The Warcraft movie is one of the most successful video game adaptations to date. Bringing in $433 million worldwide, it is one of the highest-grossing video game movies of all time. With that being said, it was panned by most critics, unable to break away from the typical misfortune of a video game movie. Warcraft movie director Duncan Jones (Moon, Mute) reflected on his adaptation, as well as what he had planned for the future of the would-be movie franchise.
He spoke about these proposed Warcraft movie sequels in a recent interview with Collider. Whether it’s based on a game, book, or comic book, popular franchises that are adapted to film typically plan to have sequels. It turns out that Warcraft was no exception. With such extensive lore, the world of Warcraft had the potential to be further explored in film. Jones mentioned in the interview that the series he wanted to tell would be in three films (including the first) and would follow Thrall, who was the little orc baby featured in the film.
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Unfortunately, that three-film arc would not happen. Although Jones said he believed there is an audience who has warmed up to the film, he doesn’t think any sequels will be made for his adaptation of Warcraft.
“I made the film as best I could on the first film hoping that it would connect with an audience,” said Jones. “I genuinely think that in retrospect and as time has moved on, people are starting to appreciate the film [more] than maybe the critics did when it first came out, but unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to get to make [sequels] anymore.”
Jones also spoke about the fantastical nature of the film as opposed to other fantasy franchises like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. The latter, for all intents and purposes, are grounded in some sort of reality while Warcraft is, as Jones puts it, “high fantasy.”
“So, trying to create a full fantasy reality – like what exists in a Game of Thrones or even the Lord of the Rings – you’re trying to create a sense of believability, that this place could really exist,” Jones explained when talking about the differences within the fantasy genre. “That’s not what Warcraft is about. Warcraft is more about high fantasy, something which is very much escapism and something that you would never experience in real life.”
Warcraft originally released back in 2016. As mentioned above, it was the highest-grossing video game movie despite how it did critically until Detective Pikachu recently took that title away grossing $436 million worldwide.
