Despite proving a hit in China, Warcraft didn’t quite manage to click with the majority of Western audiences, and failed to replicate the success of its video game counterpart, grossing just $213 million outside of the Middle Kingdom and seemingly failing to provide the lucrative franchise launchpad that its hopeful “The Beginning” subtitle suggested. During an interview with Thrillist, director Duncan Jones has reflected on the fantasy epic, discussing his frustrations with the final film:
“Trying to make a movie like Warcraft, and trying to do it in a unique way… you get killed by a death of 1,000 cuts. Not just editing cuts. It’s little changes that seem really innocuous. As a filmmaker the only way that I understand how to make a film is holistically. Every choice that I make, whether it is story or character or costume, all works together. When you make a little change it doesn’t seem like a big deal. When you keep making those little changes, especially over three and a half years, suddenly you’re basically spending all of your time trying to work out how to patch up what has been messed around with. Trust me, if anyone is frustrated about the pacing of the film and how that turned out, it’s me. It’s not because I didn’t know what was happening, but as I said, death of 1,000 cuts.”
SEE ALSO: Watch a deleted scene from the Warcraft movie
Jones also went on to discuss the possibility of a director’s cut, and it’s bad news for anyone hoping for an extended edition of the movie: “A lot of people ask me, ‘When is the director’s cut coming out’ There will never be a director’s cut. With a film like this, where there are so many visual effects, every concession that you make you lose those shots. They cease to exist because the effects work never gets done. Some of it’s not even at that stage. You go through a writing stage right up to the deadline of shooting the thing. [You lose] ideas in the writing process. Then sets change for whatever reason and notes come in. You’re changing things around a three-and-a-half-year process. You get these little changes which are constantly course-correcting you. So there is no possibility of there ever being a director’s cut. It’s purely in my head.”
And finally, with rumours swirling of a Chinese-targeted sequel, Jones admitted that he would be open for a return to the world of Warcraft (sorry): “If there were an opportunity for us to make another film in the Warcraft universe I really feel like we did the hard work in the first movie as far as setting the table. I would love to capitalize on three and a half years of hard work and be able to have some fun in that world now that I’ve done the hard work. [So] who knows? Maybe I’m just being a masochist.”
SEE ALSO: Chinese Twitter account teases Warcraft sequel
Warcraft sees Duncan Jones (Moon) directing a cast that includes 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.
Originally published August 30, 2016. Updated June 30, 2023.
