Warcraft movie delayed into 2016

The feature film based on Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft franchise is now a 2016 release, according to an update from Universal and Legendary Pictures.

Previously, Warcraft had been slated to hit theaters on Dec. 18, 2015, but the film is now planned for a March 11, 2016 premiere, according to Variety. One possible reason for the delay is the scheduled release of Star Wars: Episode VII, which Disney and Lucasfilm announced for Dec. 18, 2015.

At BlizzCon 2013, the creative talent behind the Warcraft movie offered some early details about the adaptation. Director Duncan Jones said the movie will place emphasis on both the human and orc sides of the story, telling an origin tale of classic Warcraft characters Lothar and Durotan.

"One of the real difficult decisions we had was what part of the lore to focus on," Jones said, explaining that the Warcraft universe has "such a huge, vast timeline," that the goal was to get "to the root of what Warcraft is and where it came from."

Jones, who was joined by Blizzard's Chris Metzen and Rob Pardo, showed off concept art from locations like Draenor, Dalaran, Stormwind and Ironforge. More details about characters, effects and the people behind the film are in our BlizzCon panel write-up.