Some World of Warcraft fans have been a little wary of the Legendary picture from the Warcraft trailers, but if you happened to catch director Duncan Jones and star Rob Kazinsky at the PAX East panel today, you left feeling very solid about the upcoming movie. Both men were not only genuinely excited to talk about all aspects of the film, but also did some pretty hardcore nerding out at the festival (you can read more about what PAX is here). Online streaming platform Twitch did a live broadcast, which I very much hope they will re-broadcast later. But for now, I’ve included some tweets from the panel to give you a sample of how it all went.
Jones and Kazinsky were both hilarious and charming, and gave a ton of insights about their commitment to the source material, the use of CG versus practical effects (and gave a major shoutout to Wei Wang and his talents), as well as questions about the soundtrack, incorporating original music, and more. Jones prepared fans for the fact that there are moments when the story will veer from the lore in “small and subtle ways,” but talked too about how they really wanted to make this a story about how there are heroes and villains on both sides — this is just not an “Humans v Orcs” story.
Jones also said that the material will be accessible even for those who aren’t members of the Alliance or the Horde yet, but may soon wish to be. (Warcraft was described as a starting point). But, just about everything they said (and mimed — particularly Kazinsky) shows how much thought and care was put into crafting every part of the movie in a way that should please long-time fans.
There were a lot of great, often kek-inducing moments from the panel, so again, look for a re-broadcast at some point. For now, check out the new behind the scenes video below where Kazinsky takes us on a tour of The Lion’s Pride Inn set, as well as a few choice tweets from the panel itself (plus a new Draka poster).
Warcraft stars Dominic Cooper, Travis Fimmel, Ben Foster, Bne Schnetzer, Ruth Negga, Toby Kebbel, Rob Kazinsky,Daniel Wu, Clancy Brown, and Paula Patton. It opens in theaters June 10th.
Here’s the official synopsis for Warcraft:
“Legendary’s WARCRAFT is a 3D epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based upon Blizzard Entertainment’s globally-renowned universe. Directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) and written by Charles Leavitt and Duncan Jones, the film is a Legendary Pictures, Blizzard Entertainment and Atlas Entertainment production. The producers are Charles Roven, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Alex Gartner and Stuart Fenegan. Jillian Share, Brent O’Connor, Michael Morhaime and Paul Sams serve as executive producers. Rob Pardo, Chris Metzen, Nick Carpenter and Rebecca Steel Roven co-produce.
WARCRAFT will be released by Universal Pictures.
Fighting for The Alliance, Warcraft features Dominic Cooper as King Llane Wrynn, Travis Fimmel as Anduin Lothar, Ben Foster as Medivh, Ben Schnetzer as Khadgar, and Ruth Negga as Lady Taria, and on the side of The Horde is also Clancy Brown as Blackhand, Toby Kebbel as Durotan, and Daniel Wu as Gul’Dan, with Paula Patton’s Garona caught in the middle.”
And be sure to check out these links below for Adam Chitwood’s set visit coverage:
- ‘Warcraft’: 35 Things to Know About Universal’s Massively Ambitious Epic Fantasy
- ‘Warcraft’ Director Duncan Jones on Giant Weapons, Easter Eggs, and Hitting PG-13
- How ‘Warcraft’ Aims to Break the Video Game Movie Curse
- ‘Warcraft’: Rob Kazinsky Nerds Out on Playing an Orc, the Doomhammer, and Sequels
