Duncan Jones reveals what his story would have been for Warcraft 2

June 20, 2017 by Luke Owen 17 Comments

Warning: There are spoilers for Warcraft in this post…

Last night Warcraft director Duncan Jones and producer Stuart Fenegan presented a screening of the movie at the Prince Charles Cinema in London’s Leicester Square. Jones and Fenegan spoke openly about the issues they had making the movie, comparing the studio politics to Game of Thrones at one point, and the director revealed where the story would have gone had Warcraft 2 been green lit (which doesn’t seem likely).

“This first film is about establishing the world, and showing Durotan helping his son escape a dying planet,” Jones told the audience. “So to me the idea over the course of three films would be for Thrall to fulfil that vision of Durotan to create a new homeland for the Orcs. So in [the sequel] it would be the adolescent years of that baby, and anyone who does know their Warcraft stories would know it’s very much a Spartacus story that goes on with that character. I would basically follow that through. And with the human side of it, which is a little less clear of how that would follow, but basically there is an aftermath to this film which would need to be completed. And on the Orc side you’re very much following that baby, Go’el, known as Thrall in the universe, and how he eventually creates the Orc homeland.”

When asked about introducing more fantasy elements like dragons, Jones was firm on his stance the story of Warcraft was one of family. “My fascination with trying to do Warcraft in three films and the idea of family, is I love the idea of Durotan has sacrificed himself so his son and the people he cares about can survive – I want to see that sacrifice pay off,” he said. “That’s the trilogy. That’s the heart of the story. The rest of it is mumbo jumbo names and shit (laughs). Good shit because Chris Metzen is a wonderful writer, but the heart of the story is someone’s sacrifice because they thought it was worth sacrificing for, and it was a good person who has a good kid and I want that good kid to pay off.”

There have been a few rumblings and rumours that Warcraft 2 could get announced, but Jones is under the impression that it’s unlikely even though he would “grab it by the tusks” if he got the chance. “It’s not up to me,” he said when asked about a sequel. “It’s up to Legendary, and Blizzard, and Universal and too many chiefs. There’s no reason for me to believe there’s any likelihood of it happening other than sheer pig headiness.”

Warcraft saw Duncan Jones (Moon) directing a cast that included Robert Kazinsky (Pacific Rim) as Orgrim Doomhammer, Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger) as King Llane Wrynn, Travis Fimmel (Vikings) as Anduin Lothar, Ben Foster (Ain’t Them Body Saints) as Medivh, Ben Schnetzer (Pride) as Khadgar, Ruth Negga (World War Z), Clancy Brown (Starship Troopers) as Blackhand, Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) as Durotan, Daniel Wu (The Man with the Iron Fists) as Gul’Dan and Paula Patton (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) as Garona.

