BlizzCon 2014's "Warcraft" movie panel was complete with a discussion about the movie's plot and characters by director Duncan Jones, as well as Stormwind guards in full armor and orc statues, reports IGN Games.

Jones told the audience that he enjoyed playing "Warcraft" games when younger. When he caught wind that Sam Raimi was planning a movie about Blizzard Entertainment's hugely popular dark fantasy video game, he jumped at the chance to direct it.

Living up to fan expectations, Jones described how he has worked closely with Chris Metzen, senior vice president at Blizzard and co-writer on the "Warcraft" movie.

"Warcraft" Movie Plot

When asked at BlizzCon 2014 how writers came up with a movie plot from the video game, Jones said they decided to create a storyline from when the Orcs and humans began their feud.

The original script made the Orcs look bad, Jones said, and it was important to him that both sides be made sympathetic. Metzen was on board with the concept, Lothar versus Durotan.

Jones described the movie as "'Avatar' and 'Lord of the Rings' at the same time."

"Warcraft" Alliance Character and Actor Lineup

Fans of the video game will see classic "Warcraft" characters played by the following actors:

  • Lothar, the Alliance lead, will be played by Travis Fimmel ("Vikings").
  • Medivh, an Alliance mage, will be played by Ben Foster ("3:10 to Yuma," "X-Men: The Last Stand").
  • King Llane of the Alliance will be played by Dominic Cooper ("Need for Speed").
  • Khadgar of the Alliance will be played by Ben Schnetzer ("Pride").
  • Garona will be played by Paula Patton ("Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol").

"Warcraft" Horde Character and Actor Lineup

  • Durotan, the Horde lead, will be played by Toby Kebbell ("Planet of the Apes").
  • Orgrim, Durotan's right-hand man, will be played by Rob Kazinsky ("True Blood," "Pacific Rim").
  • Gul'Dan of the Horde will be played by Daniel Wu ("The Man With the Iron Fists").
  • Blackhand the Destroyer will be played by Clancy Brown ("The Shawshank Redemption," "Starship Troopers").

Since the movie starts at the beginning of the human and Orc war, there will be no Thrall or Arthas, two of the game's legendary characters. If "Warcraft" does well in the box office and Legendary and Warner Brothers decided to fund sequels, fans will likely see Thrall and Arthas on the big screen.

Two new "Warcraft" fan sites have been launched so that fans can support their faction: fightforthealliance.com and fightforthehorde.com.

"Warcraft" the movie will be released March 11, 2016.

Related