Five Reasons Why The WoW Film Won't Flop

07 Dec 2009 at 00:00:00 by Bill Vaughan

Films based on video games don't exactly have a good reputation. Although some of them do relatively well, their general reception is usually negative. Probably the most successful game-to-film adaptation so far is Lara Croft: Tomb Raider which, despite being number one on its opening weekend, Paramount's second-best highest opening weekend earner, and raking in over $300 million USD worldwide to date, was given a 3.9/10 average rating. Other films such as Aliens vs Predator and Street Fighter have fared even worse. However, despite this trend, in 2006 Blizzard Entertainment took the bold step of announcing to the world that a film was to be made from its highly popular franchise, Warcraft.

In typical Blizzard fashion, news on the project has remained painfully sparse, but what we know so far is that Legendary Pictures will be producing the film, and Sam Raimi will direct it. The budget, originally said to be over $100 million USD, is now “Not less than $220 million” according to a recent announcement from Legendary and Blizzard.

So, why does Blizzard think it can triumph where many others have failed? Here are my thoughts:

The Warcraft Franchise

Any gamer worth their salt has heard of Warcraft. The series is currently celebrating its 15 year anniversary, which kicked off with the RTS game Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994. Since then, a string of sequels and then finally the Godzilla of MMOs, World of Warcraft, have hit game stores, imprinting “Warcraft” into our culture. There have also been table-top games including board games as well as an RPG and a miniatures game. The WoW Trading Card Game, which provides in-game items for WoW players, also has a massive following. In recent years, books, and now a comic, which enrich the lore (and often re-write it) have also been released, much to the delight of Warcraft lore fans. Television adverts for World of Warcraft, featuring well-known celebrities such as William Shatner, Mr T and Ozzy Osbourne, have been beamed into our homes for the last couple of years, showing WoW to a whole new audience besides gamers. Whether you like it or not, Warcraft is a known brand. People are familiar with it, they know it's a computer game played by millions. Surely that's going to attract more people to the film, even if they aren't gamers.

The Players

All eleven million of them. And that's just the number of people playing now (China permitting). How many have played for a year or two before moving on due to time restraints or other commitments? The numbers are staggering, but quite simply, if only half of WoW's current subscribers go to see the film on its first weekend – without even taking someone along with them – the takings would match the Tomb Raider film. And I think it's safe to say that the majority of players will take time out of raiding, levelling, daily quests to go and see their major pass-time on the big screen. It's also not out of the question that those who have never played WoW or played the Warcraft RTS, card game, board game or RPG, may want to see the film as well – after all, films based on high fantasy seem to appeal to a lot of people.

The Genre

Highlander, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Stardust, Beowulf, 300, The Golden Compass – films in the same genre that have attracted huge followings. These titles appeal to the young and old alike, the thrill seekers, the romantics and those of us who love a good battle (or Robert De Niro fighting in a dress at least). The Warcraft film has the potential to tick all of these boxes, and it's backed up with a strong lore thanks to the books, comic and evolving storyline in WoW. Generally, if films of this genre are made well, they perform well at the box office.

The Makers

With titles such as 300, Batman Begins, Superman Returns and The Watchmen under its belt, Legendary Pictures is well known for being able to deliver successful films. With a suitable budget, the company should be able to get the right location, special effects and actors that a blockbuster needs, but all that could go to waste if the director is, say Uwe Boll. Luckily, it's not. Sam Raimi of Spider-man fame has agreed to take the helm, and he's not a total stranger to the fantasy genre, as seen in 'Army of Darkness'. Raimi was also an executive producer on the long-running TV series Xena: Warrior Princess and is currently working on Legend of the Seeker, based on Terry Goodkind's 'The Sword of Truth' books. Ok, he's no Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings), but he's more than capable of putting the Warcraft film together. There was more good news for fans when MTV announced that Robert Rodat, who worked on The Patriot and Saving Private Ryan, will the writing the story for Warcraft. What more could hopeful fans want?

Blizzard Entertainment

Ah yes, the company with the Midas touch. Blizzard is renowned for its perfectionist attitude; it will not release anything until they deem it to be ready, and do not mind delaying release dates to back that up – although, probably through lessons learned in the past, it tends not to give release dates until fairly late these days. According to plans announced at BlizzCon 2007, Warcraft was due for release this year (it's now booked for 2011), would be told from the Alliance point of view and would feature a “kick-ass” human hero. The latest reports indicate that the existing script was thrown out when Rodat joined the team recently, and there are hints that the new story will now involve Arthas, otherwise known as the Lich King. Of course, it's all open to speculation at this point, filming won't even start until Raimi has finished the fourth Spiderman film next year, but we do know that Blizzard has a reputation for success. The question is whether the company can carry that over into films.

Arguably the most successful game of all time, in the hands of a qualified production company, a director that has brought us a number of iconic films, a superb writer and a video game company with enough vision and cash to make its dream become reality. Mix in 11 million fully subscribed fans and millions more potential viewers, Warcraft has the very best chance to do what no game-to-film project has managed yet, to be a film that not only brings in the bucks, but to be critically successful too. Will the franchise break yet more records and stake a claim in another form of entertainment? Only two more years to wait until we find out.

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