On the face of it, there would appear to be zero chance of a Warcraft sequel ever being made.
Not only does it have a score of 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it grossed just $47.4 million at the US box office. Considering that it cost at least $160 million to make it is no surprise that it is regarded as a failure.
At least that was the case domestically. Because internationally “Warcraft” soared, as it made $386.3 million in other countries, breaking several box office records in Ukraine, Germany, Russia and China along the way. Plus, while numerous critics took issue with the film, it really isn’t that bad. In fact, it is actually pretty enjoyable.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to Duncan Jones, who co-wrote and directed “Warcraft,” about his follow-up “Mute,” which was released on Netflix at the end of last week. I took this opportunity to praise the video game adaptation, as well as asking whether or not a sequel will ever come to fruition.
“I don’t know,” Jones admitted. “And it is such a strange situation. Because Chris Metzen from Blizzard and I are both really proud of ‘Warcraft.’ I think we both feel like we made something that was ambitious and true to what ‘Warcraft’ was.”
“It is mainly people who played ‘Warcraft’ who watched the movie and said you need to know about the law to understand the movie. But we both know loads of people that didn’t know about the game but loved the film.”
“It is not as geeky as people think. If you go in there with an open mind it is just a big fun fantasy film. But for whatever reason the numbers in the US weren’t good. But the numbers outside of the US were great.”
“It is really tricky to know if a sequel is going to get made. Nothing has been said. I am still hoping there is a chance. I don’t know what is going to happen. I hope we get the chance. It would be really fun.”
Jones should take inspiration from “Pacific Rim Uprising.” Because even though “Pacific Rim” cost $30 million more to make than “Warcraft,” and grossed over $20 million less worldwide, “Uprising” was still greenlit because of its success internationally.
Fingers crossed the “Warcraft” franchise will be given the same treatment. In the meantime, though, make sure to check out Jones’ “Mute” on Netflix.
