At the Comic-Con panel for Oz the Great and Powerful, we learned that director Sam Raimi was no longer involved with an adaptation of The Shadow because he couldn't find a script he liked.  A couple years ago, Raimi was also linked to an adaptation of the mega-popular Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), World of Warcraft, but it appears he's now left that project as well.  For those unfamiliar with WOW, it takes place in a fantasy setting where player can take on the roles of orcs, humans, elves, etc., boost the levels of their characters to gain new abilities, raid dungeons, fight monsters, and basically never leave their homes again.Hit the jump for what Raimi had to say about the project, and what the future may hold for World of Warcraft.world-of-warcraft-screenshotSpeaking to Crave Online at Comic-Con, Raimi said:

"Actually, they don’t have me directing World of Warcraft anymore because when I took the Oz job, they had to move on to another director.  They had to start making it."

That part about a new director is curious because we haven't heard about any new developments on the flick.  When he's speaking about "they", presumably he's talking about Warner Bros., since they owned the screen rights.  However, some contracts have stipulations that if a studio doesn't start making a movie by a certain date, then the rights revert to the original owner (in this case, it would be World of Warcraft developer, Blizzard Entertainment).

It's possible that these rights were renewed after Raimi left the project, which is why we haven't heard anything new regarding the screen adaptation.  At the time Raimi exited the film, it may have been more urgent to get another director on board, but clearly Warner Bros. is taking their time.  It may also be the case that the studio decided against making the film, and let their option lapse.

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