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Warcraft, (also known as Warcraft: The Beginning), is a movie directed by Duncan Jones, produced by Legendary Pictures, and distributed by Universal Pictures. It began filming at the beginning of 2014, and was released on May 30, 2016 in the UK and on June 10, 2016 in the United States. AMC and IMAX ran a promotion that allowed US moviegoers to see the movie early on June 8, 2016 at select AMC/IMAX 3D theaters.[4] However, the world premiere was in Paris on the night of May 24, 2016.[5][6][7]

The official Warcraft Movie Weibo account (Chinese version of Twitter) strongly hinted that a sequel was likely to be made[8], though there has been no official word as to whether a Warcraft 2 will ever be filmed.

Official synopsis[]

The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home.

So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.

The story has as its core the events leading up to and including those played through in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, the very first game in the Warcraft franchise. It focuses on the characters of Durotan - a noble orc trying to escape his dying world, protecting his family, and watching in horror as his kin succumb to the temptation offered by Gul'dan; Anduin Lothar - a military commander of Stormwind City who will do anything to keep his people safe; Garona Halforcen - a pawn trying to throw off her yoke; and Khadgar - a young mage slowly learning of his teacher's descent into madness and treachery.

Box office[]

As of late June 2016, the movie had made over $400 million worldwide.[9] China led all markets by a large margin by bringing in over $200 million by themselves.[9] The US was second at $44 million.[10] Russia, Germany, and France followed with $21.6 million, $13.8 million, and $10.9 million respectively.[9] South Korea led all other Asian countries at $8.4 million while Brazil led all South American countries at $5.6 million.[9] Africa did not do that much, but in the Middle East, UAE registered around $2.3 million.[9]

The movie had largely run its course as of mid-July 2016 with the last major country release in Japan on July 1, 2016,[11] but had made over $430 million worldwide.[2] China did most of the heavy lifting with $220 million.[3]

Home media[]

Blu-ray and more[]

Warcraft was one of the first 4K blu-ray releases from Universal Pictures.[12] Pre-orders for blu-ray and DVD started on June 24, 2016.[13] with physical copes available as DVD on September 27, 2016.[14] It was supposed to be available as Blu-Ray, 3D, and 4K Ultra on October 10, 2016,[15] but it was moved up to match the DVD release date apparently.[16]

Initial DVD and blu-ray sales were promising with Warcraft leading the pack in the first week after release.[17]

Bonuses often missing[]

For those who purchased the movie on DVD or Blu-ray, some received the Medivh hero for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, the Gul'dan hero for Heroes of the Storm, and a free digital copy of World of Warcraft[18] for a limited time. There was a serious problem, however, where many physical copies had a sticker promising bonus items, but no codes or inserts were in the product when opened. Blizzard claimed it was the manufacturer's responsibility[19] and many retail stores were clueless or unhelpful.[20]

Digital download[]

Warcraft was available for digital download starting on September 13, 2016. iTunes offered it beginning September 27, while Amazon digitally released it as of September 13, 2016.

Cast and crew[]

Cast[]

   Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Inlinegfx/img_link_data.json' not found. denotes characters introduced with the movie.

Crew[]

Director - Duncan Jones
Executive Producers - Stuart Fenegan, Jillian Share, Brent O'Connor, Mike Morhaime (Blizzard), Paul W. Sams (Blizzard)
Co-Producers - Rob Pardo (Blizzard), Chris Metzen (Blizzard), Nicholas S. Carpenter (Blizzard), Rebecca Steel Roven
Producers - Charles Roven, Alex Gartner, Thomas Tull (Legendary Pictures), Jon Jashni (Legendary Pictures)
Writers - Duncan Jones, Charles Leavitt
Visual Effects Director - Bill Westenhofer
Visual Effects Supervisor (ILM) - Jeff White
Animation Supervisor - Hal Hickel
VFX Supervisor - Jason Smith
Visual Effects Art Director - Christian Alzmann
Music Composer - Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography - Simon Duggan
Production Designer - Gavin Bocquet
Costume Designer - Mayes Rubeo
Set Decorator - Elizabeth Wilcox
Movement Coach - Terry Notary
Stunts and Orc Mo-cap assist - Daniel Cudmore
Blizzard Concept Artist - Wei Wang

Development history[]

2006 - 2008[]

