You see this yet? Warcraft Movie info at IGN

[Venkman]

So this link on a buddy's forums: http://movies.ign.com/articles/810/810702p1.html

• 2009 release
• $100mil budget
• Live action with CGI support.
• Story set one year before the events of World of Warcraft (prior to that setting would be too close to LoTR, which makes sense, particularly in that WoW and the recent books are finally building in a different direction than LoTR).

It could suck and I'll still see. Already it sounds like Uwe Boll isn't involved. That alone is worth what will likely be the $11 ticket charge.

[Paelos]

Oh please God no.

[Simond]

IMO, this would have had much more potential if is was told from a Horde viewpoint, instead of being "humans, dwarves & elves vs orcs...again". I mean, a fantasy film where the orcs, trolls, minotaurs & zombies are the good guys fighting against the bigoted & corrupt human alliance? It'd have novelty value at least.

[WindupAtheist]

I smell a bomb.  How many WoW players are there in North America?  Two million?  Three?  Even if every single one of them goes to see this movie on opening weekend, it'll be regarded as a fucking flop on Monday morning.  The MMO market is small fucking potatoes compared to movies.

[Trippy]

I smell a bomb.  How many WoW players are there in North America?  Two million?  Three?  Even if every single one of them goes to see this movie on opening weekend, it'll be regarded as a fucking flop on Monday morning.  The MMO market is small fucking potatoes compared to movies.

Yes the MMO market as a whole is small potatoes to the overall movie industry. However Burning Crusade sold 2.4 million copies in 24 hours. That's >US$72 million and that's far more that than the $60 million single day record Spider-Man 3 set this year.

[Venkman]

Plus, they're talking to a heck of a lot more people than just current and lapsed WoW players. There's the whole decade+ of people who've careened in and out of the brand. Plus the hype for the game that occasionally still enters the mass media. Blizzard/VUG being who they are, I would wager a lot that they release a Burning Crusade caliber expansion right around the movie launch, and their out-licensing program kicks into high gear between now and then to ensure a flood of books, comics and other paraphernalia. I also wouldn't be surprised if they released another Warcraft-type game, maybe an RTS for the DS/PSP or some console thing. There's a lot they can do in two years and some of it is likely already started.

This isn't Final Fantasy of course, but they've got time to build up the brand even more between now and then.

[Jayce]

I think it really all depends on how good the movie is.  Maybe that's obvious, but in the past, the game-based movies we have seen had about as much success as movie-based games in terms of how much the IP means.. that is, not very much. 

If they can pull off an actual GOOD game-based movie, breaking the mold of the Wing Commander and Doom movies, they will have accomplished something big, and have the money hats to show for it.

[WindupAtheist]

Yes the MMO market as a whole is small potatoes to the overall movie industry. However Burning Crusade sold 2.4 million copies in 24 hours. That's >US$72 million and that's far more that than the $60 million single day record Spider-Man 3 set this year.

Comparing worldwide software sales to domestic US box office receipts is an epic fail.  Only half of those 2.4 million TBC boxes were sold within North America.  Besides which, what the hell is the point here?  I'm comparing the size of the markets involved, not how much money is made based on whether you're selling those markets $9 movie tickets or $30 games.

Plus, they're talking to a heck of a lot more people than just current and lapsed WoW players. There's the whole decade+ of people who've careened in and out of the brand.

You mean the guy who played WC2 back during Clinton's first term, but didn't care enough to pick up WoW when it eventually came along.  Yeah, I wouldn't hang much hope on his brand loyalty.

Plus the hype for the game that occasionally still enters the mass media. Blizzard/VUG being who they are, I would wager a lot that they release a Burning Crusade caliber expansion right around the movie launch, and their out-licensing program kicks into high gear between now and then to ensure a flood of books, comics and other paraphernalia. I also wouldn't be surprised if they released another Warcraft-type game, maybe an RTS for the DS/PSP or some console thing. There's a lot they can do in two years and some of it is likely already started.

If this movie can't draw in large numbers of people who don't give a fuck about Warcraft in general, and who think Dairy Queen when you say Blizzard, it's doomed.  Selling swag to the usual gamer/fanboy/geek niche isn't going to help them.

This isn't Final Fantasy of course, but they've got time to build up the brand even more between now and then.

They had better hope it's not Final Fantasy.  That movie took it in the shitpipe.

