Movies With Butter

According to Variety, Charles Leavitt is the latest screenwriter to give the script for the long-gestating World of Warcraft movie a pass. The project is set up at Legendary Pictures, and apparently, the production company is “sparked” by Leavitt's take on the movie.

World of Warcraft is based on Blizzard Entertainment's popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) of the same name that was launched in the United States in 2004.

The game is set in a world where two factions are at war with each other: humans, elves, and dwarves on one side and orcs, goblins, and trolls on the other. There are a couple of other minor races mixed in as well. As the war rages on, the two faction will eventually discover that they have a common enemy in a demonic race called the Burning Legion.

Sam Raimi was originally attached to direct the movie, but he revealed at Comic Con a couple weeks ago that he has left the project. Apparently, Legendary wants to make the movie soon and Raimi's work on Oz: The Great and Powerful will preclude him from working on World of Warcraft. With Raimi gone, the studio will obviously look for his replacement.

At the same time, Raimi's exit may mean the studio is serious about moving forward with the movie. While the game is still popular, its player base has been decreasing. Legendary may want to strike while the game is still hot.

Leavitt's previous works include The Mighty, K-PAX, and Blood Diamond. His fantasy adventure movie, The Seventh Son, is currently in post and is scheduled for release on October 18, 2013. The movie is based on Joseph Delaney's novel The Spook's Apprentice and it stars Ben Barnes as an apprentice ghost hunter who is tricked into freeing a powerful witch played by Julianne Moore. With his master away, it's up to him to put a stop to this witch.

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