Maybe an initial series would help build up a story for a movie later, after garnering new fans.
But with the proper production values, the right script, the right actors, and the right director, the core of the Warcraft story could make for a good film series. I am not entirely dismissive of the idea.
Personally I didn’t think that the number of major characters was a problem in itself. You’ve got Lothar, Khadgar, Llane and Medivh on one side, Durotan, Draka, Orgrim, Blackhand and Gul’dan on the other, and Garona in the middle. You could totally fit 10 major characters in one movie, and I’m getting a little annoyed at people talking like you can’t.
I just think the movie wasn’t efficient with its time. And I think one of the major ways it wasn’t efficient was the decision to make Lothar a pivotal character with his own movie-long arc. It’s extraneous, and distracting. Lothar doesn’t need to be a main protagonist in the movie, nor should he be in my opinion. Lothar should be the Uncle Iroh of Warcraft – he should participate, but the movie shouldn’t be about him learning and changing.
Taking out Lothar’s kid and the fling with Garona would free up a whole lot of time, while also keeping the movie closer to the game’s lore.
I’d like another movie. The problem is where to start and how the lore will be impacted. I think starting at W1 might be a mistake. Unless they can properly edit and narrow down the lore, it’s going to be another mess. So much had already occurred by the time W1 happened I find it hard to see how they will fit it all in without overloading the movie or cutting way too much.
I’d say start with WotA, set up the legion as the ultimate enemy, no time travel, and move forward from there. This should be handled like marvel, release the movie in separate stages with W1 being the culmination everything that’s happened so far. If this is not done right from the get go W3, the most pivotal story of the entire franchise, will be a disaster.
On a different note I’ll throw in my cast picks
Tyrande- Angela Bassett (if they don’t start with wota)
Sylvanas- Charleze Theron
Illidan- Henry Cavil (he also plays wow)
Lor’themar Theron- Gideon Emory
This is the other thing that surprises me: the amount of people who had a problem with the special effects of the Warcraft movie. Those were phenomenal and really pushed the boundaries of what we could do with CGI.
LotR also had a boatload of characters and no one complained about that. Although Tolkien has a stronger following, that’s probably why it get’s a pass from people. Still though, that’s a large cast.
I fantasy casted Henry Cavill as Varian, for a few reasons.
He’s played WoW so he’s familiar with the lore.
He’s about the right age to play Varian circa Wrath+ beyond.
Hmm … don’t care.
Never understood why people are so attached to actors. Coulnd’t care less who plays what … care for teh characters not the one playing it. Makes no difference who does it.
I know it’s “boring” to some people but i still love the WC1/WC2 story. It COULD be interesting if the Humans & Allies were portrayed how the Alliance originally was. There was a lot of conflict between some of the various Kings plus it has some familiar characters in the form of Turalyon & Alleria as well as some others.
To point awareness on the fact how little it matters and to cause reflection about the topic.
Every time someone calls for some strange celebrities I can only think of “stop making stupid peopel famous” as if it matters.
Cavill playing Geralt rules out him playing Arthas imo, since those two characters bear a striking resemblance to one another (especially post heel turn Arthas). Varian though doesn’t really look like either of them nor does his personality overlap with theirs.
There was a bit of that inner conflict among the human kingdoms in the Warcraft movie but it was only shown in like two or three scenes, and then referenced in a throwaway line.
To you. Maybe it matters to someone else various reasons. You really could have kept that response to yourself. But in any case, here’s the attention you were looking for.
Moving on…
I hadn’t even considered him for that role. I felt that he might be too old by the time they got to it.
People care about which actors play which characters because they believe that those specific actors can best portray those characters. It’s not like we’re picking random names out of a hat (although some might be doing that). Some consideration was put into these ideas.
Casting is definitely important for a movie, it helps bring attention to the movie and can sometimes make or break it. The actors who have been picked to play characters in the MCU is part of why that franchise is so successful. People probably wouldn’t like Iron Man so much if Brendan Frasier had been cast as Tony Stark. Keith David is an enjoyable actor but he’d probably do better in a part that isn’t a Tortollen. I wouldn’t want Justin Bieber playing as Anduin.
I’m not actually suggesting that Cavill play Arthas, but only highlighting the physical similarities between Arthas and Geralt and the difference between those two characters and Varian. I believe that Varian is a different enough character from Geralt that Cavill can play both without drawing any unfair comparisons between the two.
But yeah, Cavill is definitely too old to play Arthas. And I also feel that Cavill is too recognizable of a name and face to be hidden behind CGI (because Illidan will almost certainly be CGI).
I always think Michelle Pfeiffer would be a good Sylvanas. She has the look and acting range. But she might be too old for the jumping around and the physical aspect. Angelina Jolie would be awesome but she is already playing Maleficent and Thena, so maybe she is busy with similar roles.
Pfeiffer could be Jaina’s mom lol. For a long while I thought Jolie could be Katrana Prestor / Onyxia, but as you said, she’s already played roles similar to that one.
I get what you were saying, I probably didn’t convey that properly. But I completely agree with you.
Yeah Michelle is definitely too old.
I hadn’t thought about Angie, but my issue here is that she might try to do to Sylvanas what she did to Maleficent. Take a perfectly good evil character (morally gray in this case) and turn her into a hero. That annoyed me to no end.
Charleze wasn’t my first choice either, I was thinking Eva Green and then I saw this…
They should try adapting one of the books rather than the games to have a tighter story. And they need the main character be be less knowledgeable of the world so the audience isn’t completely confused. The point of the movie is appeal to the greater moviegoer population, not WoW players. They already have them buying “tickets” once a month.
If I recall correctly, the first movie was technically based off (or took inspiration from) the The Last Guardian and Rise of the Horde. Obviously liberties were taken but the film wasn’t based entirely on the video game.
character (morally gray in this case) and turn her into a hero. That annoyed me to no end.