[Dren]

Comparing worldwide software sales to domestic US box office receipts is an epic fail.  Only half of those 2.4 million TBC boxes were sold within North America.  Besides which, what the hell is the point here?  I'm comparing the size of the markets involved, not how much money is made based on whether you're selling those markets $9 movie tickets or $30 games.

BC wasn't released worldwide during the timeframe Trippy is speaking to.  Where are you getting your numbers?  Where was the other half sold?

[WindupAtheist]

http://www.blizzard.com/press/070123.shtml

[Dren]

http://www.blizzard.com/press/070123.shtml

I see.  I knew it was mainly US and Europe, but I'm surprised Europe outsold us.  Thanks for the link.

Did TBC launch for China yet?

[Trippy]

Yes the MMO market as a whole is small potatoes to the overall movie industry. However Burning Crusade sold 2.4 million copies in 24 hours. That's >US$72 million and that's far more that than the $60 million single day record Spider-Man 3 set this year.

Comparing worldwide software sales to domestic US box office receipts is an epic fail.

You are right, my bad. Spider-Man 3 grossed $104 million worldwide on its opening day. On the other hand I undercounted the amount grossed by BC since it was released at $39.99 not $29.99 as I originally used. The Europeans also got shafted cause they had to pay 34.99 Euros. So that adds up to something >US$100 million.

[Train Wreck]

IMO, this would have had much more potential if is was told from a Horde viewpoint, instead of being "humans, dwarves & elves vs orcs...again". I mean, a fantasy film where the orcs, trolls, minotaurs & zombies are the good guys fighting against the bigoted & corrupt human alliance? It'd have novelty value at least.

I'm a bit tired of preachy movies, and knowing how most movies are, that's probably how a storyline like that would turn out.

[WindupAtheist]

You are right, my bad. Spider-Man 3 grossed $104 million worldwide on its opening day. On the other hand I undercounted the amount grossed by BC since it was released at $39.99 not $29.99 as I originally used. The Europeans also got shafted cause they had to pay 34.99 Euros. So that adds up to something >US$100 million.

You cut out the part of my reply where I asked what the point of this comparison was.  Unless movie tickets shoot up to forty bucks in the next two years, it has nothing to do with the financial prospects of a Warcraft movie.

Which again, are bleak.  It has to cross over from IP fanboys to the general public in order to really succeed, and I'm skeptical of that happening.  Blizzard is taking it's IP out of the market in which it's king, and tossing it into one where it's just "some Lord of the Rings ripoff based on a videogame".

[naum]

Registrant:
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   Domain Name: WORLDOFWARCRAFTMOVIE.COM

[Trippy]

You are right, my bad. Spider-Man 3 grossed $104 million worldwide on its opening day. On the other hand I undercounted the amount grossed by BC since it was released at $39.99 not $29.99 as I originally used. The Europeans also got shafted cause they had to pay 34.99 Euros. So that adds up to something >US$100 million.

You cut out the part of my reply where I asked what the point of this comparison was.  Unless movie tickets shoot up to forty bucks in the next two years, it has nothing to do with the financial prospects of a Warcraft movie.

You said "market" which is ambigious, not "audience".

Which again, are bleak.  It has to cross over from IP fanboys to the general public in order to really succeed, and I'm skeptical of that happening.  Blizzard is taking it's IP out of the market in which it's king, and tossing it into one where it's just "some Lord of the Rings ripoff based on a videogame".

A whole bunch of people went to see Tomb Raider. Lots of people go see fantasy movies. E.g. Eragon is a relatively recent example (ignoring the Harry Potter stuff and LOTR itself). Sure, almost all video games that get turned into movies suck but that's almost all, not 100% of them. Most video game movies also don't have a company of the caliber of Legendary Pictures working on them either.

[ajax34i]

Is 100 million a big budget or a small budget for a movie these days?  Also, how much does a blockbuster rake in, versus a meh movie?  My impression is that they're not going too exaggerated with the budget, more like "Ok we can afford to spend this money, so might as well."

[Venkman]

It has to cross over from IP fanboys to the general public in order to really succeed

I was basically saying exactly the same thing in the post you SB'd. The IP is not just for the current fans of it. How many people saw LoTR without ever having read the books? Transformers? Narnia? Any of the Tom Clancy and John Grisham flicks? The entire point of making a movie from an IP defined in another medium is to extend that IP into a new audience, pretty much because you know that unless it sucks, you've already got your fanboys.

