Warcraft movie: Life of Pi Oscar winner signs as VFX director

Bill Westenhofer has signed on as visual effects director for the Warcraft movie, fresh from winning a 2013 Academy Award for Life of Pi.

Blizzard executive Nick Carpenter announced the news via Twitter, commenting that he had had his first meeting with Westenhofer and the film is "in good hands".

Westenhofer is a visual effects supervisor at Rhythm and Hues Studios. His work has appeared in a wide variety of works, including The Golden Compass, which won a Bafta and Academy Award in 2008; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was Oscar-nominated; Men in Black 2; Stuart Little; and much more.

The long stymied cinematic project seems to be making progress at last. The long wait on the project saw the exit of director Sam Raimi, who later said Blizzard has "mismanaged" the negotiations. Moon director Duncan Jones, a self-described fan of the property, stepped up to take his place, and rumour has it Johnny Depp may be on board, although we've heard nothing official.

Thanks, Player Attack.