INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Should The ‘Warcraft’ Sequel Be The Next Movie? Blizzard CEO Says He Wants ‘Warcraft IV,’ But It’s Not Coming Soon

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 06:53 PST, Nov 10, 2016

A Warcraft sequel could happen one way or another. Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime has stated that he wants to make Warcraft IV in the future, even if it’s not likely to happen anytime soon. Of course, that doesn’t mean that a follow-up to the film won’t happen first.

The bridge between video games and movies appears to be getting shorter. George Miller had originally wanted to make a Mad Max animated movie, and it ended up becoming a video game for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Instead, he’d moved forward theatrically with Fury Road.

After a proverbial tidal wave of Oscar wins, George Miller appears to have made the right choice.

Warcraft originally started as a simplistic RTS title for older versions of Windows. Its popularity inspired many a gamer to incorporate the phrase “zug zug” into their vocabulary, which was a reference to what happens when you task an Orc to gather food, wood, or gold. The game also spawned a science fiction spin-off which almost became an even bigger success. StarCraft has been the subject of countless online battles, an epic struggle between the human-based Terrans, the insect-like Zerg, and the energy-dependent Protoss.

Starcraft ended up with a sequel which took over a decade to complete, with separate massive campaigns for each of the game’s races. It has become such a phenomenon among gamers that Starcraft III could be inevitable, according to GameSpot.

Warcraft has spawned not only two sequels and an MMORPG as a game series, but also a feature film. The movie, like many based on video games, wasn’t as critically successful as the producers expected, and garnered reviews more brutal than the Orcs. Any sequel is likely to be a direct-to-DVD movie, skipping theaters next time much like Paul W.S. Anderson’s Death Race prequels.

This doesn’t mean Warcraft 2 won’t hit theaters in a few years, as bad movies have become franchises before. Michael Bay knows this well after the critical failure of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, as does Anderson, whose Resident Evil series is about to see its sixth and final entry.

Mike Morhaime explained why Warcraft IV could still be a few years off in an interview reported in the December issue of Game Informer.

“We love RTS games but right now our focus is still continuing to evolve StarCraft II – and to the extent that MOBA games are RTS – continue supporting and evolving Heroes of the Storm. I love that there is so much passion and interest around Warcraft IV. I would love to see Warcraft IV at some point in the future, but that is not our current focus.”

Blizzard obviously has a lot going on right now, much like Ubisoft, the people behind countless major video game franchises such as Ray-Man, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and all things Tom Clancy. Morhaime is also apparently looking into mobile gaming as a possible arena.

“I think we are always looking at everything. We play a ton of games here, and we’re always brainstorming new ideas. I think that still people haven’t really figured out what the killer app for mobile is. I think there’s a huge opportunity there. We certainly have so many people with these powerful gaming devices in their pockets that they are walking around with every day. I feel like there’s a lot of unexplored ground still.”

Whatever format the next Warcraft hits, Blizzard isn’t ready to commit that kind of time and effort as they’re focusing on what’s currently going strong. Basically, until StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm stop being profitable, even a movie sequel might not happen unless they want to turn World of Warcraft into one.

If a Warcraft III movie was to happen, it would likely be the result of a team sent through the portal to destroy it from the other side in the sequel. Years later, they realize the Orc leader’s soul was sucked in by demons, and the Orcs’ world turned into their realm. Then an invasion happens with an all new enemy.

Don’t expect anything soon, though.

[Featured Image by Blizzard Entertainment]

Share this article: Should The ‘Warcraft’ Sequel Be The Next Movie? Blizzard CEO Says He Wants ‘Warcraft IV,’ But It’s Not Coming Soon
More from Inquisitr