Warcraft movie nets Spider-Man director Raimi

Spider-Man director Sam Raimi will be delving into the world of fantasy once again after signing on to helm thefilm based on World of Warcraft, the massively popular online game.

Raimi will supervise development of the as-yet-unnamed Warcraft movie,to begin shooting after he finishes work on the upcoming fourth instalment of Spider-Man which is set to begin in early 2010.

Legendary Pictures and gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment are teaming up for the Warcraft project, with Warner Bros. co-financingand distributing the final product.

"At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story," Raimi said in a statement.

The live-action movie will be inspired by the blockbuster fantasy role-playing game franchise, which centres on the battle between two sides the Alliance and the Horde in a world where humans and dwarfs battle with races such as orcs, trolls and the undead.

Since the launch of the first game in the series in 1994, the Warcraft universe has amassed a global following. Online play began with the second instalment and the latest versions have attracted more than 11.5 million monthly subscribers.

Raimi made his name with horror and fantasy productions, including the cult favourite Evil Dead series of films and the long-running Xena: Warrior Princesstelevision series. However, he found international stardom as director of the record-settingSpider-Man film franchise.

His other, wide-ranging credits include the dark drama A Simple Plan, the comic book adaptation Darkman, the mystery thriller The Gift and, most recently, Drag Me to Hell a well-received return to horror.