The president of the video game studio behind World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and more has hinted at big things to come in the world of adaptations, as Blizzard Entertainment boss Johanna Faries teases discussions about "almost every one of our worlds."
"We talk a lot about this. We’re not Blizzard Games, we’re Blizzard Entertainment. We want to be able to show up on every screen imaginable," Faries told Variety. "We want to be able to create new fans who may not have been with us for the past 35 years. How we continue to engage Hollywood or film and TV in bigger ways is going to be, in the near term, probably a big part of that recipe. We also play in music. We also play in non-traditional spaces, beyond gaming, certainly."
She continued, "I would confidently say that every one of our IPs could be some of the greatest linear media experiences that the world could experience. So more to come on the specifics. What I will say is that there are highly generative, proactive, near-term discussions across almost every one of our worlds right now, with respect to what can we do, what format works, who’s the right team to take that to new audiences in a high caliber way."
2016's Warcraft is probably the publisher's biggest Hollywood adaptation to date, which starred Dune: Prophecy's Travis Fimmel, Dominic Cooper, and Ben Wu. It became the highest-grossing video game movie of all time (until it was overtaken by The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023), but still failed to break even for the studio. The film holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 29%.
As for what's next, an Overwatch adaptation seems likely, according to the game's general manager Walter Kong. "Whenever we put out any type of lore, including a cinematic thesis, there is a very common expression of, I wish we could have more of this, I wish that we could enjoy these stories," Kong said.
"So when I took on the role of franchise GM, these future opportunities and possibilities were something that pushed me to say yes, yes, yes, because I think we have delivered on the game, but there’s still so much on the broader franchise experience that I wanted to bring to players and fans."
While we wait and see what Blizzard has in store in the future, fill out your watchlist with our guide to all the upcoming video game movies on the way in 2026 and beyond.
