Warcraft was one of the most divisive films of the year in a number of ways. Not only was its paltry domestic gross of $47 million dwarfed by its international haul of $386 million, but also some moviegoers failed to be enchanted by its fantastical tale and spectacle while others appreciated it as joyful escapism. Considering these polarizing views, you'd have thought that Duncan Jones might be tempted to release a director's cut of Warcraft to win over some of the naysayers. But Jones has now revealed there couldn't possibly be a director's cut of the film, because there is no more additional footage to add. He explained:
A lot of people ask me, 'When is the director's cut coming out?' There will never be a director's cut. With a film like this, where there are so many visual effects, every concession that you make you lose those shots. They cease to exist because the effects work never gets done. Some of it's not even at that stage. You go through a writing stage right up to the deadline of shooting the thing. [You lose] ideas in the writing process. Then sets change for whatever reason and notes come in. You're changing things around a three-and-a-half-year process. You get these little changes which are constantly course correcting you. So there is no possibility of ever being a director's cut. It's purely in my head.
While talking to Thrillist, Duncan Jones admitted that there just wasn't room in the budget to work on the visual effects for scenes that may or may not have made the final cut. While it's always interesting to see what filmmakers decide to leave on the cutting room floor there really wouldn't be too much point in seeing a director's cut of Warcraft anyway. Viewers that failed to be enamored by the video-game adaptation aren't likely to be won over by further footage of the orcs and humans being torn apart by their differences, while, as someone who enjoyed Warcraft much more than other critics, even I found that it repeatedly teetered on the edge of tedium. Elongating it even just a little would almost certainly push it over into this territory.
The big question now is, "Will we get to see a sequel to Warcraft?" The conclusion of the blockbuster certainly left the door open for further installments, while Duncan Jones himself has previously teased that he'd like to return to the world, even though he's currently hard at work on his next project, _Mute. _
Unfortunately, having grossed just $47 million in the U.S., it's unlikely that Hollywood will try too hard to pursue it. However, since it broke box office records in China (where it took in $220 million) and the likes of Ukraine, Germany, and Russia, too, there is clearly an appeal. Now it's up to the producers and the team over Activision Blizzard Studios and Legendary to figure out how to tap into that enthusiasm... if they tap into it, at all.
