Duncan Jones tapped to direct WARCRAFT feature

Duncan Jones tapped to direct WARCRAFT feature

Several years ago, the immensely popular videogame “World of Warcraft” was under development as a big-budget summer movie, with Sam Raimi at the helm. The project was put into turnaround, and Raimi moved on to other flicks. With Peter Jackson’s HALO also falling by the wayside, it seemed like neither videogame would ever make the transition to the big screen.

Originally reported by the Hollywood Reporter, WOW might make it to the finish line after all, signing director Duncan Jones to get to work on a film slated for release in 2015.

duncanj-times_lifbghncJones, one of the most promising young directors working, made his feature film debut with 2009’s MOON, then followed with SOURCE CODE in 2011. Both films showed Jones’ ability to make smart, thought-provoking science fiction that appeals to large audiences. He’ll be working from a script written by Charles Leavitt, known for his work on K-PAX and BLOOD DIAMOND.

Posting on Twitter earlier today after the story broke, Jones knows he’s got a steep hill to climb:

“World of Warcraft” is a highly successful example of the Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) genre, where over 10 million players were questing in a shared environment. “WOW” holds the Guinness record for most MMORPG subscribers, and is on its fourth Expansion set, the Mists of Pandaria.

Warner Brothers handing Jones the reigns of a franchise like this might be a sign that Hollywood may be ready to start doing more original work, and quit worrying about rebooting… everything. (Yeah, I know it’s still a videogame adaptation, but baby steps, people. Baby steps.)

With THE AVENGERS 2, JUSTICE LEAGUE, Pixar’s INSIDE THE MIND, ANT-MAN and (for now) STAR WARS: EPISODE VII, 2015 was already looking to be a watershed year for sci-fi and fantasy films. WARCRAFT is just one more bit of icing on that cake.

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America's Sweetheart. Pixel monkey; media whore; recovering film critic; baseball fanatic; husband; Texan; human.