Duncan Jones' Warcraft - Part 3

[The Big G]

Warcraft Tops Furious 7's Midnight Showing Numbers

https://***********/ChinaBoxOffice/status/740194365281292288

Ok first off Yen is the name of the currency in Japan...in China its Yuan

 

[Doctor Jones]

This is a **** ton of story

over a decades worth

I think the problem with probing into a lot of narrative video games is that not only have they been done in a format that suits them, but they're interactive. That's key. Why watch it in a film when you the player can experience it for yourself as the character? It creates an extra layer a film cannot have. Video games are also the sum of their influences. I'm no expert on Warcraft but it just seems to me like what we'd normally see in fantasy fare. Now of course there's going to be some unique stuff, but it's really humans, orcs, elves, wizards and magic when you boil it down. But what separates Warcraft and video games like that is again, the interactive component of it that is the whole point to video games and what makes it unique as a medium. So putting it to film feels like a step backwards. I think this is one of the major reasons why video game movies fail.

Video games are becoming more cinematic in their influences yet it doesn't feel ripped off because its own medium can take those and fabricate it to fit that unique medium

 

[Logan0327]

i think more people like world of warcraft over just warcraft anyways

stuff like lich king
[YT]BCr7y4SLhck[/YT]

 

[TheVileOne]

I saw it tonight. The story is a confusing mess. Very uneven and tonally off.

Duncan Jones really had no right to critique Sam Raimi. He said Sam Raimi's take was evil orcs vs. good humans and that was wrong. That's basically what he did here.

Also, all the trailers for this film are very misleading about the overall plot.

 

[Neno_Kos]

You really should use sarcasm smiley when you are joking.

this one

 

[Victarion]

I've never played the games but is there even a story or is it more of a lore? Because if it was just a lore, they had an opportunity to come up with their own story and pick and choose elements to fit their story as they pleased.

I read a tie-in novel a long time ago for this. So there's story. I think The Witcher would have been better suited since you had the books before the games, so there's better lore to pull from.

Like I said a few pages back - I would've thrown out the pixie **** and went for the more unique species the game has to offer.

 

[TheVileOne]

Here's the problem. The stories for Warcraft don't work as a movie. The games are really just a device for a strategy game and MMO.

Warcraft is NOT about the story. It's about the player choosing a faction and conquering Azeroth or its about the player creating a character and having adventures and raids in this fantasy setting.

I'm sure we can argue and debate for weeks about this. That Warcraft does have this deep complex lore and cast of characters.

But the movie is not cohesive movie. It's not able to translate this into a cohesive story.

Basically in Warcraft it seems you have this ongoing conflict of Horde vs. Alliance that goes on basically forever.

So how do you turn that into a movie trilogy for example? Where's the ending? Where's the end game?

The story in the game is just a vehicle for the player to pick a faction or join a faction for which to conquer.

Now yea, I'm sure Warhammer fantasy has this complex mythology with lots of interesting creatures and characters. But again, I see what's there as a vehicle to enable fans for the table top gaming or for the RTS strategy games. It's like you are playing the broader picture of a mythical history. It's not about the personal stories or characters.

That's just my take. I could very well be wrong about this. This is just how I'm seeing it.

 

[The Big G]

So how do you turn that into a movie trilogy for example? Where's the ending? Where's the end game?

They could choose The Burning Legion or the Old Gods. odds are the Burning Legion.

Hell if they make the sequel I'd would introduce the Dragonflights with Deathwing and Alexstrasza.

Ultimately I THINK they're trying to pave the way to Warcraft III. Which would put the Horde under Thrall, teamed up with the alliance under Jaina, and the Night Elves vs the Burning Legion at Mt. Hyjal. Unfortunately getting there means we have to get through Warcraft I and II. In the original RTS, the games story didn't really come out till Warcraft II, when Metzen joined on.

The real trick is that they have SOOOO much stuff to pull from...things can get bogged down.

 

[Octoberist]

Then again, what the endgame for the Marvel movies? (Boom goes the Dynamite!)

 

[terry78]

This is one of those things that would benefit from a tv show. The lore is like all over the ****ing place.

