Few filmmakers have ever found themselves in the unique position Duncan Jones is in following the release of “Warcraft” this summer. While the movie utterly bombed in the United States, the video game blockbuster earned a staggering 89% of its total $433 million worldwide haul from overseas. Though the international box office has become increasingly important to film’s bottom line, that kind of heavily weighted outcome between domestic and foreign ticket sales is rarely seen. It’s a result that has left talk of a sequel uncertain — would it be geared toward China where “Warcraft” was a huge hit? Could it be done at a smaller budget? — and so far Universal and Legendary haven’t revealed their plans. And for Jones, he seems open to the idea of returning to the franchise, if that were a possibility.
“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,” he told Thrillist. “[So] who knows? Maybe I’m just being a masochist.”
Certainly, Jones faced a barrage of bad reviews for the movie, and he has a theory for why American audiences had an aversion to the picture, while owning up to his own faults in the making of the movie.
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“I think there might have been an element of cynicism. There’s a condiment that you can put on toast in the UK called Marmite. Their advertising campaign is that you either love it or hate it. I think ‘Warcraft’ has a similar history in that a lot of guys and girls out there have had their relationships broken up because their significant others played too much ‘Warcraft’ or for whatever other reason they don’t like ‘Warcraft’ because of a rivalry with another game they prefer,” Jones said. “I know that the movie is not perfect and I think one of the absolute frustrations of making a movie of this scale is that it is impossible, I think, to make a movie like this as an independent filmmaker. You have to find a way to squeeze it through the studio bureaucracies.”
The filmmaker points to another reason why the film suffered — a long development process that saw elements change in what ultimately had a cumulative consequence on the movie.
“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,” the director explained. “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.”
It’s an honest assessment from a filmmaker who has never been anything but. Thoughts? Do you think Jones should give another “Warcraft” movie a shot? Do you want to see another one? Let us know below.