You also need to keep in mind they said they're looking to spend $100mil to make it. That isn't a lot of money by todays Big Blockbuster standards. So they know Warcraft isn't, say, LoTR. They do think there's a chance to extend the brand though, and you don't unlock those kind of funds, relatively not-big as they are, without some serious consideration.

[Trippy]

Is 100 million a big budget or a small budget for a movie these days?  Also, how much does a blockbuster rake in, versus a meh movie?  My impression is that they're not going too exaggerated with the budget, more like "Ok we can afford to spend this money, so might as well."

$100 million is at the low end for a Summer "blockbuster"-style movie. A "meh" big-budget movie is lucky if it breaks $50 million domestically. A blockbuster can rake in $200 million+.

Visit http://www.boxofficemojo.com for all your movie budget and grosses needs.

[Trouble]

They had a panel about the movie at BlizzCon. The main thing they were trying to say is that they are trying to make a good movie, a movie that will appeal to more people than who play WoW, or even play Blizzard games in general. They specifically said that even if every person who played WoW went and saw the movie, it'd still be a failure. It could bomb, but at the very least they're going in with the right attitude. They want to make a GOOD movie, something worth watching. Not a typical video game movie.

[WindupAtheist]

It's nice to see that they've done the "WoW userbase x price of a movie ticket = We need crossover appeal!" calculation.  I know it seems really obvious, but projects like this can get started and just sort of snowball without anyone being able to apply basic logic.  It's nice to see these guys are at least thinking a little.

Recent example, Evan Almighty.  You do not place a movie that expensive ($175m) on the shoulders of Steve Carell.  I like Carell, I think he's funny, but you just don't do that.  I mean, it made enough money ($110m worldwide) that if it had only cost as much as Bruce Almighty ($81m) everything would have been fine.  But somehow they decided to sequel a Jim Carrey movie, minus Jim Carrey, and double the budget.  How does that even happen?

[Trippy]

They specifically said that even if every person who played WoW went and saw the movie, it'd still be a failure.

Actually in China the price of a movie ticket for Western movies is about the same as it is over here. So if everybody playing WoW worldwide went to see it (assuming Warner Bros. and Vivendi could even get it shown in China) they will have done pretty well (roughly US$70 million gross assuming an average of US$8 a ticket worldwide). They won't have fully recouped the production costs but that's what DVD sales and rentals are for.

[WindupAtheist]

I guarantee if it did $30m domestic and $70m worldwide, it would be remembered as a gigantic flop.  A studio doesn't invest that kind of money because it's hoping to to net a return of "DVD profits, oh, minus the $30m production costs we're still short."

[ajax34i]

Another tangent:  does this explain the rather large "cinematics" team they announced a while ago, that we couldn't figure out why it was so big?  It still doesn't make sense.

[Khaldun]

The thing is, most videogames make crappy movies because their basic narrative engines, characterization, etcetera, are just reprises of stories already told in film and books. At a level way beyond the usual "There are only so many stories in the world". That's why a lot of games *work*, because they draw upon established visual and narrative tropes and THEN add interactivity.

Strip away the action of gameplaying, and what have you got? A slimmer, more derivative (often painfully so) version of the source material.

So take Warcraft. If I were going to try and make a movie out of it that would appeal to lots of people, not just WoW players, what's the hook here? Elves, humans, dwarves, gnomes against orcs, trolls, undead, minotaurs? Wow, Ma and Pa Kettle are gonna come out for that one. I don't care if you cast the most appealing actors in Hollywood and have a great CGI budget, that's not gonna go anywhere as such. All of the "original" lore aspects of the WoW world are so arcane and particular that it would take about five hours to even get to the point where you could distinguish it from Generic Tolkien Fantasy.

About the only way I can see to do a story in the Warcraft world that might have some appeal would be:

1) The Luke Skywalker "journey of a newbie" plotline. Yes, it's hackneyed, but it can be done with some genuine appeal if it's done right. Here you don't worry about playing to WoW lore much: it's just an exotic visual backdrop for a basic narrative hook. I honestly think this story could be more fun if it was about a Horde character, though.

2) A story that somehow played with the metafictional fact that it's a game, largely for laughs. Say, the way that the first Brady Bunch movie somehow managed to make the show into a metafiction. I have no idea how to do this, but someone really creative might yet manage this with a videogame-based movie. This might bother all the WoWheads who want the movie to be perfectly serious and take the lore seriously...all ten of them. I suppose you could do something like, "six players end up actually IN their characters and have to figure out how this world actually works if you're really, really there as opposed to just playing".

