Casting
Warcraft
It’s been a long time coming, but Legendary’s Warcraft movie is primed to muscle its way into a crowded blockbuster season come June 2016. Helmed by Duncan Jones — fan-favorite director behind such hits as Moon and Source Code – the high-profile take on the fantastical realm of Azeroth is promising to marry elements from Lord of the Rings with those found in the sci-fi spectacle of Avatar. But what’s a CG-heavy film without a core cast underpinning the action? A turkey, that’s what.
Nevertheless, Jones and Legendary have cast the net far and wide with this one, as they look to fill the ranks of the Alliance and The Horde – two warring factions that have locked horns for generations. To date, such a creative process has drafted in the likes of Travis Fimmel, Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, Rob Kazinsky and Fantastic Four alum Toby Kebbell.
Divided between the Orcish horde and The Humans of Stormwind, pockets of Warcraft’s star-studded ensemble will channel their role via performance capture. And though the undisputed veteran (also known as Andy Serkis) isn’t involved to our knowledge, technology is at the point now that the nuances of an actor’s performance can be portrayed with relative ease.
This, perhaps more so than anything else, is the one tenet that could make or break Warcraft. With such a sweeping scope, Duncan Jones’ feature needs memorable characters to anchor the fantastical action. He’s already assembled his cast, now all we need is for the performances to deliver on that promise.
– Michael Briers
