Warcraft : The Beginning Warcraft : The Beginning , or just Warcraft , is a movie directed by Duncan Jones , produced by Legendary Pictures , and distributed by Universal Pictures . It began filming at the beginning of 2014 , and was released on May 30 , 2016 in the UK , and on June 10 , 2016 release date in the United States . AMC and IMAX ran a promotion that allowed US moviegoers to see the movie early on June 8 , 2016 at select AMC / IMAX 3D theaters . However , the world premiere was in Paris on the night of May 24 , 2016 . As of late June 2016 , the movie had made over $ 400 million worldwide . China led all markets by a large margin by bringing in over $ 200 million by themselves . The US was second at $ 44 million . Russia , Germany , and France followed with $ 21 . 6 million , $ 13 . 8 million , and $ 10 . 9 million respectively . South Korea led all other Asian countries at $ 8 . 4 million . Brazil led all South American countries at $ 5 . 6 million . Africa did not do that much , but in the Middle East , UAE registered around $ 2 . 3 million . The Blu - ray and DVD editions were not given a release date by June 2016 , but it has been widely reported that the movie will be one of the first 4K blu - ray releases from Universal Pictures . Pr - orders for blu - ray and DVD started on June 24 , 2016 . The movie had largely run its course as of mid - July 2016 with the last major country release in Japan on July 1 , 2016 , but had made over $ 430 million worldwide . China did most of the heavy lifting with $ 220 million . The official Warcraft Movie Weibo account ( Chinese version of Twitter ) strongly hinted that a sequel was likely to be made . Initial DVD and blu - ray sales were promising with Warcraft leading the pack in the first week after release . Release dates . Blu - ray and more . " Warcraft : The Beginning " became available as DVD on September 27 , 2016 . It was supposed to be available as Blu - Ray , 3D , and 4K Ultra on October 10 , 2016 , but it was moved up to match the apparently . Bonuses often missing . For those who purchase the movie on DVD or Blu - ray , some will receive the Medivh hero for " Hearthstone : Heroes of Warcraft " , the Gul ' dan hero for " Heroes of the Storm " , and a free digital copy of " World of Warcraft " for a limited time , apparently . There is a serious problem where many physical copies have a sticker promising bonus items , but no codes or inserts are in the product when opened . The whole process seems to be handled badly with Blizzard claiming it ' s the manufacturers responsibility and many retail stores being clueless or unhelpful . Digital download . " Warcraft : The Beginning " was available for digital download on September 26 , 2016 . Possibly , iTunes may get it on September 13 , 2016 . Digital release is available on Amazon as of September 13 , 2016 . Development history . 2006 - 2008 . In a May 9 , 2006 press release , Blizzard Entertainment and " " ( makers of and ) announced that they will develop a live - action film set in the Warcraft universe . Legendary Pictures has acquired the movie rights for the game universe , and both companies are now focused on translating the Warcraft experience to the big screen . Uwe Boll attempted to apply for the job of director , from which Blizzard CEO Paul Sams replied " We will not sell the movie rights , not to you … especially not to you . " At BlizzCon 2008 , according to Mike Morhaime , a script was being written . Chris Metzen mentioned that the film will be action - packed and violent , stating " We ' re definitely not going to make a G or a PG version of this . It ' s not PillowfightCraft . " 2009 - 2011 . The live - action film was set for release in 2009 , but was later rescheduled to 2011 . On July 22 , 2009 , Blizzard Entertainment announced that Sam Raimi would become the Warcraft movie director , but in July 2012 he told Crave Online that he would not direct due to committing to the movie . In 2010 it was announced that Filipina cosplay goddess Alodia Gosengfiao would likely star in the movie , but this was never confirmed by any official sources . 2012 . As of early 2012 , the movie has still not been announced to be in production , so the chances of it being made are getting lower by the year . At Comic Con 2011 , Chris Metzen said the movie was not dead , but gave few useful details saying it was still in the " treatment stage " . In mid - March 2012 , Nethaera said the movie is " still on the radar " with no other update . According to IMDB , the manuscript writer will be Chris Metzen . ( Jesse Wigutow was mentioned , but has been removed ) . " IMDB information on pre - release movies should be taken as suspect , though . IMDB generally only removes false information if someone reports it . " 2013 . Not much happened through late 2012 , but in late January 2013 , Legendary Pictures announced that director Duncan Jones had been attached to the production , sparking some hope the filming might start . No specific development news has come out so far in Spring 2013 , but lots of indirect evidence of film production has cropped up . However , previous Director , Sam Raimi , did explain why he left the project in 2013 . He revealed that a lot of pre - production work was done by him and Robert Rodat ( script writer ) , but Blizz ard effectively vetoed their work and he largely blamed it on their mismanagement . The film now appears to be real with an official announcement and short teaser at Comic - Con 2013 . The film is supposed to begin principal photography some time in early 2014 . Comic - Con teaser . A very short visual teaser for the film was introduced by current director , Duncan Jones , at San Diego Comic - Con . Here is a brief description of the teaser which was not released to the public : Officially announced to release in late 2015 . It has been announced to be released on December 18 , 2015 . Official release pushed to spring 2016 . Apparently the next installment of the Star Wars franchise was scheduled for late 2015 , so it apparently