Otherwise, I can't really think of much. None of the iconic "big stories" of the mythos have anything approaching either the originality or the narrative coherence to make much of a film.

[MrHat]

This totally should've been an 'adult' themed cartoon straight to DVD movie.  With more to come.  Low budget, and something that half your subscribers will buy.  Money in the bank.

[Khaldun]

Makes more sense to me, ya. Something like the post-JLU cartoons that DC is making. I have no idea why Blizz (or a studio) thinks this is major cinematic fodder. But then, they made a film out of Eragon, which is kind of like making a derivative product from a derivative product that is derivative of a product that is derivative of another product.

[Nonentity]

I actually sat in on the whole panel at BlizzCon on the movie.

It was quite interesting, and Metzen definitely has a good idea on what he wants to do with this.

Let me see if I can remember the points that stuck out:

- As mentioned, he said the basic plot would start a year before the events of World of Warcraft.

- Metzen mentioned that pretty much all of the major plot players would be in the movie, represented in some shape or form.

- The plot would not be about a 'band of adventurers traveling on some great journey', it would be more along the lines of a war movie, IE faction against faction.

- The plot would be a primarily Alliance-focused plot (at which point, all the Horde players erupted into boos, and Metzen had to stand up and say "Hey! I love the Horde! *Thrall voice* FOR THE HORDE!" and show off his Horde belt buckle before they'd settle down.

- He said the movie would contain a lot of the major plot points, strung together in such a way that it would be cohesive, as opposed to nonstop plot point after plot point. He said they were doing this to follow the philosophy in the game, which was to have a high degree of 'concentrated coolness'.

[ajax34i]

What you're saying reads like a page out of their lore book:  a new hero or villain being invented and a major war happening every paragraph, no time for character development.

[Morat20]

- He said the movie would contain a lot of the major plot points, strung together in such a way that it would be cohesive, as opposed to nonstop plot point after plot point. He said they were doing this to follow the philosophy in the game, which was to have a high degree of 'concentrated coolness'.

"Concentrated coolness"? Jesus, I can feel the suck from here.

[Simond]

What you're saying reads like a page out of their lore book:  a new hero or villain being invented and a major war happening every paragraph, no time for character development.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft:_Cycle_of_Hatred

Tirion Fordring's story would be about twenty billion times better to base a film on, anyway.

[WindupAtheist]

- The plot would be a primarily Alliance-focused plot (at which point, all the Horde players erupted into boos, and Metzen had to stand up and say "Hey! I love the Horde! *Thrall voice* FOR THE HORDE!" and show off his Horde belt buckle before they'd settle down.

Fucking losers.  You chose the ugly side, fucking deal.  Yes I played Horde, yes they're ugly, nobody is going to make a movie about them as the stars.

[Nonentity]

- The plot would be a primarily Alliance-focused plot (at which point, all the Horde players erupted into boos, and Metzen had to stand up and say "Hey! I love the Horde! *Thrall voice* FOR THE HORDE!" and show off his Horde belt buckle before they'd settle down.

Fucking losers.  You chose the ugly side, fucking deal.  Yes I played Horde, yes they're ugly, nobody is going to make a movie about them as the stars.

It's sad but true. I <3 my Taurens, Trolls and Orcs. Undead and Blood Elves make me TT.

What you're saying reads like a page out of their lore book:  a new hero or villain being invented and a major war happening every paragraph, no time for character development.

Yeah - Metzen said he's introducing a new hero.

[Venkman]

Equating moviegoers to the number of WoW subscribers is funny. Forget how much you expect to collect. You don't make a movie about an IP in the first place without having convinced yourself you can expand whatever audience comes with the IP. Case in point, any good comic-book movie (the first two Supermans, Batman Begins, X:Mens, about 60% of the first Spiderman, all imho of course), or LoTR (as mentioned). $50mil, $100mil, whatever it is, you know you've got the hardcore fans already, and they are never ever going to be enough to justify a big budget by themselves.

The Warcraft movie is going to be for everyone else they can capture. They've got current and lapsed WoW players by default.

[Flood]

I can't see this turning out as good as everyone will want it to be.  I agree with previous posts, they should do something like Dark Fury.  It'd probably better than both movies combined.  Good voice acting, great animation (Peter Chung), overall pretty decent production values.  Blizzard could use all their artists and lucre to make one HELL of a anime movie.