 

[-JKR-]

This is one of those things that would benefit from a tv show. The lore is like all over the ****ing place.

That's what screenwriters are for. They are supposed to use their imagination and turn an idea or concept into a working big screen story.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Then again, what the endgame for the Marvel movies? (Boom goes the Dynamite!)

The more failures like this just continue to show just how much Marvel knows their ****.

Here's the problem. The stories for Warcraft don't work as a movie. The games are really just a device for a strategy game and MMO.

Warcraft is NOT about the story. It's about the player choosing a faction and conquering Azeroth or its about the player creating a character and having adventures and raids in this fantasy setting.

I'm sure we can argue and debate for weeks about this. That Warcraft does have this deep complex lore and cast of characters.

But the movie is not cohesive movie. It's not able to translate this into a cohesive story.

Basically in Warcraft it seems you have this ongoing conflict of Horde vs. Alliance that goes on basically forever.

So how do you turn that into a movie trilogy for example? Where's the ending? Where's the end game?

The story in the game is just a vehicle for the player to pick a faction or join a faction for which to conquer.

Now yea, I'm sure Warhammer fantasy has this complex mythology with lots of interesting creatures and characters. But again, I see what's there as a vehicle to enable fans for the table top gaming or for the RTS strategy games. It's like you are playing the broader picture of a mythical history. It's not about the personal stories or characters.

That's just my take. I could very well be wrong about this. This is just how I'm seeing it.

This is what it always came off to me too.

 

[Victarion]

You could play around with expectations and create a Chosen One that shows sympathies to both sides in this Horde vs Alliance spat and focus exclusively on this character. Have it so that the war has dragged on to the point that both sides are willing to throw out logic in favor of myth and superstitions surrounding a Chosen One.

Make this character a fly on the wall in both camps to give fair characterization to both sides. Then have the CO go scorched earth on whichever side he decides are the enemies; we're talking hunting down the survivors to the last man, woman, and child and executing them. Balance this by having a leader from the winning side comment on the Chosen One confirming their stereotypes of the Chosen One archetype.

It is a very basic framework that a director could trick out in Warcraft's lore.

 

[Zero_Effect]

Looks like we might be getting a Warcraft 2 after all:

Exhibitor Relations ‏@ERCboxoffice

Words you won't hear in North America: WARCRAFT opened to a massive 1-day total of $46M...in China.

 

[The Big G]

You could play around with expectations and create a Chosen One that shows sympathies to both sides in this Horde vs Alliance spat and focus exclusively on this character. Have it so that the war has dragged on to the point that both sides are willing to throw out logic in favor of myth and superstitions surrounding a Chosen One.

Make this character a fly on the wall in both camps to give fair characterization to both sides. Then have the CO go scorched earth on whichever side he decides are the enemies; we're talking hunting down the survivors to the last man, woman, and child and executing them. Balance this by having a leader from the winning side comment on the Chosen One confirming their stereotypes of the Chosen One archetype.

It is a very basic framework that a director could trick out in Warcraft's lore.

They did this in the warcraft comics...it was not well received...in fact no character is more hated than Me'dan

 

[Victarion]

I'm not familiar with this Medan, but I'd add a strong sense of seeking justice ie showing the people being hurt by the Alliance-Horde war. Give the audience a strong sense of their suffering and let that drive the Chosen One.

It might be slightly uncomfortable, but that's my point with this kind of character.

edit: Okay, yeah, I'd run the exact opposite direction and not have this hypothetical character of mine be a union of three races, three magics and certainly not the Champion of Hyphens, Apostrophes and Umlauts. Instead I'd just have him as a battered soldier of fortune that was in the wrong place at the wrong time - victimized to people fatigued by war. Brutalized enough that they're prone to hero worship and end up robbing this soldier of fortune of his identity and force upon him that of the Chosen One, or hero for lack of better term.

 

[The Big G]

I'm not familiar with this Medan, but I'd add a strong sense of seeking justice ie showing the people being hurt by the Alliance-Horde war. Give the audience a strong sense of their suffering.

