Summary
The hit 2016Warcraftmovie is currently trending on Netflix’s streaming charts – and its success is the polar opposite ofDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Directed by David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones, the filmmaker behindMoon,Warcrafthas a complicated plot involving Anduin Lothar of Stormwind on one side of a massive war and Durotan of the Frostwolf clan on the other side. They have to put their differences aside and band together to end the war when a warlock named Gul’dan leads the Horde through a magic portal to invade Azeroth.
Now thatWarcraftis on Netflix, it’s finally reaching a wider audience. On the surface,Warcrafthas a lot in common withDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. They’re both big-budget movie adaptations of roleplaying fantasy games, they both recruited a star-studded cast to bring their characters to life, and they both failed to launch the blockbuster franchise they were supposed to. But the successes and failures ofWarcraftare the polar opposite of the successes and failures ofDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Where one failed, the other succeeded (and vice versa).
Warcraft Is Trending On Netflix’s Top 10 Movies
Eight years later, Warcraft is finally finding its audience
Eight years after it initially hit theaters, theWarcraftmovie is finally finding its audience. The film has quickly climbed the Top 10 streaming chart since it joined Netflix’s library. Fans of theWarcraftvideo game franchise who might have missed the movie are finally catching up on it. Fans of the fantasy genre who were wary about forking out money for a cinema ticket are now giving the film a go from the comfort of their homes.Warcraftis the latest forgotten movie to find unexpected success on a streaming platform.
While streaming is often blamed for the downfall of the theatrical film industry, one of the positive things to come out of streaming is that it gives failed movies a second chance at success. Mike Flanagan’s sequel toThe Shining,Doctor Sleep, found a huge audience when it arrived on HBO Max in 2020.Real Steelfound success on Netflix when audiences needed to be cheered up during COVID.Spider-Man 3saw a resurgence of viewership after the trailer forSpider-Man: No Way Homedropped.Warcraftis the latest entry in this surprising new trend.
As of 2020, a newWarcraftmovie is in development, although it’s unclear if it’s a sequel or reboot.
The critical and audience response to D&D flipped that of Warcraft
There’s an interesting parallel betweenWarcraftandDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves(and it’s not just that they’re both based on fantasy roleplaying games). The reception to each movie is at odds with the other, both critically and commercially. The successes and failures ofWarcraftflipped those ofDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. AlthoughWarcraftwas a modest success at the box office, it was widely panned by critics. And whileDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieveswas warmly received by critics, it bombed at the box office.
Warcraftgrossed more than $439 million at the global box office on a budget of $160 million (viaBox Office Mojo), whichmadeWarcraftthe highest-grossing video game movie– and meets the usual rule of thumb that a movie needs to gross 2.5 times its budget to be successful.Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, on the other hand, grossed just over $207 million at the worldwide box office on a whopping budget of $150 million (viaThe Numbers). Clearly,Warcraftmade a much bigger splash at the box office thanDungeons & Dragons.
ButDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesdoes have one thing overWarcraft: the love of the critics.Warcraftwas widely panned by critics, earning a dismal “rotten” score of 29% on Rotten Tomatoes.Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesreceived a much better “fresh” score of 91%, indicating near-universal acclaim. Both movies were well-received by audiences:Warcrafthas an audience score of 76%, whileDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ audience score is 93%.
Why Warcraft Hasn’t Received A Sequel Yet (Despite Being Such A Big Box Office Hit)
Despite its seeming box office success, Warcraft still failed to break even
Despite becoming the highest-grossing video game movie ever made,Warcraftstill hasn’t been given a sequel. It flopped at the domestic box office, but got a huge boost from its Chinese release. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough for the movie to be considered a hit. Given the immense costs that went into marketingWarcraft,its $439 million haul still didn’t reach the break-even pointand pass the threshold of profitability. As a result,Warcraftwas deemed unfit for a sequel and it remains a standalone movie.
Warcraft
Cast
Warcraft is a fantasy film depicting the conflict between the human realm of Azeroth and invading orc warriors fleeing their dying world. As a mystical portal connects the two worlds, two heroes from opposing sides emerge, facing choices that will determine the fate of their people and homeland.
