Duncan Jones' Warcraft

[DarthSkywalker]

I agree. As one of the people at Blizzard pointed out, this would work better as a summer movie than a spring movie. It has the tentpole potential behind it.

That isn't how it works anymore. Look at the first Hunger Games, or Fast series, or TWS and now BvS. Early June isn't prime real estate. It is cluttered and gets hurt by the late May and the usual June animated release. March and early April are fantastic spots now, especially in comparison. You don't want to do battle with Finding Dory or Alice 2 or X-Men Apocalypse. Then comes Transformers. There is little chance they don't move this again.

And it took James Cameron, the master of special effects, like a decade to get that movie made. So no, I'm not worried about this movie as of yet.

Cameron has limitless funds. I don't think this film has limitless funds.

It shows confidence indeed, and guys........ the movie is on an Avatar level VFX wise (ie the scope, sheer volume of CG work), Jones constantly mentions the work ILM is doing on Twitter and it's pretty clear that it's not a small feat. More time to polish it: the better.

So they are spending $300m plus on this film? Really?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Yeah I know but I wish it had the room in November. That's the only thing that I regret about Marvel and Star Wars. Marvel owns most of the major months and now Star Wars is back and owns whichever month it's in. Any other movie that isn't star wars or marvel is going to have fight for space and sometimes films like this own will just have to sit on a shelf until a space opens a year or two down the road. This is just the beginning.

As marvel continues to expand and blockbuster season expands we are going to see this happening more and more. Studios will make a big budget film and it will have to set on the shelf for a year or two because the only space open is a couple years down the road. I mean **** look at pirates of the Caribbean 5. It's shooting now and doesn't come out until July 2017. This shot last year and doesn't come out until June 2016.

Like DarthSkywalker pointed out, and I share his concerns, letting a finished film set on a shelf is a bit like leaving a cake in the oven for too long. The consequences can be unpleasant. It gives all involved too much time to tinker with and second guess the film. It gives the suits too much time to screen the film with every BS focus group, and "recommend" changes.

This is also a legit concern imo.

I feel like moving it to June shows that they are confident in the movie. If they were concerned that it was a turd, they would have bumped it to February.

I am not really talking about the quality of this film. I am talking about it sitting on the shelf for way too long, and the lack of confidence they seem to have in it.

Well Mad Max went through the same thing.

We will see what happens with Max. Though I looks fantastic and I hope it does well. One of the reasons it has been on the shelf for so long is concern for its box office. And now it is sandwiched between potential big hitters. I am hoping they pull it off.

 

[zeroapoc]

Damn. It took like 8 years to get the cameras rolling and now it looks like it'll take that long again to hit the screens.

 

[mclay18]

I am not really talking about the quality of this film. I am talking about it sitting on the shelf for way too long, and the lack of confidence they seem to have in it.

The movie hasn't even been rated by the MPAA, by that time it's basically finished. It's not like the movie takes 2-3 weeks to finalize color correction and sound mixing, that stuff takes months. And then it's getting far too common, with VFX vendors delivering completed shots while films are in final dubbing these days.

Movies that are completed but 'sat' on doesn't always mean the studio has a lack of faith in the final product. There's at least half a dozen movies that were completed but sat on the shelf for more than several months -- and had no trouble being successful:

Star Trek - Basically completed by Christmas 2008 but released on May 2009.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Finished before November 2008 but didn't get released until July 2009.
Gravity - Basically finished by November 2012 but didn't get released until October 2013.
Man of Steel - Finished by December 2012/early January 2013, released on June 2013.
Cinderella - Finished by August 2014, released March 2015.

I've been campaigning for more off-season blockbusters in March and April before it became trendy, but summertime is still a potent corridor for big movies. It's just that studios have been blocking the hot spots years in advance, and sometimes their rivals are willing to wait for that weekend to open up rather than a spring or fall release.

 

[Zantera]

I'd rather wait a few more extra months if it means a superior film. But honestly, at this point they could move this up to 2018 and I would still keep all my faith and excitement for it. With Duncan Jones directing and the good cast they have, and the good story/characters/setting of Warcraft, this is gonna be something special.

 

[Teelie]

Lot of assumptions being made. A film of this magnitude and cost will not "sit on a shelf" for a year like some kind of low budget dud movie. They will be doing work on it right up until the end.

 

[AgentPat]

Found this amusing...

Writer Gary Whitta commented on a previous version of the film's script on his twitter account:

https://***********/garywhitta/status/598189480474873856

For those that don't understand the reference, the 10 year anniversary of the posting of this video occurred a few days ago. It has has over 16 million views on the original posting site.

 

[titansupes]

^ Goddammit, that's genius.

 

[craigdbfan]

I really hope they kept the Leeroy Jenkins reference in there.

 

[Marvolo]

I really hope they kept the Leeroy Jenkins reference in there.

Me too. I still get a kick out of that video.

 

[titansupes]

I can't not laugh at it, even after all this time. It's just so ridiculous.

 

[Octoberist]

Has anyone commented how racist it was? A white guy created a character named 'Leeroy Jenkins', does a voice mimicking a black guy, and then talks about fried chicken at the end. Jeez.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Has anyone commented how racist it was? A white guy created a character named 'Leeroy Jenkins', does a voice mimicking a black guy, and then talks about fried chicken at the end. Jeez.

Yeah, talk about disgusting.

 

[Octoberist]

Seriously.

 

[titansupes]

I didn't know there was anything racist about it. What does the name 'Leeroy Jenkins' mean in that regard?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Nope, you guys aren't ruining Leeroy Jenkins for me. Ain't happen.

 

[MadVillainy]

I did not take it as him "sounding black". Not at all.

I didn't know there was anything racist about it. What does the name 'Leeroy Jenkins' mean in that regard?

Leeroy and Jenkins are seen as stereotypical black names

 

[Silvermoon]

Your First Look at Orgrim, Warcraft’s Hunky Star

 

[DarthSkywalker]

So they have decided to go with the game look for the orcs, but presumably not the humans? Well I like it, though I fear an obvious clash of looks. Still, it looks brilliant.

 

[mclay18]

They really uglied up Robert Kazinsky...

 

[Napoleon]

Your First Look at Orgrim, Warcraft’s Hunky Star

But seriously, that looks badass and realistic. IMO if done right this could be the next Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in terms of how well it integrates CGI characters into the film.

 

[craigdbfan]

The orcs are looking incredible.

 

[ares834]

Wow! Very surprised and pleased that they went with such a direct adaptation of the Orcs from the game.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Wow! Very surprised and pleased that they went with such a direct adaptation of the Orca from the game.

Exactly how I feel. I was not expecting it, but am extremely happy about it.

 

[Jwmakoto]

Top notch for sure. I can't wait for the trailer to come out!

I'm trying to remain cautiously optimistic, but everything about this movie is pointing towards it being potentially the first video game movie "done right" and just a great movie on its own merits.