WORLD OF WARCRAFT Movie Adaptation Progressing Painfully Slow

Sam Raimi is already attached to direct a film adaptation of the massively popular MMORPG, but it appears the project is still very far away from becoming a reality.

A treatment for a big-budget adaptation of World of Warcraft is currently being worked on by Robert Rodat; the scribe behind such films as Saving Private Ryan and The Patrot. Warcraft, the film's working title, is said to be based very closely on the game; which is played online by as many as 12 million people. Spider-Man trilogy director Sam Raimi has been tapped to direct the project which will be produced by Blizzard Entertainment (the creator of the game) and Legendary Pictures (partnered yet again with Warner Bros).

World of Warcraft Frostmourne Prop at
Legendary Pictures 2010 Comic Con booth

Raimi considers this film a passion project and is a big fan of the game itself. He's said he has spend so many days playing World of Warcraft that he's up to using a "level-72 Shaman". During arecent interview at this year's Comic Con, he discussed what excites him most about the World of Warcraft game, what attracted him to direct the film, and what elements of the game he wishes to include:

"I [was] attracted to the characters, the weaponry that environment that they've created. I love the visual world the guys at Blizzard have created..it's incredibly, engrossingly exciting. I love the different landscapes and the first-person interaction you have with different players online. The landscapes are incredibly cinematic and the characters themselves are really unique.

"We're still working on the story. We've got a 40-page document that needs a lot more work. Every draft we do with Robert Rodat gets better and better. The [film] takes place within the World of Warcraft.

"We're just trying to create realistic characters that live in the WoW as though you were in the world itself, and see the interaction between these great mythical, iconic characters. There are so many characters in the game, I don't think we can touch upon all of them satisfactorily so we're going to focus on the most interesting that fit into the drama we're slowly developing."

Though Raimi's comments do seem promising that the wheels are surely turning on the adaptation, Blizzard Entertainment CEO Chris Metzen has said the company is “still feeling it out” and getting their ducks in a row before wholeheartedly committing to it. Considering that a World of Warcraft movie has been in the works since early 2006, there is no saying how long it will take before Blizzard is pleased enough with the project's direction to jump on the bandwagon.

The last man to don the Superman tights, Brandon Routh, has recently talked to Raimi about both his love of the game and the possibility of joining the film; though the specific role that interests him has yet to be revealed.

Legendary Pictures has not set either a production or release date for Warcraft.