The long-in-development film adaptation of World of Warcraft now has a newly hired VFX supervisor, Academy Award winner Bill Westenhofer, it was announced today by Blizzard's Nick Carpenter.
Westenhofer's career in film includes work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Elf and Men in Black 2; however, he is probably best known for his Academy Award win for Achievement in Visual Effects for his role in leading hundreds of digital artists on The Golden Compass. Most recently Westenhofer led the Rhythm & Hues creative team on the film adaptation of Life of Pi, for which he was also awarded an Oscar.
Taking to Twitter today, Blizzard's vice president of art and cinematic development Nick Carpenter announced the news, stating: "Had my first meeting with the VFX Director on the film. We are in good hands. Welcome aboard Bill Westenhofer! #wowfilm"
Earlier in the year Blizzard announced the upcoming live-action film would be directed by Duncan Jones, best known for his work on Moon and Source Code. Veteran director Sam Raimi was originally attached to the project, but explained last month that he left his directorial role after Blizzard vetoed an early script written by Raimi and writer Robert Rodat.