Gary Whitta (screenwriter [Futurama episodes, Book of Eli, Live action Akira], author and game designer) has revealed that over the past two years he has been fervently working, in secret, on the World of Warcraft movie adaptation. However, since Raimi has come on board, the film’s direction has changed and Whitta is no longer involved. Whitta explains,

I had actually been working on this for the past two years. Had to keep it under wraps at the time but it doesn’t really matter now.

I worked very closely with Legendary and Blizzard to come up with a screenplay that distilled the sprawling Warcraft mythology into a narrative that was easily accessible to the non-player, and everyone was really pleased with the results – I personally thought my last draft of the script in particular was really kick-ass and did a good job of introducing the Warcraft world to non-players while also satisfying hardcore players who knew every nook and cranny of the universe. When Sam expressed interest in the property, however, he had his own pretty specific vision of what he wanted to do story-wise so that’s the version they’re now pursuing. I’m no longer involved but I wish them all the best with it; so far as I’m concerned Raimi is the best possible director for this.

Thanks Márton Gazdig.

Chris Metzen, Blizzard’s VP of Creative Development, has spoken with GameSpy about the latest WOW Movie developments – mainly Sam Raimi as director of the big screen adaptation. He discusses Raimi’s dedication to creating faithful adaptations (he didn’t have full creative control in Spider-man 3) and his excitement at seeing familiar places and characters brought to the big screen.

GameSpy: You’ve just made the big announcement that Sam Raimi will be directing the Warcraft movie. You’re co-producing, so what are your thoughts on the announcement?

Chris Metzen: We’re all very, very excited about the announcement. We waited a long time to announce a director. We’ve been with Legendary for a number of years and we’ve jammed a lot of ideas, and we’ve waited for the right personalities, the right chemistry to come together. We’re really, really stoked that it finally has. It’s pretty surreal that we’ve finally made the announcement. It’s finally like, “It’s on, it’s official, here we go.” We’re just stoked to get it going and see this thing starting to take shape.

GameSpy: Was Sam Raimi one of the originally targeted directors?

Chris Metzen: We talked about a lot of different people, and certainly his name was one of the first we had talked about. We’re all huge “Spider-Man” fans, and all of his horror content, like “Army of Darkness” is one of my personal favorites. Sam’s one of those guys who came out swinging with “Spider-Man,” in terms of handling the licensed product and all the geeky fanfare. The passion of fandom, he really translated that into something that everyone could love, and had a lot of heart. And those were really important components for us, in terms of translating a license, in building a cinematic experience that speaks to the license, but really sings to everybody. That was really, really important to us, so he was the perfect partner.

[...]

GameSpy: The fan base is relying on you to ensure that the movie stays true to Warcraft. Are you prepared to say that it will be?

Chris Metzen: Absolutely! Absolutely.

GameSpy: What most excites you about co-producing the movie?

Chris Metzen: The thing that would excite me most is just that it translates boldly. That it feels like a fan experience, and that a couple years from now, you sit down in a theater and you’re like, “They did it. They got it. That feels genuine.” It may not be about your Level 12 Night Elf Hunter, specifically, but all the familiarity — the locales, the places, the characters, the storylines — it all feels contiguous and one-to-one with your expectations. That’s my great hope.