Sam Raimi to direct Warcraft movie

Sam Raimi, director of the Evil Dead series, Spider-Man series, and most recently Drag Me To Hell, has signed on to helm a live-action adaptation of Activision Blizzard's Warcraft videogame franchise. "The Dark Knight" producer Charles Roven is also onboard. Raimi will start shooting Warcraft after he finishes Spider-Man 4, which will likely be late 2010 or early 2011. 

Under a deal inked in 2006, Legendary Pictures will produce the title, with input from Activision Blizzard. Warner Bros. has signed on to co-finance and distribute the film. Legendary Pictures and Blizzard have been working together since 2007 on pre-production. Though it will take place in Azeroth, old rumors indicate that the story will be original, and peg the budget at $100+ million.

Though it will need that $100+ million budget, Warcraft could make a great fantasy movie. The series already has a well-developed mythology to it, and though it has orcs and elves, it doesn't feel like a retreading of Lord of the Rings at all. Hopefully the film version will retain the unique artistic style of the games. I'm confident that Raimi can direct a good movie, but I really hope he doesn't try to write. Spider-Man 3 affirmed that he should leave the writing to others. The movie was a mess, and tried to pack way too much into two hours of film. Hopefully he keeps his cool with Warcraft, and keeps it simple.

Warcraft is one of the most enduring PC game franchises. The original Warcraft hit retail in 1994. It was a strategy game, pitting orcs against humans in a fantasy world called Azeroth. Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (my favorite) followed a year later, and managed to sell more than two million copies in the U.S. alone. Warcraft III followed in 2003, setting series sales records with more than 4.5 million preorders (people who buy the game before it is released).

World of Warcraft, a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) spin-off of the strategy series hit store shelves in 2004, and has become the largest MMORPG of all time. Currently, the game more than 12 million active subscribers around the world. It's a cultural phenomenon, and damn addicting. (I played the game for about a year, logging in more than 30 full days of that year in the game.) If you've heard of Warcraft, it's likely because of this game. Two expansion packs have been released, each selling many millions of copies to the frothing subscribed masses.