Isn't the WoW movie about 5 years too late?

[Zaqwert]

Had this movie come out when WoW was at it's peak, both in terms of popularity and public interest, I get the feeling it would have been a much bigger deal.

As such, I just don't see the movie doing anything, it will probably not bomb, but likely not do anything of note at the box office anyway, probably just make it's money back.

Seems like they missed their window.

[Rudkobing]

Missed it by a mile.

[Nanaboostme]

Development started early 2006 and was in development hell for quite a while. The convenience and technology of CGI was one big factor and they had disagreements during preproduction. Remember the infamous Uwe Boll wanting to direct it a long time ago and blizzard's response?

[Harbour]

No its not. Many movies were based on the books, movies and franchises that were released 10-20-60-100+ years ago and some of them were quite good and popular.
So no, the movie is not late.

[Silverware]

Would've been great if it had come out around Wrath's peak, when Blizzard's advertising machine was at its strongest - what with the celebrity commercials and mountain dew promotions and stuff.

Now it's coming out literally just a few months short of a decade after it was announced... should be interesting to see how much interest is still there. Judging by the initial WoD numbers though (the three million jump), it should do just fine. And if it doesn't, China will make up for it.

[tangers58]

Had this movie come out when WoW was at it's peak, both in terms of popularity and public interest, I get the feeling it would have been a much bigger deal.

As such, I just don't see the movie doing anything, it will probably not bomb, but likely not do anything of note at the box office anyway, probably just make it's money back.

Seems like they missed their window.

Absolutely right, but they kept delaying it and delaying it. Plus it looks far too CGI heavy, like they cheaped out by only making a handful of real sets.

[Deleted]

Absolutely right, but they kept delaying it and delaying it. Plus it looks far too CGI heavy, like they cheaped out by only making a handful of real sets.

You do know a good CGI is harder to make than build a set, right?

[MoanaLisa]

Yes, I think it's late. I also sense that people believe that Blizzard has total control over the project. I can tell you they don't. They don't set the release date and it all had to wait until everything lined up properly in Hollywood. Hollywood got it into turnaround for a number of years and Hollywood is the one that got it out. They did so with Blizzard's help, support and encouragement but once a production/distribution company and a director were named, Blizzard had much less control over this than people generally think.

[tangocash]

Had this movie come out when WoW was at it's peak, both in terms of popularity and public interest, I get the feeling it would have been a much bigger deal.

As such, I just don't see the movie doing anything, it will probably not bomb, but likely not do anything of note at the box office anyway, probably just make it's money back.

Seems like they missed their window.

It's not a WoW movie first off.

Second, the market:
Anyone who's played the original RTS 1-3, any Blizzard fans, gaming fans in general who want this to succeed just to be the first good adaptation, to break the door down for the rest of good video game movies just like what Marvel and DC did with comic books, anyone who's ever played WoW, 40 million Hearthstone players, fantasy fanatics in general, curious new audiences who want to see something new, and the foreign markets where WoW is still beloved like China/Korea. China alone will make this movie hundreds of millions.

Not to mention Duncan Jones' fanbase and David Bowie's. I know people who will see this just for David Bowie.

People will see this just because it has Travis Fimmel from Vikings.

As if China wasn't already insane about Warcraft, their sex symbol Daniel Wu plays Gul'Dan.

No it's not too late. Was LOTR 50 years too late? That argument is ridiculous.

[grexly75]

No it's not too late. Was LOTR 50 years too late? That argument is ridiculous.

This ^ exactly the Lord of The Rings was published and released in three parts from July 1954 to October 1955, and when Peter Jackson finally was allowed to make the movie he had to cut a lot of what he filmed out due to the wishes of Tolkien's family..

But it is true the argument that the Warcraft movie is years late is really stupid, some people have no idea how long it can take to get a movie to be made.. From getting permission from the original owner of the IP to deciding how it should go, to writing a script, casting the characters and so much more..

[Zoaric]

Absolutely right, but they kept delaying it and delaying it. Plus it looks far too CGI heavy, like they cheaped out by only making a handful of real sets.

In what world is 110 real sets a "handful of real sets"?

[Kraenen]

Yeah but then we wouldn't have such state of the art graphics.

Oh...

[Soulwind]

What WoW movie? It's just Warcraft.

[Djuntas]

No? Now WoW is in decline, good time for a movie.

Also advances in tech...

[Nanaboostme]

You do know a good CGI is harder to make than build a set, right?

Ultimately the idea is to use as much practical effects and set as much as possible and to only use CGI for those that cant be achieve with practical fx due to money, resource, etc.

Visual Effects and Practical Effects take a majority of time planning during pre-production. Financially, they both are toe to toe. Majority of the money for V.FX goes into post while Practical FX mostly goes into pre-production.

James Cameron could've had much more of a convenient and simple time using CGI for Titanic but instead chose to rebuild the Titanic; not only that it was larger than the original Titanic. In this case, I would consider it much harder approach he decided to take but in compensation for better realism.

[Bosen]

It's never too late for a good movie. If it turns out great, maybe it'll change things for the better in-game.

[Froggy]

Since the population is in decline, now is a good time for the movie to arrive. It will be a massive promotion for WoW.

[hulkgor]

Yes, it did come out later than what would have been the best for it.

Had this movie come out during its peak, around 2008-2010, it would have had been completely insane.

But due to all the issues, delays, change of direction, etc (all for valid reasons), it just didn't happen. It will probably still be a success, but it would have had a lot more impact and success had it come out at the peak of players and popularity, without a doubt.

That's impossible to disagree with...

[Frolk]

Maybe not 5, but around 3 years to late in my opinion

[Deleted]

It's not a WoW movie first off.
...
No it's not too late. Was LOTR 50 years too late? That argument is ridiculous.

It's still going to be lumped into the same category. Yes, it is still a wow movie, because it's basically a story from a developer from blizzard who just so happens to work on wow.

Not really seeing how wow compares to LOTR, but at least it was good for a laugh.

That being said, I don't think it's going to bomb (short term at least), but it's not going to break the box office by any means. I think the biggest thing they have going for them is the selected cast members, give it a year and nobody will be talking about the movie. Unless they decide to go the land before time route and milk it, at which point only the die-hard fans will nerd out on it.

One final thing before I'm out:

I LOL'd at the money-grab attempt. Blizzard is basically considering bribing people with in-game items to go see the movie.