Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures have announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop a live-action film based on the Warcraft universe. Based on the terms of the agreement, Legendary Pictures has acquired the movie rights for the game universe and both companies are now focused on translating the Warcraft entertainment experience to the big screen.
Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment, claims that the company has searched long and hard to find a studio that would do the game justice (what no Uwe?) and adds, They [Legendary Pictures] clearly share our high standards for creative development, and because they understand the vision that we've always strived for with our Warcraft games, we feel there isn't a better studio out there for bringing the Warcraft story to film.
Legendary Pictures chairman and CEO Thomas Tull claims that his studio specialises in bringing heroic tales to the big screen and is therefore the perfect candidate. He added, The Warcraft universe is possessed of such a rich mythology and, as such, serves as an ideal platform as we go about translating that universe into what we intend to be a major event film.
Chris Metzen, Blizzard Entertainment's vice president of creative development claims that the Warcraft universe has moved from game to novels effortlessly making a big screen adaptation the natural next step.
It's not always the case that interactive game properties lend themselves to proper adaptation to film, said Jon Jashni, Legendary Pictures' chief creative officer. We are intending to approach this as we would the adaptation of a best-selling novel: respect the essence of all that it is but also build upon that fertile base while translating it into a new medium.
Further details about the upcoming Warcraft movie, including director, cast, and targeted release date, will be revealed in the months ahead.