In a May 9, 2006 press release, Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures (makers of Batman Begins and 300) announced that they would develop a live-action film set in the Warcraft universe.[22] Legendary Pictures acquired the movie rights for the game universe, and both companies were focused on translating the Warcraft experience to the big screen. Uwe Boll attempted to apply for the job of director, to which Blizzard CEO Paul Sams replied "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you... especially not to you."[23] At BlizzCon 2008, according to Mike Morhaime, a script was being written.[24] Chris Metzen mentioned that the film would be action-packed and violent, stating "We're definitely not going to make a G or a PG version of this. It's not PillowfightCraft."[25]

2009 - 2011[]

The live-action film was set for release in 2009,[25] but was later rescheduled to 2011.[26] On July 22, 2009, Blizzard Entertainment announced that Sam Raimi would become the Warcraft movie director, but in July 2012 he told Crave Online that he would not direct due to committing to the movie Oz: The Great and Powerful.[27]

2012[]

As of early 2012, the movie had still not entered production. At ComicCon 2011, Chris Metzen said the movie was not dead, but gave few useful details, saying it was still in the "treatment stage".[28] In mid-March 2012, Nethaera said the movie was "still on the radar" with no other update.[29]

2013[]

In late January 2013, Legendary Pictures announced that director Duncan Jones had been attached to production,[30] sparking some hope the filming might start. No specific development news surfaced in Spring 2013, but lots of indirect evidence had cropped up. Previous Director Sam Raimi revealed that a lot of pre-production work was done by him and Robert Rodat (script writer) prior to their exit, but Blizzard effectively vetoed their work.[31]

The film received an official announcement and short teaser at Comic-Con 2013.[32] The film was to begin principal photography some time in early 2014.[33]

Comic-Con teaser[]

A very short visual teaser for the film was introduced by Duncan Jones at San Diego Comic-Con.[32] Below is a brief description of the teaser which was not released to the public:[34]

A view of a desolate, dry landscape full of rocky outcroppings that pans to a scruffy, armored human soldier drinking water from a leather skin. A cage with rocks in it is shown followed by a squeaking noise as a green tinged sky is shown with dark clouds and green lightning. The waterskin is tossed to the ground and the soldier draws his sword with a sound of metal ringing off metal. The human walks over to the skeleton a fallen soldier and picks up the soldier's shield. He smashes his sword on the shield, apparently testing it. Cut to the muscled green arm (likely of an orc) of a creature heading toward the soldier. They circle each other with flashes of green skin and some armor as they charge each other. An extreme closeup of the orc as it raises its hammer and brings it down as the human raises his shield. Cut to black. A Warcraft logo. And then the Blizzard Entertainment logo.

Shifting release dates[]

It was initially announced the movie would release on December 18, 2015.[35] However, the next installment of the Star Wars franchise was scheduled for late 2015, so it prompted the studio to move the Warcraft film release to March 16, 2016.[36]

For reasons not specifically given (perhaps to take advantage of traditional action movie summer season), the studios delayed the release again to June 10, 2016.[37][38]

Casting lined up[]

By early December 2013, several cast members were confirmed or mostly confirmed. Among them: Travis Fimmel (Vikings), Paula Patton (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol), Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma), Toby Kebbell (The Counselor), and Rob Kazinsky (Pacific Rim). Negotiations with Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) were also being finalized.

Financing and distribution[]

According to the LA Times: "...Universal, a unit of NBCUniversal, will market, co-finance and distribute Legendary films for five years beginning in 2014..."[39]

2014[]

Legendary Pictures began production on the film on January 13th, 2014 in Vancouver, Canada which spanned up to 5 months. Duncan Jones announced the Warcraft film officially wrapped on May 23, 2014.

2015[]

On April 23, 2015 Legendary Pictures announced release date changes for Warcraft to move from March 11th, 2016 to June 10th, 2016.[36] Although not officially announced by the studio, the changes were most likely made to avoid the March 25, 2016 release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

A prequel graphic novel, Warcraft: Bonds of Brotherhood, was announced as being in the works on July 9, 2015.[40]

The release date for the official trailer was slated for November 6, 2015.[41] It debuted during the opening ceremony of BlizzCon 2015.[42]

There was no general-audience movie panel, but WoWWiki got to cover the press-only movie panel that began with a re-screening of the trailer.