prompted the studio to move the Warcraft film release to March 16 , 2016 . Official release delayed now to summer 2016 . The reasons were not specifically given ( perhaps to take advantage of traditional action movie summer season ) , but the studios delayed the release again to June 10 , 2016 . Significant casting lined up . By early December 2013 , several cast members have been confirmed or mostly confirmed . Among them : Travis Fimmel ( ' Vikings ' ) , Paula Patton ( ' Mission : Impossible - Ghost Protocol ' ) , Ben Foster ( ' 3 : 10 to Yuma ' ) , Toby Kebbell ( ' The Counselor ' ) , and Rob Kazinsky ( ' Pacific Rim ' ) . Negotiations with Dominic Cooper ( ' Captain America : The Winter Soldier ' ) are also being finalized . Financing and distribution . According to the LA Times : " . . . Universal , a unit of NBCUniversal , will market , co - finance and distribute Legendary films for five years beginning in 2014 . . . " 2014 . Legendary Pictures began production on the film on January 13th , 2014 in Vancouver , Canada which spanned up to 5 months as Director Duncan Jones announces Warcraft film officially wrapped on May 23 , 2014 . 2015 . On April 23 , 2015 Legendary Pictures announced release date changes for Warcraft to move from March 11th , 2016 to June 10th , 2016 . Although not officially announced by the studio , the changes were most likely made to avoid the March 25 , 2016 release of . A prequel graphic novel , " " , was announced as in the works on July 9 , 2015 , but with not much followup until April 2016 . The official trailer was announced to be released on November 6 , 2015 . It debuted during the opening ceremony of BlizzCon 2015 . There was no general movie panel , but WoWWiki got to cover the that began with a re - screening of the trailer for press only . 2016 . In early February 2016 , Universal UK , the UK distributor , announced the UK release date for the movie would move up to May 30th , 2016 . No reasons were given , but some have speculated it is to coincide with the Spring which falls on May 30th . In an interview with Australia ' s FilmInk , Duncan Jones hinted that he was trying to get a cameo done with Chris Metzen . An official TV Spot ( # 1 ) was released January 24th , 2016 and a second one ( # 2 ) on March 17th , 2016 . An apparent Twitter video exclusive trailer was posted March 19th , 2016 . In May 2016 , Universal announced that it would not restrict which theaters Warcraft could play in across the U . S . , basically ending a practice called " distributor clearance " which was more like exclusivity agreements with certain theater chains in certain regions . Warcraft movie promotion . Previously called " World of Warcraft : Ultimate Movie Edition " , the promotion became official on May 17 . 2016 . The only US theater chains participating are from the : Regal Cinemas , United Artists Theaters , and Edwards Theaters . Unfortunately , some of the larger theater chains ( AMC , Cinemark , and Cineplex ) in the US and Canada don ' t appear to be participating . Also , it appeared that only Brazil was including 30 days of free game time , but Blizz ard sources supposedly said it will be for all recipients . Promotional period varies by country and theater chain . Benefits : World of Warcraft : Ultimate Movie Edition . In early February 2016 , a Reddit user posted a screenshot of a survey appearing to be from Blizz ard asking about interest in a World of Warcraft " Ultimate Movie Edition " promotion , that was later verified as legitimate by a blue post . It ' s not clear how much work has progressed on this promotion or whether it will appear at all . Warcraft : Bonds of Brotherhood . IGN reported that Legendary will publish graphic novel called " " as a prequel story to the movie . Movie bonuses mostly confirmed . A Belgian / French movie theater chain , Kinepolis , apparently informed the Warcraft fan site , Mamytwink . com , that movie tickets from them will include a code to unlock transmogs , access to digital download of " World of Warcraft " through the Warlords of Draenor expansion , and 1 month free game time . The code should be emailed in mid to late May 2016 . Until details come from other sources , including a US source , this info may not apply globally . Pre - release in US at AMC / IMAX 3D theaters . AMC and IMAX are pre - releasing the movie in select theaters in the US as part of a promotion for IMAX 3D . More theaters were added on May 19 , 2016 . Here is the list of select locations : Reception . Reception of the film by professional critics has been largely negative with most reviews being below average . As of the worldwide premiere on May 25 , 2016 , Metacritic gave the movie 32 / 100 and Rotten Tomatoes gave it 38 % , but with less than 10 reviews counted at that point . After the US premiere , Metacritic had declined slightly to 31 / 100 and Rotten Tomatoes had declined dramatically to 18 % . Despite being a critical failure ( primarily in the US and UK ) , regular viewers have generally responded more positively in international markets by opening at number 1 for its opening weekend in 19 of 20 overseas markets . It also appears to be very popular in China by setting pre - sales records and setting the record for widest release ever of any movie , beating the previous champion , " Furious 7 " . It is important to note that while the movie ' s reception by critics has been abysmal in the United States , the user reviews after the first weekend ( 8 . 5 + / 10 on Metacritic and 80 % + on Rotten Tomatoes ) have been generally good . As such the critics do not seem to be representing the users . Another peculiar phenomenon is disparate reviews from some sites . Kotaku had an initial very negative review and then a day later posted a positive review . Another example is a generally positive review in Den of Geek after the worldwide debut in France in late May and then a much more negative review in early June a few days before the US premiere . " Archived videos available " External links . " Original live stream "