Disqus this
Who do we have to thank that Jones doesn’t get a second chance at wow and the crap story he brought to us combined with what was just mentioned above doesn’t happen?
- Chris T
  Crap story? The movie was the first half of the game Wacraft. It has nothing to do with world of Wacraft lol.
  - Godly
    Except it went and shat up on the established lore.
    Garona and Medivh’s relations being deleted and no he’s her dad all of a sudden?
    Lothar’s random son insert
    Khadgar and Medivh’s relationship was bastardize
    King Llane’s stupid and uncharacteristic “sacrifice” instead of Garona assassinating him under Cho’Gal’s control
    Stormwind not being sacked
    Guldan not being comatose after Medivh is killed
    Lothar killing Blackhand instead of Doomhammer in a bid for power.
    No
    I can go on. just because you think you’re right doesn’t mean you are.
    - Chris T
      There needs to be a few minor changes to suit the big screen if you cant accept it then dont watch it the movie needs to make money. Also the general story was spot on they couldnt fit in the orc taking over stormwind that will be in the next movie.
      - Godly
        The movie didn’t make money tho. Or atleast nowhere near their projections. Yes, some changes had to be made, but most were nonsensical and leave the story in a dead end.
        Also the orcs just LETTING Lothar leave was awful. Don’t even go “It was Mak’Gora, because Mak’gora is a no armor duel not to mention each fighter needs a witness. Yeah, these details are obviously meaningless to some casual fan of the franchise, but an intricate world’s worth is exactly in the details.
      - http://ninjafoxgames.com Jeff NinjaFox
        Late to seeing this article, but to your point, aren’t the fel-infused bloodlust orcs kind of beyond Mak’gora? The movie made it seem like all the orcs are noble and honorable and only Gul’dan was otherwise. The orcs who did NOT drink the blood are the minority. Most of the orcs should have been fel driven bloodlusting butchers in the First War. There was barely any remote hint of them being the weapons of the Legion’s conquest they were meant to be.
      - Disqus this
        Thats because metzen and Jones had some love fest in wanting watchers of the movie to love the orcs and “see them in a different light” as jones and metzen put it in an interview so long ago.
        They had no intention of making the orcs what they were nor did they intend to show them drinking demon blood and show the possession they were under. Had to tone down the true horde at the time and that sucked.
      - Joey Blogs
        Not as many in the US went to see it. But the rest of the world is another story. The movie made heaps worldwide. I for one loved the movie everyone I know that lives near me did. The CG was superb LOTR quality even, almost too good for a movie that was based on a PC game. I cant find one thing wrong with it loved the whole thing but thats just my opinion and others Ive spoken too. The soundtrack was absolutely amazing.Everyone is entitled to their own opinion though
    - Mikikoto
      Garona and medivh is non-canon now. Med’an has been written out basically.
  - Disqus this
    You might need to go back and read a bit if you think that was the first have of the game much less what the lore of warcraft is.
    Jones screwed the pooch on this one and for the lack of a better phrase, “blew his wad” on special effects for orcs (to which Im sure that dumbass metzen pushed given his abnormal love for them in everything he does) to the detriment of the rest of the film and when I say the rest of the film, I mean all areas except the CGI orcs was pretty bad and that includes the crap story jones told and how he told it.
    Such a huge disappointment in a story and game I like to only watch it get butchered and set fantasy movies back 10 year or more. Way to go Jones! Way to go.
- http://ninjafoxgames.com Jeff NinjaFox
  Blizzard was originally going to do the first movie from the Alliance’s point of view, which would have allowed the initial, actual fel-infused and blood frenzied orcs to be scary. A few glimpses of Durotan and Blackhand, etc could have suggested there was more to the story.
  Jones convinced them to focus more on the Horde and now it sounds like his entire idea was just “Warcraft: The Thrall Trilogy”
  Thrall has jack all to do with the First and Second War, which is ripe for a LOT of exploration and would have made for some pretty awesome movie material.
Billy Beefcaked
Yikes I would not want Duncan Jones’ Warcraft 2 being made.
Personally Blizzard needs to skip right to Warcraft III and introduce Arthas and make a movie about his fall as the Lich King.
That is a movie you could absolutely set up easily into a trilogy with the sequel going into the Frozen Throne expansion story line, and then conclude the trilogy with the Wrath of the Lich King storyline from World of Warcraft.
Arthas is the most interesting and flushed out character from all of Warcraft. That is where the story should go.
- BCFC25
  That would be the correct choice to make but what with Chinas phobia about skeletons and zombies it could mean that movie wouldnt get a Chinese release and what with the Chinese market doing most of the leg work box office wise i cant see a movie studio taking that risk.
Louis
I actually enjoyed the movie, I enjoy medieval/fantasy movies and that’s what this was…just a fantasy action movie. It wasn’t supposed to be a groundbreaking story, it wasn’t supposed to be the next LoTR…it was merely just supposed to be a fantasy video game movie, and yes it changed the story from the actual lore a bit…as all movie adaptations do. My only real gripe was getting the actor from Vikings to be in it, his style of acting does not ever sway from “I’m high in pills”. I’m not sure what everyone was expecting from a Warcraft movie, but I do know that a good portion of WoW players salivate at the mouth at any chance to sh*t on everything and anything WoW/Blizzard related (yet still continue playing the games and supporting the company with their money). It was a fun fantasy movie, not the next big groundbreaking thing…it was never supposed to be that.
junkyfour
I think they should have focused on a trilogy and followed the lore more closely. I think Warcraft could have established a great franchise if this first movie simply followed Durotan’s story more or less as presented in Rise of the Horde. This is sensible given that the vast majority of the movie going public is unaware of the WOW lore. Perhaps they should have sought out Peter Jackson to produce and direct.
Who Cares
That film is awesome. I hope he comes back. Most of the kids complaining don’t even like movies, that’s why they waste years of their life in video games. They can’t enjoy things like films. I had my brother whom called it trash after he saw it the first time, now admittedly loves it because he watched it with an open minded person. That film is one of the best fantasy films of all time. The WoW nerds probably don’t get that though because it doesn’t match up with their vision of that it ‘should’ have been.
- pendraco
  Funny thing is i’m a lore nerd and I approve of where he wanted to take it. the Sequel woulda essentially been the “Lord of the Clans” game Blizzard never released. it WOULD have been during the events of the Second War, just not the frontlines, given most of his story of being raised by humans happens around Durnholde Keep and Tarren Mill.
  All the guys claiming they’re “shitting all over lore” seem to forget that Warctaft itself’s retconned a lot over the years. hell, look at WC3’s version of Draenei, or how much King Varian’s model changed over the years (he was BLONDE when you could find him on Alcaz Island pre-Wrath). I for one hope the sequel gets made, even being an Alliance guy, just for the fact that the WC2 RTS WAS pretty Alliance-centric (We did win the Second War after all, and no one really won the Expeditionary war onto Draenor, given the planet, you know, exploding).