Forget Krypton! Superman wants to be the hero of Azeroth instead!
It’s no secret that Brandon Routh is a gamer and a long-time player of the most successful MMORPG ever, World of Warcraft. With his love of the video game, it’s no surprise that with the recent news of Sam Raimi signing on to direct the World of Warcraft film, Routh wants to be a part of it.
As we all know, Brandon Routh’s contract with WB for his role as the Man of Steel in the Superman franchise has expired along with that of director Bryan Singer. They’re going a different direction with Supes and rumors of who may be taking the reins have already began to surface in the aftermath of the latest court ruling on the topic of the ownership of Superman.
Well, Routh’s interest is on something else now anyway. In an interview with MTV, the 29 year-old talked about his excitement about Sam Raimi being brought on to helm the World of Warcraft film adaptation and his passion for video games.
“They just announced that Sam Raimi is directing, so that’s very cool… My friends over at Legendary are working on that. … So I’m looking forward to what’s going to happen with that.”
When asked about his desire to get asked to be a part of the project, he teased about the fun he could have with the action and sword-fighting.
I’m always a big supporter of folks working on that which they are passionate and respectful of, so I’m all for it if he does get that chance. He’ll have to play a much grittier and harsher character though which we’ve not seem him do yet (assuming he would play some sort of Warrior or Paladin).
This could be the career-defining gig for Routh (replacing Superman Returns) as I believe when a big-budget live action World of Warcraft movie is finally made, it’ll spawn into a franchise with limitless potential and sequel/spinoff opportunities.
This film cannot fail. With 10 million or so people around the world paying monthly subscription fees to continue to play the game, it already has a strong and willing-to-spend fanbase of massive proportions and with all the hype, marketing and word-of-mouth that will accompany this thing, it’s destined to destroy the box-office and bring future installments.
If Routh does get his wish and becomes involved in a lead role, he could have himself a nice and long-lasting franchise to be a part of. It’s not like they can kill him off, they can just use another character to use a resurrection spell on him!
It’s a world so vast and full of different characters, creatures and environments so there are endless stories in endless locales that can be told – It’s about time they start.
If this works out, who knows, maybe we’ll get a Starcraft film someday!
What do you think of the WoW movie, and is there a role for Routh in it?
World of Warcraft is tentatively listed for a 2011 release but it will definitely be delayed. Raimi’s a busy man with Spider-Man 4 scheduled to open that year.
