The extraordinary story of Norwegian gamer Mats “Ibelin” Steen — whose life and online legacy touched thousands through World of Warcraft — is making its way to the big screen, with an impressive ensemble cast already confirmed.
After captivating audiences with last year’s Netflix documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, Steen’s story will now be reimagined as a scripted feature film simply titled Ibelin. The film aims to explore the dual worlds Steen inhabited — one defined by physical limitation, the other by limitless digital connection.
Deadline says that Anthony Hopkins, who won an Academy Award, will be in the movie along with Toni Collette, Stephen Graham, Charlie Plummer, Isabela Merced, and Maisy Stella. Morten Tyldum, who directed The Imitation Game, will direct the movie. Ilaria Bernardini and Hossein Amini wrote the script.
A Life Lived Between Worlds
Steen was born with a rare kind of muscular dystrophy causing him to progressively lose movement; through World of Warcraft, he was able to develop a rich second life as a character named Ibelin. He was able to develop profound friendships and a reputation for being funny, caring, and brave as his in-game character. Until after Steen’s passing in 2014 at the young age of 25, his online friends were unaware of his physical struggles.
Based partially on Steen’s blog, Musings of Life, where he wrote about his experiences, challenges, and perspectives of living with a disability, Ibelin is intended to not only honor the resilience of one individual, but also the power of online communities to create real human connection.
Production and Legacy
Vendôme Pictures and Pathé are making Ibelin, but we don’t know who will distribute it in the US yet. They’ll probably be shopping it around at the American Film Market soon.
Also, Blizzard Entertainment paid tribute to Steen earlier this year by putting his character, Lord Ibelin, in World of Warcraft as an NPC. The next World of Warcraft expansion, Midnight, is going into beta on November 11, which keeps the world where Ibelin made his mark alive.