Still reeling from the glimmering trailer from earlier today? We don’t blame you. Taking full advantage of being on home turf, Legendary formally unveiled the full-length trailer for Warcraft: The Beginning during the ongoing BlizzCon event, firing Duncan Jones’ sweeping fantasy film to the top of everyone’s radar as we approach the year’s end.
Now comes the fun part: sifting through each and every frame in order to pour over any details we may have missed. Thankfully, Legendary has debuted a series of screenshots from the trailer – and some from elsewhere in the feature – for your viewing pleasure. What is perhaps more interesting, though, is Jones’ comments regarding Warcraft, and how he wants to bring an end to the longstanding video game-to-movie curse.
From the infamous Super Mario Bros. film to the wasteful Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, there’s been no shortage of poor conversions to choose from. But as the Moon and Source Code director notes during an interview with The Guardian, he is at the forefront of a generation who grew up in tandem with video games – playing them, understanding their nuances and the like – and that has directly circled back into Jones’ rendition of Azeroth.
“Here was a unique opportunity to take a game that I knew well and loved and try to craft something that would invite an audience to see what all the fuss was about. I wanted to give people a sense of why so many people play and care about the game.”
Not only that, Jones has been vocal in the past about the time he himself has spent wandering the lush rolling hills of World of Warcraft, the colossal MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) that serves as inspiration for Legendary’s feature. Could this be part of a trilogy at the studio? Who knows. But for Jones, part of the reason that attracted him to the director’s chair was the poor track record that has plagued video game adaptations hitherto.
“I love games and I feel they’ve been sold short shrift in films so far,” he says. “It’s my generation’s opportunity to right that wrong.” Jones points out that in recent years comic book movies have enjoyed a “renaissance” of commercial and critical success. “There is no reason why video game-based movies shouldn’t be able to do the same thing.”
Journey into the world of Warcraft: The Beginning when Duncan Jones swings open the mighty gates of Azeroth on June 10, 2016.