2016[]

In early February 2016, Universal UK, the UK distributor, announced the UK release date for the movie would move up to May 30th, 2016.[43] No reasons were given, but some speculated it was to coincide with the Spring Bank holiday which fell on May 30th.[44]

In an interview with Australia's FilmInk, Duncan Jones hinted that he was trying to get a cameo done with Chris Metzen.[45]

An official TV Spot (#1) was released January 24th, 2016[46] with a second one (#2) on March 17th, 2016.[47] An apparent Twitter video exclusive trailer was posted March 19th, 2016.[48]

In May 2016, Universal announced that it would not restrict which theaters Warcraft could play in across the U.S., basically ending a practice called "distributor clearance", which was more like exclusivity agreements with certain theater chains in certain regions.[49]

Promotion[]

Main article: Warcraft movie promotion

Previously called "World of Warcraft: Ultimate Movie Edition", the promotion became official on May 17, 2016.[50] The only US theater chains participating were from the Regal Entertainment Group: Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theaters, and Edwards Theaters.[50] Some of the larger theater chains (AMC, Cinemark, and Cineplex) in the US and Canada didn't appear to participate.[50] Also, it appeared that only Brazil was including 30 days of free game time,[50] but Blizzard sources said it would be for all recipients.[51]. You can easy play games with Amazon echo by download Alexa app , after that enjoy. Promotional period varied by country and theater chain:[50]

  • Alliance and Horde transmog items for players who logged in between May 25th and August 1st.
    • A server-side update allowed items to be mailed to characters of the opposite faction and converted on arrival to the appropriate faction type.[52]
  • Digital copy of World of Warcraft
  • 30 days of free game time.[51]
  • Regal Crown Club-only: The opportunity to enter to win two tickets to BlizzCon 2016.

Warcraft: Bonds of Brotherhood[]

IGN reported that Legendary would publish a graphic novel entitled Warcraft: Bonds of Brotherhood as a prequel story to the movie.[53]

Pre-release[]

AMC and IMAX pre-released the movie in select theaters in the US as part of a promotion for IMAX 3D.[4] More theaters were added on May 19, 2016.[54]

Reception[]

Reception of the film by professional critics was largely negative, with most reviews being below average. As of the worldwide premiere on May 25, 2016, Metacritic gave the movie 32/100[55] and Rotten Tomatoes gave it 38%,[56] but with less than 10 reviews counted at that point. After the US premiere, Metacritic had declined slightly to 31/100[57] and Rotten Tomatoes had declined dramatically to 18%.[58] Despite being a critical failure (primarily in the US and UK), regular viewers generally responded more positively in international markets by propelling it to number 1 for its opening weekend in 19 of 20 overseas markets.[59] It appeared to be very popular in China by setting pre-sales records and setting the record for widest release ever of any movie, beating the previous champion, Furious 7.[60]

It is important to note that while the movie's reception by critics has been abysmal in the United States, the user reviews after the first weekend (8.5+/10 on Metacritic[61] and 80%+ on Rotten Tomatoes)[62] have been generally good. As such, the critics do not seem to be representing the users.

Another peculiar phenomenon is disparate reviews from some sites. Kotaku had an initial very negative review[63] and then a day later posted a positive review.[64] Another example is a generally positive review in Den of Geek[65] after the worldwide debut in France in late May and then a much more negative review in early June[66] a few days before the US premiere.

Media[]

Images[]

Main article: Warcraft movie images for many more pictures

Videos[]

Main article: Warcraft movie videos for many more videos

Notes[]

Trivia[]

  • The teaser released in November 2015 actually used the old flatter, silver-metallic logo from 2014, but they appear to have updated it right away.
  • Warcraft is the highest-grossing film to be based on a video game.

