In huge news in the colossal video-game universe. WOW is what's known as - all together now - a "massively multi-player online role-playing game,"' or MMORPG. At its centre is a struggle for world dominance between the Horde and the Alliance. Warner Bros. will co-finance and distribute the live-action film. The Dark Knight producer Charles Roven is also part of Raimi's team, Variety magazine reports.

Raimi will supervise development of Warcraft and shoot the picture after he completes work on Spider-Man 4, which gets under way early next year for Columbia Pictures with Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire again starring.

Blizzard Entertainment brought WOW in 1994, and with 11.5 million monthly subscribers, making 16 million-plus quests each day, it holds more than 60 percent of the entire MMORPG market. Its most recent expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, sold more than 2.8 million copies in the first day of release and more than 4 million its first month.

Raimi's three Spidey flicks are all in the top 20 US grossing movies of all time, with the original at number 8, having led more than $US403 million into its jaws. "At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story," Raimi said in a statement.