Warcraft
Short description
Warcraft takes place in Azeroth, a human kingdom that has enjoyed a long peace under King Llane Wrynn and the protection of the Guardian Medivh. That peace ends when a portal opens between Azeroth and Draenor, allowing orc warriors to cross into the kingdom. The orcs are led by the shaman Gul'dan, whose use of dark magic drives the invasion, while Durotan, leader of the Frostwolf clan, becomes a voice urging his people to seek another way. On the human side, the knight Anduin Lothar, the half-orc Garona and the young mage Khadgar are drawn into the growing war. The film is an adaptation of the long-running video game series, depicting the first encounters between orcs and humans as each side fights for the survival of its family and people.
Duncan Jones directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Leavitt and Jesse Wigutow. Warcraft is the third feature Jones directed, following Moon and Source Code. Travis Fimmel plays Lothar, Paula Patton plays Garona, Ben Foster plays Medivh, and Dominic Cooper plays King Llane, with Toby Kebbell as Durotan. The production carried a budget of 160 million US dollars and earned 434 million US dollars worldwide, a result driven largely by outside the North American market. On IMDb, viewers rate it 6.7 out of 10 from about 294,000 votes, while on TMDB the average is 6.4 from roughly 7,500 votes, with a critics' score of 4.4 out of 10 from 230 reviews, indicating audiences have responded more favourably than reviewers.
What's left behind the scenes
- Duncan Jones stated that the initial script was too one-sided in its portrayal of the conflict between the Horde and the Alliance. After becoming the director, Jones made significant changes to the plot and script so that the conflict in the film would be shown from the perspective of both sides.
- The editing and color correction period, also known as post-production, took 20 months. Producer Thomas Tull, Chairman of the Board of "Legendary Pictures", called what director Duncan Jones and the special effects creators did a "real breakthrough".
- During a live stream with Duncan Jones, organized by "Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.", the director was asked where the film would be shot. Jones was not authorized to answer directly. His vague statement included a hint towards a "Vancouver" t-shirt he was wearing. That is where the "Warcraft" film was shot.
- Filming took 123 days from January 13th to May 23rd, 2014.
- Visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer, a two-time Oscar winner for his previous work, is a longtime fan of "Warcraft" games. During filming, he would get up in the middle of the night several times to play. Robert Kazinsky, who played the character Orgrim Hammerfall, is another "Warcraft" enthusiast. He recalled that during the filming of Guillermo del Toro's 2013 sci-fi action film "Pacific Rim," the producers repeatedly asked him to put "Warcraft" aside and get to work.
- Stuntman and movement coach Terry Notary, who played Grommash Hellscream, helped other actors achieve authenticity in portraying the orcs. In 2014, at the annual festival that "Blizzard Entertainment, Inc." dedicates to its main franchises (including "Warcraft"), Robert Kazinsky publicly thanked Notary for his help.
- At the annual international festival in San Diego in 2014, "Legendary Pictures" showcased the weapons created for the film and a trailer. Among the weapons on display, fans immediately recognized the Doomhammer – one of the most famous types of weapons in the "Warcraft" games.
- Gary Whitta initially wrote the screenplay for the film, but it was completely revised when Sam Raimi took over the project. Both Whitta and Raimi eventually left the project.
- Several years ago, a concept trailer was shown at an international annual festival, featuring a knight battling an orc. A couple of hours later, it was announced that preparation for filming had not even begun.
- Motion capture technology was used when filming the orcs (as in the films "Planet of the Apes: Revolution", "Avatar", and others), but the orcs themselves were played by actors for whom props and armor were created. This technology was applied both during filming and photoshoots.
- Duncan Jones described the "Warcraft" universe as "elaborate fantasy" where everything is very unusual. The director tried to make it more familiar to the audience in the film, but at the same time convey the atmosphere and spirit of the games.
- Initially, the role of King Llane was offered to Colin Farrell. The actor even met with the director and read the script. However, in the end, the role went to Dominic Cooper.
- At one time, Johnny Depp expressed interest in filming in the movie "Warcraft".
- The film's premiere was originally scheduled for December 2015, but it was moved to May 2016 due to the release of J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens".
- The plot of the film is based on the events described in Christie Golden's book "World of Warcraft: The Rise of the Horde" (2006), specifically the unification of the orc clans into the Horde, and in Jeff Grubb's book "The Last Guardian" (2001), which presents the Horde and its invasion from the perspective of humans.
- The future film was announced by "Blizzard Entertainment, Inc." in 2006. The film was released 10 years after the announcement.
- Chris Metzen, lead screenwriter at "Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.", voiced many of the main characters in the "Warcraft" series of computer games. His story also formed the basis of the film's plot.
- A dialect for the orcs was specifically developed for the film "Warcraft".
- Despite the fact that her character, Garona, is half-orc, Paula Patton plays this role without the use of motion capture technology.
- Director Uwe Boll contacted Blizzard regarding a film adaptation, but was turned down. According to Uwe Boll, he contacted Paul V. Sams at Blizzard, who told Boll that they were not going to sell the rights to the film, especially not to him, as the Warcraft game was very successful and a bad film could negatively impact its revenue.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