References

  1. ^ Dave McNary 2016-05-27. ‘Warcraft’ Opens in First in 11 International Markets With $9.3 Million. Variety.com.
  2. ^ a b c Warcraft (2016). BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved on 2016-07-14.
  3. ^ a b Warcraft (2016) - International Box Office Results. BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved on 2016-07-14.
  4. ^ a b Max Evry 2016-05-05. AMC Theatres to Host Exclusive Pre-Release Warcraft Screenings in IMAX 3D. ComingSoon.net.
  5. ^ Lugia 2016-04-29. World Premiere of the Warcraft movie at The Grand Rex. Blizzheart.com.
  6. ^ Warcraft : Le commencement. Allocine.fr. Retrieved on 2016-04-29.
  7. ^ @ManMadeMoon 2016-05-04. 3 weeks to go, France, you lucky punks! Feels like Christmas coming... HURRY UP, RELEASE DATE! :) #WarcraftMovie. Twitter.com.
  8. ^ Ethan Anderton 2016-07-08. ‘Warcraft’ Sequel Teased By the Film’s Official Chinese Social Media Account. /FILM.
  9. ^ a b c d e Warcraft (2016) - International Box Office Results. BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved on 2016-06-27.
  10. ^
  11. ^ {ref web|work=Warcraft-movie.jp|url=http://warcraft-movie.jp/%7Ctitle=Warcraft%7Caccessdate=14-Jul-2016}}
  12. ^ Rich McCormick 2016-04-19. Universal Pictures will release its first 4K Blu-ray movies this summer (Starting with Warcraft, Jason Bourne, and others). TheVerge.com.
  13. ^ Medievaldragon. Warcraft Movie Blu-Ray Pre-Orders have Begun. WarcraftMovie.BlizzPlanet.com.
  14. ^ Silas Lesnick 2016-09-27. September 27, 2016: This Week on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD. ComingSoon.net.
  15. ^ Press Releases 2016-08-05. Warcraft coming to Blu-Ray, 3D, and 4K Ultra 10th October. GodIsAGeek.com.
  16. ^ hdreport 2016-09-29. This Week’s New 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray Releases With HDR. HD-Report.com.
  17. ^ Thomas K. Arnold 2016-10-06. ‘Warcraft,’ ‘Central Intelligence’ Take Top Spots on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Sales Chart. Variety.com.
  18. ^ Buy Warcraft on Blu-Ray and DVD, Get Three Epic Digital Loot Drops
  19. ^ Blizzard Entertainment Vrakthris 2016-10-03. Warcraft Bluray Digital Loot Codes Missing. Official WoW Customer Support forum (US).
  20. ^ Oarsman05 2016-09-29. Warcraft 3D Blu-ray missing in-game content codes. Forums.BestBuy.com.
  21. ^ Germain Lussier and James Whitbrook 2016-06-13. Director Duncan Jones Answers All Your Burning Questions About the Warcraft Movie. io9.
  22. ^ Blizzard Entertainment 2006-05-09. BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® AND LEGENDARY PICTURES TO PRODUCE LIVE-ACTION WARCRAFT® MOVIE. Archive.org (archive of Blizzard.com). Archived from the original on 2006-05-12.
  23. ^ Shawn Adler 2008-04-18. Uwe Boll Won't Ever Be Entering The World Of Warcraft. Retrieved on 2009-06-01.
  24. ^ Alex Billington 2008-10-15. World of Warcraft Movie Still on the Horizon?. FirstShowing.net.
  25. ^ a b Michael McWhertor 2007-08-04. Warcraft Movie Details Revealed At BlizzCon. Kotaku.com.
  26. ^ Medievaldragon 2009-10-12. Sam Raimi Announces Robert Rodat as Warcraft Film writer. Retrieved on 2009-10-18.
  27. ^ Fred Topel 2012-07-13. Comic Con 2012 Exclusive: Sam Raimi Won't Direct the World of Warcraft Movie. Crave Online. “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,” Raimi said. “They had to start making it.”
  28. ^ Pete Haas 2010-07-22. Comic Con: World Of Warcraft Movie Isn't Dead But It's Nowhere Close To Happening. Cinema Blend.
  29. ^ Blizzard Entertainment Nethaera 2012-03-15. #10 - World of Warcraft Movie. Official Movies, TV and Entertainment forum (US)It's still on the radar. We just don't have any current updates to provide.
  30. ^
  31. ^ Medievaldragon 2013-03-05. Sam Raimi Reveals Why He Departed the Warcraft Film. Blizzplanet.
  32. ^ a b Katey Rich 2013-07-20. World Of Warcraft Movie Officially Announced With Footage Screened At Comic-Con. CinemaBlend.com.
  33. ^ CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger 2013-09-03. World of Warcraft film to shoot in Vancouver. BC.CTVNews.ca.
  34. ^ An amalgamation of various reports of the teaser.
  35. ^
  36. ^ a b
  37. ^ Alex Stedman 2015-04-24. ‘Pacific Rim 2′ Pushed Back to Summer 2017. Variety.com.
