Since its inception, more than 100 million players have experienced the dazzling and compelling mythology that is the global phenomenon known as World of Warcraft.
Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, created by Blizzard Entertainment in 1994, was a breakthrough smash success that served as the first chapter in a trilogy that, for many fans, redefined the real-time strategy genre. The second and third, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, further stoked fascination and imagination in its players, as did the best-selling novels and other popular merchandise.
But it was the fourth title in the series that was, literally, the game changer.
In 2004, Blizzard released the massive World of Warcraft, a subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)—in which vast numbers of players throughout the world can adventure alongside one another in the same universe. The game, in which players are able to select a character within the Alliance or Horde faction and control its actions, forging bonds with other characters in a dazzlingly detailed setting, went onto become one of the most successful fantasies in the history of gaming.
Today, more than a decade later, World of Warcraft boasts 100 million registered users, maintaining its ranking in the top-10 most popular MMORPGs in the world.
Since that time, five expansions to World of Warcraft have been released, the most recent being World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. By embarking on the ever-evolving chronicles that are Warcraft, a player can engage in thousands of quests and limitless adventures amid a fantastical backdrop of myth, magic, mighty kingdoms and dangerous battlefields.
Conflict is at the center of the Warcraft lore and when Blizzard and the filmmakers began discussions about bringing the property to the big screen, the challenge was not only to be faithful to countless legions of fans throughout the world, but also provide a riveting narrative for audiences unfamiliar with these fantastical environments and characters.
Ultimately, they chose to return to the very beginning of the Warcraft saga and focus the creation on two contrasting worlds: Azeroth, beautiful and serene, and Draenor, a dying planet whose inhabitants face extinction—as well as the odyssey of two heroes on opposing sides whose fates were drawn together by destiny.
In “Warcraft: The Beginning,” the peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home.
So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.
Directed by Duncan Jones (“Moon,” “Source Code”) and written by Charles Leavitt and Jones, the film stars Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Rob Kazinsky and Daniel Wu.
Opening across the Philippines in May 25, “Warcraft: The Beginning” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.
