'Warcraft' movie slated for December 18th, 2015 release

The Warcraft movie now has a release date — December 18th, 2015. The feature film based on Blizzard's hugely popular World of Warcraft series of video games will be directed by Duncan Jones, the filmmaker behind the critically acclaimed sci-fi thrillers Moon and Source Code. Charles Leavitt, who penned the Leonardo DiCaprio political drama Blood Diamond, is writing the movie; Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures are handling financing and distribution. Warcraft's December release puts it at the end of a year that will be packed with tentpole flicks including Star Wars: Episode VII, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Ant-Man, Jurassic World, and the Ben Affleck-as-Batman sequel to Man of Steel.

Unlike Jones' previous films, which had smaller budgets in the $35 million range, Warcraft is set to be a big, CGI-filled, blockbuster with a reported budget of more than $100 million. So far, Legendary has largely succeeded at bringing fantasy and spectacle to the big screen with hits such as 300, Inception, Man of Steel, and the Dark Knight Trilogy. Shooting is set to start early next year, but there's no official word on who'll inhabit the world of Azeroth on the big screen just yet.

:story: The Verge