Duncan Jones Wanted to Make ‘Warcraft’ Trilogy

Duncan Jones wanted Warcraft to be a trilogy.

The director – who lost his father David Bowie to cancer in January 2016 – dedicated three years of his life to the movie Warcraft: The Beginning in order to bring the massively multiplayer online role-playing game’s fantasy world to the big screen.

However, his vision was met with disappointing reviews and under performed at the US box office and it appears the franchise has been dropped by Universal Pictures.

Jones, 46, has been a fan of the fantasy video games since the first title was released in 1994, and was hoping his initial movie would kick off a series which would really explore the world or orcs and warriors.

Speaking after a screening of the movie presented by Jones and producer Stuart Fenegan at the Prince Charles Cinema in London’s Leicester Square, he said: “This first film is about establishing the world and showing Durotan helping his son escape a dying planet. So to me the idea over the course of three films would be for Thrall to fulfill that vision of Durotan to create a new homeland for the Orcs. So in [the sequel] it would be the adolescent years of that baby, and anyone who does know their ‘Warcraft’ stories would know it’s very much a Spartacus story that goes on with that character. I would basically follow that through. And with the human side of it, which is a little less clear of how that would follow, but basically there is an aftermath to this film which would need to be completed. And on the Orc side you’re very much following that baby, Go’el, known as Thrall in the universe, and how he eventually creates the Orc homeland.”

Although plans for a second film seem to be off the table, Universal Pictures could reconsider due to Warcraft’s strong overseas box office performance.

The movie – which cost $160 million to make and was released in May 2016 – grossed $47.4 million in America but banked $386.3 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $433.7 million.