  38. ^ @Legendary 2015-04-23. .@Legendary’s WARCRAFT will be in theaters Friday, June 10, 2016. #Summer2016. Twitter.com.
  39. ^ Daniel Miller 2013-10-01. Universal Pictures sets 2015 release date for Legendary's 'Warcraft'. LA Times.
  40. ^ @Warcraft 2015-07-09. #Warcraft film announcement! Official graphic novel prequel Warcraft: Bonds of Brotherhood to be released May 2016.. Twitter.com.
  41. ^ Error on call to Template:ref web: Parameters url and title must be specifiedLegendary Pictures 2015-11-02. . WarcraftMovie.com.
  42. ^ Blizzard Entertainment 2015-11-03. Watch the Warcraft Movie Trailer Live at BlizzCon 2015!. World of Warcraft official game site (US).
        Blizzard Entertainment 2015-11-03. Watch the Warcraft Movie Trailer Live at BlizzCon 2015!. World of Warcraft official game site (EU).
  43. ^
  44. ^ Kenji Lloyd 2016-02-04. Warcraft UK Release Date Moves Up to May. FInalReel.co.uk.
  45. ^ Gill Pringle 2016-02-26. Duncan Jones: Creating The World Of Warcraft. FilmInk.com.au. “"Chris Metzen, who’s one of the guys from Blizzard, is here today…we’re trying to squeeze in a cameo for him..."”
  46. ^ Icon-legendary-22x22 Legendary 2016-01-24. Warcraft - In Theaters June 10 (TV Spot 1) (HD). Youtube.com.
  47. ^ Icon-legendary-22x22 Legendary 2016-03-17. Warcraft - In Theaters June 10 (TV Spot 2) (HD). Youtube.com.
  48. ^ @ warcraftmovie 2016-03-19. An unthinkable threat needs unstoppable heroes. #WarcraftMovie hits theaters June 10.. Twitter.com.
  49. ^ Anthony D'Alessandro and Anita Busch 2016-05-13. Universal Scraps Exhibitor Requests For Clearances Starting With ‘Warcraft’; AMC To Play In Competitive Zones. Deadline.com.
  50. ^ a b c d e Blizzard Entertainment 2016-05-17. The Warcraft Movie Arrives in Theaters Soon!. World of Warcraft official game site (US).
       Blizzard Entertainment 2016-05-17. The Warcraft Movie Arrives in Theaters Soon!. World of Warcraft official game site (EU).
  51. ^ a b Mike Futter 2016-05-07. Blizzard Giving Away World Of Warcraft If You See The Movie. GameInformer.com.
  52. ^ Blizzard Entertainment 2016-06-03. Warcraft Movie–Inspired Transmog Items Update. World of Warcraft official game site (US).
  53. ^ Joshua Yehl 2016-04-14. Warcraft Movie Gets a Prequel Graphic Novel Called Bonds of Brotherhood. IGN.com.
  54. ^ IMAX 2016-05-19. Warcraft Fan First Event. IMAX.com.
  55. ^ Warcraft. Metacritic.com. Retrieved on 2016-05-25.
  56. ^ Warcraft (2016). RottenTomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2016-05-25.
  57. ^ Warcraft. Metacritic.com. Retrieved on 2016-06-07.
  58. ^ Warcraft (2016). RottenTomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2016-06-07.
  59. ^ Nancy Tartaglione 2016-05-28. ‘Warcraft’ Builds $16.3M Overseas War Chest Through Friday – Intl B.O. Update. Deadline Hollywood.
  60. ^ Nancy Tartaglione 2016-06-07. ‘Warcraft’ Sets China Record For Widest Release Ever, Wows With Pre-Sales; How Big Is Its Box Office Game?. Deadline Hollywood.
  61. ^ Warcraft. Metacritic.com. Retrieved on 2016-06-13.
  62. ^ Warcraft (2016). RottenTomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2016-06-13.
  63. ^ Jason Schreier 2016-06-10. The Warcraft Movie Is Not Good. Kotaku.com.
  64. ^ Mike Fahey 2016-06-11. Counterpoint: The Warcraft Movie Is Good. Kotaku.com.
  65. ^ Ryan Lambie 2016-05-25. Warcraft: The Beginning review. Den of Geek.
  66. ^ Don Kaye 2016-06-03. Warcraft Review. Den of Geek.

See also[]

Fandom coverage

External links[]

IMDB
Blu-ray/DVD
Release date: September 27, 2016; Digital copy redemption deadline: May 2, 2018
Digital download
Box office info
US/LA Premiere

Archived videos available

Original live stream

Fan Sweepstakes!
Warcraft movie promotion
Images
International
Info and Tickets
Fansites
Guides
History
Complete plot spoilers
Trailer official photo gallery
VR App (from Legendary)

Reviews[]

Too many reviews to include them all. Not included for negativity or positivity.
Fair reviews
A selection of reviews from respected sources (aka not Forbes and not most gaming sites).
Other reviews
Included for random reasons like mentioning WoWWiki and general fairness.

Lore[]

News[]

2017 News
2016 News - June thru December
2016 News - pre-June
2015 and before
2015 News
2014 News
2013 News
2012 News
Old news
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