Private Ryan writer on Warcraft film

By Oli Welsh Published 13 October, 2009

Rumours of Lich King focus look unlikely.

Spider-Man helmsman Sam Raimi has spoken to MTV News about plans for the Warcraft film he's set to direct, and has revealed that he's got Saving Private Ryan writer Robert Rodat working on the script.

Rodat's brief, Raimi said, is to create an original story focusing on strong characters, which Raimi will then set within an authentic recreation of Blizzard's fantasy universe.

"We want to be really faithful to the game... to the Horde and the Alliance and the mythology that takes place in the game, and the archetypes that the game presents," Raimi said.

"I think we would try and find touchstones within the game to make it accurate and true and choose one or some of the lands that are portrayed in the game with as much accuracy and authenticity as possible. But we would have our writer, Robert Rodat, really craft an original story within that world that feels like a World of Warcraft adventure."

Raimi said that Rodat, whose credits also include the Mel Gibson period piece The Patriot, was chosen for his strong character work in particular.

"I've never made a video game movie," he said, "but my approach would be to work with the best character writer I can find, which in this case is Robert Rodat, and tell a great character story within the fantastic environment of the world of Warcraft, while staying true to their mythology."

Raimi's mention of an original story give the lie to last week's rumours that the film would be subtitled Rise of the Lich King and be based on the Warcraft novel of the same name.

Those rumours were based on the film's IMDB listing, which bore the Rise of the Lich King moniker last week but has now been changed back to plain old Warcraft.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TheDudesRug #1 2 years ago

    The porn one or the spielberg one?

  • Indy #2 2 years ago

    Shame the rumours about Rise of the Lich King aren't true. Why try to create a new character when you know from day one he can't possibly live up to someone as legendary as Arthas...

  • actionfitz #3 2 years ago

    "Rodat's brief, Raimi said, is to create an original story focusing on strong characters, which Raimi will then set within an authentic recreation of Blizzard's fantasy universe."

    PLEASE. Please. please.
    Do NOT fucking do a Resident Evil - ie throw everything good about the game out the window and do your own fucking thing, which might as well have beeen: 'Generic horror film A' featuring some Mila Jovovich side boob.

    Not gonna dictate to those who know more about movies than I do, about what story to run with. Just please make it something that will become part of official lore etc. There is a rich tapestry of history etc in Warcraft. There's loads of great potential storylines that they could run with.
    If they make something up themselves just for the sake of it, and it feels foreign to those who love the WoW story, i'll be a sad panda.

  • Kazzahdrane #4 2 years ago

    It's going to be a comedy about a family of Pandareans who move into Stormwind. At first they have trouble settling in, but when a band of orcs and trolls start making trouble, the humans discover that their new neighbours can teach them a thing or two about helping others.

    Ice T to voice the father.

  • GamesConnoisseur #5 2 years ago

    Saving Princess Ryannie

  • JahB #6 2 years ago

    I think it's better this way - make a warcraft film, completely disregard WoW and just make something interesting happen.

  • Evolution #7 2 years ago

    The Patriot was garbage.

  • altitude2k #8 2 years ago

    @Evolution

    The Patriot was not as bad as some of Roland Emmerich's other offerings. Perhaps that was down to script...

  • geeza2020 #9 2 years ago

    WoW is garbage

  • the_mtfr #10 2 years ago

    They'll make a movie about a group of friends who sit down at their computers for a couple of hours and grind some damn ugly low polygon ostriches, then take their remaining meat on a long 20 minutes journey back to their mentor in the spawn camp. The movie ends happily with XP numbers appearing over the main characters' heads.

    One more thing before I duck: I'm really disappointed Blizzard's CGI department is not making a full featured animation, and instead we'll have a "real" movie.
    Edited by 1 at 13/10/09 @ 11:38

  • darkmorgado #11 2 years ago

    WoW is garbage

    Thank you for an intelligent, insightful and well-constructed argument. You really captured the nuance of your opinion perfectly. I bow to your superior debating skills.

    /sarcasm

  • darkmorgado #12 2 years ago

    @the_mtfr

    I agree, I really doubt that a live-action film will capture the Warcraft "feel." The best bet would have been for Blizzard to both write the script and produce a feature-length CGI movie.
    They would put Pixar in the shade.

    EDIT: Wtf? I got negged for pointing out the Blizzard are extremely talented at CGI and that they would be best people to write a story set in a world that they actually created?
    Edited by 1 at 13/10/09 @ 12:42

  • r4z0rbl4d3 #13 2 years ago

    I don't care if Jesus writes the script, there is NO WAY IN HELL that this movie will be any good. Ever.

    If they prove me wrong, I'd be happy as a camper! But they won't. This will become a horrible matiné for kids and everyone knows it. Mark my words.

  • rogueJT #14 2 years ago


    This Avatar lark by Jim Cameron looks like a WoW movie.

    Gonna be dreadul as well from the looks of it.

  • hiddenranbir #15 2 years ago

    A couple of WoW players play during a storm which SUCKS THEM INTO THE GAME!

  • Dexter2015 #16 2 years ago

    This game is not a movie base on World of Warcraft but on the Warcraft storyline of all the warcraft games and books that where release over the years!

  • Pirotic #17 2 years ago

    I hope they keep the humor of the game, If nobody gets turned into a sheep I'll be disappointed.

  • YourMessageHere #18 2 years ago

    I really wish they'd outlaw films of games.

    @ r4z0rbl4d3

    Jesus is a crap writer. They had to get at least four other scriptwriters in after he died just to release his big project, and it's still full of holes and barely coherent.

  • BPrince6 #19 2 years ago

    Because clearly "the patriot was garbage" is MUCH different then saying "WOW is garbage". Neither Evolution nor Geeza2020 made an intelligent statement.

    "Thank you for an intelligent, insightful and well-constructed argument. You really captured the nuance of your opinion perfectly. I bow to your superior debating skills.

    /sarcasm"

    shall be reserved for both.....