We're not entirely sure how we feel about the idea of a Warcraft film, but the collective millions of years players have poured into the World of Warcraft video game speak for themselves – the fantasy franchise is a phenomenon.
The film had a long and painful decade in development and passed through a few director's hands – though mercifully Alone in the Dark's Uwe Boll didn't make it past reception – before landing in the capable hands of Moon and Source Code filmmaker Duncan Jones – aka David Bowie's son.
The cast is massive but you may not recognise them all, as half the ensemble will be rendered as CGI orcs by VFX legends industrial Light & Magic.
So what can you expect from this mammoth clash of clans? Here's everything you need to know about the Warcraft movie:
Warcraft movie release date – Kicking off the summer blockbusters
Warcraft hits UK cinemas on May 30, 2016 ahead of the US release date, which is currently slated for June 10, 2016.
The movie has been in the pipeline for ages - it was first announced in May 2006 (a full ten years before it's due to come out), set for a 2009 release date, which was pushed back to 2011 and then pushed back again. It's no bad thing – hopefully it's given Jones a chance to get to grips with his immersive CGI world.
Warcraft movie trailer – Get set for some serious magic
We've had two trailers so far. The first, released in November 2015, is epic and portentous and looks like a cross between The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and Avatar.
"For years our world has been at peace," intones star Travis Fimmel ominously. "But something is coming, I can feel it."
We're shown two different worlds – the human kingdom, Azaroth, and Draenor, which is definitely the domain of the orcs and not something to unblock your toilet. It's all played very straight.
The second trailer, released on April 19, is a bit more fun...
Raaaahhhhh! This one has a few more cheeky one-liners, a rocking soundtrack and a whole lot of smashing, stabbing, pummelling and magic. We see tribe of orcs assemble, and later some orc-on-orc infighting, emphasising Jones's previous assertions that this isn't going to be a black-and-white tale of good and evil.
Warcraft movie cast – Who's that orc?
Australian Vikings star Travis Fimmel leads the cast in the role of Sir Anduin Lothar, a noble warrior type fighting for the human Alliance, truth and justice and all that stuff.
We'd invite you to guess who is playing his orcish exiled chieftain counterpart Durotan – who is trying to bring about peace in opposition to his people's warlike default setting – but that's just too cruel. Deep under those CG tusks and piercings is Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and Fantastic Four's Toby Kebbell.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol's Paula Patton plays the half-orc Gamora Garona, with Dominic Cooper as the human King Llane Wrynn, Ben Foster as a wizard type called Medivh, the Guardian of Tirisfal, and Pride's Ben Schnetzer as his young apprentice, Khadgar.
EastEnders' Robert Kazinsky, Hong Kong actor/filmmaker Daniel Wu, Anna Galvin and Clancy Brown round out the orc contingent, with Ruth Negga (Misfits, Agents of SHIELD) and Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica, Fifty Shades of Grey) on team human.
Warcraft movie plot – Two tribes go to war
The human land of Azaroth is epic and gorgeous, while the orcs' drain-cleaning home, we're told, is dying – leading them to ask the humans for help and prompting a conflict where the two tribes go head to head, forming unlikely allegiances and also smashing the crap out of each other.
Kebbell's Durotan is caught in the middle, trying to find the best solution for his displaced people while their angry and warlike leaders try to pulverise him. As this is a fantasy action adventure, his roadmap to peace is necessarily dominated by even more face-punching CGI antics.
Lothar enters into an uneasy alliance with the hulking outcast, while the mixed-race Garona has to decide where her loyalties lie in the brewing human-orc war.
From the trailers, we gather that dwarves, magical lightning, green flaming explosions and griffins will also be thrown into the mix. We would expect nothing less.
And what would a Warcraft film be without the Lion's Pride Inn...?