At the 76th Annual Academy Awards, legendary director Steven Spielberg handed out the Best Picture statue to The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It was the first fantasy film to ever win the top Oscar, and Spielberg heaped praise on the picture and its director, Peter Jackson, both during and after the ceremony. "It's a great day for fantasy and fantasy fans," he told reporters at the post-awards press conference.
Spielberg's comments seemed ironic, as he himself has never directed a high-fantasy movie. Though his futuristic sci-fi efforts are myriad, including War of the Worlds and Minority Report, the closest he has ever come to fantasy are the supernatural-themed Indiana Jones adventures, the schmaltzy romance Always, and the children's film Hook.
So when reports attributed to Variety claimed that Spielberg was getting onboard the recently announced World of Warcraft movie, it struck many as the perfect fit. Besides being an avid gamer who attends E3 every year, Spielberg has also had a long-term relationship with Universal Pictures, which used to be a subsidiary of media conglomerate Vivendi. Vivendi is the current owner of WOW developer-publisher Blizzard Entertainment.
Alas, like so many things that sounded too good be true, the Spielberg rumor was just that. Today's issue of Variety contains no articles on a WOW movie, and there's no article in its archives where Spielberg mentioned being involved in the project. By the afternoon, several sites like Joblo had retracted the rumor, although others continued to parrot is as gospel.
For its part, Blizzard would only say no World of Warcraft director has yet been chosen. "No final determinations have been made at this time," a rep told GameSpot. "We're working closely and carefully with [production company] Legendary Pictures on ensuring that the team that forms around this epic production will be equipped to fully capture the Warcraft universe on film. We look forward to revealing further details about the cast and crew in the months ahead."