It might be slightly uncomfortable, but that's my point with this kind of character.

trust me...you don't wanna go this route

it will piss off the Blizz faithfull

 

[Victarion]

Curious - Did you see my revisions to the post? I went and found the perfect thread for my inquiry - "What's Wrong with Med'an?" It was very enlightening; seems like most of the complaints stem from legitimate sources - overpowered, overmagicked.

 

[The Big G]

Curious - Did you see my revisions to the post? I went and found the perfect thread for my inquiry - "What's Wrong with Med'an?" It was very enlightening; seems like most of the complaints stem from legitimate sources - overpowered, overmagicked.

I did.

As for your revisions; i would read "Of Blood and Honor" if i were you. It describes Tirion Fordring to a T. But his story is bland till Wrath of the Lich king.

Blizz is the king of tropes

 

[Victarion]

I will keep the title in mind, though I've never been a big fan of tie-ins. The one I read a while back was by Richard Knaak. Day of the Dragon I think it was called. I like the idea of using the Horde-Alliance war to tear down the concept of holding too tightly to superheroes - in this case, using the idea of a chosen hero to show how it keeps the war grinding on, piling up the body counts.

 

[The Big G]

I will keep the title in mind, though I've never been a big fan of tie-ins. The one I read a while back was by Richard Knaak. Day of the Dragon I think it was called. I like the idea of using the Horde-Alliance war to tear down the concept of holding too tightly to superheroes - in this case, using the idea of a chosen hero to show how it keeps the war grinding on, piling up the body counts.

Of Blood and Honor is a short story written by Metzen himself, Day of the Dragon was just a generic adventure...though it does have a few elements/themes I would bring into Warcraft II.

Love me some Deathwing vs Alexstrasza

 

[TheVileOne]

They could choose The Burning Legion or the Old Gods. odds are the Burning Legion.

Hell if they make the sequel I'd would introduce the Dragonflights with Deathwing and Alexstrasza.

Ultimately I THINK they're trying to pave the way to Warcraft III. Which would put the Horde under Thrall, teamed up with the alliance under Jaina, and the Night Elves vs the Burning Legion at Mt. Hyjal. Unfortunately getting there means we have to get through Warcraft I and II. In the original RTS, the games story didn't really come out till Warcraft II, when Metzen joined on.

The real trick is that they have SOOOO much stuff to pull from...things can get bogged down.

They aren't going to do anything because this movie is going to flop. It's another case of studios trying so hard to set up a movie franchise and a bunch of different movies when they couldn't make just one good movie.

 

[The Big G]

They aren't going to do anything because this movie is going to flop. It's another case of studios trying so hard to set up a movie franchise and a bunch of different movies when they couldn't make just one good movie.

It aint gunna flop.

This just in from Forbes:

$45.7 million in one day. $5.33m in IMAX alone. That’s how much Duncan Jones’s Warcraft earned in its first day playing in China according to the estimates. I may have to take back my comments in my review about the film spending too much time setting up sequels that were never going to happen.

The $160 million video game adaptation, produced by Legendary and Blizzard Entertainment (the company behind the game) had a near-record single day gross to kick off its run in the world’s second-biggest movie-going market. The film, which is being distributed by Universal/Comcast CMCSA +0.17% Corp. in most of the world but by Legendary in China, earned a near-record $7.6m in midnight previews, just below the $8.4m made by Furious 7 last year. It just snagged the second biggest single day ever in China.

No, it didn’t best the $63 million opening Sunday of Furious 7. But it easily outgrossed the various $30-$33m debuts of Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Paramount/Viacom Inc.’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War over the last two years. Yes, Warcraft is huge in China, with a massive subscriber base in said country, and it appears that they “all” showed up.

AND according to Box office Mojo its already made 121 Million of its 160 million budget...and it hasn't even come out in the states yet.

It won't make all the money...but im pretty sure Blizz and Legendary are gunna green light a sequel. Especially with how well its doing in China.

 

[TheVileOne]

All these numbers are from China. They don't make the movie profitable.

I love how all these super impressive numbers are only coming from the Chinese box office alone.

 

[Logan0327]

^well you seem to think north america is the only thing that matters

its 2016 and international numbers mean more these days