There are rumours that the role of Arthas, later known as the infamous Lich King, in the upcoming Warcraft film has potentially been filled by Lord of the Rings star, David Wenham.
Imdb.com claims that the actor may be taking on the role in the upcoming movie which will be directed by Sam Raimi, as announced recently. Wenham also starred in Van Helsing and Frank Miller’s 300, which was produced by Legendary Pictures, one of the companies behind the Warcraft film. There is currently no source for the rumour, so it remains unclear where imdb obtained the tip.
In 2007, it was said that Arthas would not feature in the the film, however, Blizzard Entertainment is well known for its continuous changing of direction until things meet their standard of quality. Around the time that Raimi was announced as the director, writer Gary Whitta admitted he had been working on a script for the film, but with the introduction of Raimi the script will be completely re-written.
At Blizzcon 2007, Blizzard stated that the movie would focus more on the Alliance side and a new Alliance character would debut as an anti-Thrall who writer Chris Metzen described as “Kick-ass”. Since then, the Alliance king of Stormwind, King Varian Wrynn (Lo’gosh) has been introduced to the game and seems to fit the description. Rumours have been circulating about the person who will play that role and Superman Returns actor, Brandon Routh, has been implicated after saying that he would be interested in a part during a recent interview (he was even wearing a WoW t-shirt). He is also a keen WoW player.
Work is expected to start on the film next year after Raimi has finished filming Spider-man 4. According to co-producers Warner bros., Warcraft is due to be released in 2012.
