‘Rings’ inspires Jones’ ‘Warcraft’ – ‘Now You See Me’ cast back with bigger tricks, villain

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LOS ANGELES, June 7, (Agencies): When director Duncan Jones was tasked with translating the popular video game “Warcraft” into a studio film, he was inspired by filmmaker Peter Jackson’s adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy saga “Lord of the Rings.”

“Not everyone had read Tolkien who went and saw those films but (Jackson) crafted a film with interesting characters and a plot that’s engaged and people by the millions wanted to see more,” Jones told Reuters.

“Hopefully we’ve done the same with ‘Warcraft.’”

The film, out in US theaters on Friday, brings an origin story of the fantasy world explored in the role-playing “World of Warcraft” gaming franchise from Activision Blizzard Inc , which had 10 million subscribers as of November 2015.

Jones said that while he wanted to make a film that fans of the game would enjoy, he also wanted to introduce the world of “Warcraft” to newcomers and “make them come in and feel embraced by this fantasy setting that this film takes place in.”

“Warcraft” follows the battle between the monster-like Orcs as they try to colonize the human land of Azeroth, with magic playing a key role in the fight.

Mythical

The film features mythical orcs, dwarves, elves, wizard-esque mages and trolls, much like “Lord of the Rings.”

Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures, a subsidiary of China’s Wanda Cinema Line Corp , co-financed the film’s $160 million budget, with Universal distributing it globally except for China.

The film has already grossed $70 million internationally.

At the heart of the story is Sir Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel), and the Orc prisoner Garona (Paula Patton), who band together to fight against the Orcs, led by the ferocious, power-hungry Gul’dan (Daniel Wu).

“Whether you are a hard-core gamer like Rob (Kazinsky, co-star) is or you’re someone who never played the game like myself, you connect right off the bat to a strong compelling story and a character-driven story,” said actor Ben Schnetzer, who plays talented young mage Khadgar.

Jones said Patton’s character is an outcast and presents the point of view for the audience as she is caught between two cultures. Patton said she liked that her character “is a warrior and quite strong” but also vulnerable at times.

Jones spoke emotionally Monday about how his rock legend father David Bowie would have been proud of his new movie “Warcraft” at its worldwide premiere in Los Angeles.

The 45-year-old Londoner was among a host of stars at the TCL Chinese Theatre for the screening as hundreds of fans, many dressed in costumes from the film, lined Hollywood Boulevard, clapping and cheering.

“I think he’d be incredibly happy that I followed my passion which he always told me to do,” Jones said, when asked what his father would have made of the film.

Bowie, who was born in London but lived his final years in New York, was one of the most influential artists in rock history and also had a wide impact on theater and fashion.

He died on Jan 10 from a battle with liver cancer that he had disclosed to few outsiders — two days after his 69th birthday and the release of his final album, “Blackstar.”

Based on the global smash hit video game World Of Warcraft, CGI extravaganza “Warcraft” tells of the initial battles between humans and orcs.

“I did get to show a couple of early bits and pieces and I think he was really amazed by what we were doing, and it was lovely to be able to do that,” said Jones.

Hits

The director’s third film after critical hits “Moon” in 2009 and “Source Code” in 2011, “Warcraft” debuts in the United States on Friday.

It has been lashed by American critics, however, achieving an average rating of just 4.2/10 on the aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

“Warcraft has visual thrills to spare, but they — and director Duncan Jones’ distinctive gifts – are wasted on a sluggish and derivative adaptation of a bestselling game with little evident cinematic value,” the site’s consensus says.

That did not deter the film’s legion of well-wishers, who dressed as orcs, elves, human warriors and all other manner of fantasy characters to cheer on their favorite actors.

 

After pulling off a large-scale bank heist masked as a complex magic trick in 2013’s “Now You See Me,” the cast are back again with new tricks and sleight of hand, this time with a little “Harry Potter” magic.

“Now You See Me 2,” out in US theaters on Friday, picks up three years after the 2013 film and shows the ‘Four Horsemen’ magicians use their illusions to try and stop a sinister tech tycoon and his unethical practices.

The cast, which includes Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo and Lizzy Caplan, were put through ‘magic camp’ in order to learn sleight of hand and other tricks to perform on screen.

“It was literally like three card tables set up in a dirty production room covered with half eaten food,” Ruffalo said.

“But the idea of ‘magic camp’ is like a great idea and I think that idea could be huge,” Harrelson quipped.

Harrelson, who plays Horseman Merritt ‘The Hermit’ McKinney, showed off his magic skills at the film’s New York press event by guessing the card a reporter picked out of a deck. Former “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the villainous Walter Mabry, proudly demonstrated a card trick he learned during filming.

“We’re not like a shoot-em-up (movie),” Radcliffe said. “There are some amazing sequences that involve the sleight of hand and the magic.”

Radcliffe, who has eight films’ worth of magic experience as boy wizard Harry Potter, fondly looked back on the franchise that catapulted him to fame.

“If I was getting angsty about being recognized as Potter, or being associated with Potter I think I would waste a ton of energy like worrying about that. People are always going to associate me with it and I’m very happy about that,” he said.

 

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