The Heartfelt Story of WORLD OF WARCRAFT Gamer Ibelin Is Being Turned into a Movie with a Star-Studded Cast
A powerful and emotional story that began in the digital realms of World of Warcraft is making its way to the big screen. Vendôme Pictures and Pathé are teaming up to produce a new film titled Ibelin, inspired by the real life of Norwegian gamer Mats Steen, who became a legend among World of Warcraft players under his in-game name Ibelin Redmoore.
Steen’s story is heartbreaking, but inspiring. Diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, he spent most of his life in a wheelchair, finding freedom and friendship in the virtual world of Azeroth. Through his character Ibelin, he connected with thousands of players who admired his humor, compassion, and courage.
The movie will be directed by Morten Tyldum, best known for The Imitation Game, with a screenplay written by Ilaria Bernardini and Hossein Amini, adapted from Steen’s personal blog.
The film will feature Charlie Plummer (The Long Walk), Stephen Graham (Adolescence), Toni Collette (Hereditary), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Maisy Stella (My Old Ass), and the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs).
The studios shared the official synopsis, giving fans a glimpse of the emotional journey to come:
"In the vast digital realm, Ibelin was admired by thousands for his humor, kindness, and courage. Behind the screen, Mats was just the same, except for one thing: he lived with a degenerative muscular disease that slowly took away his body, but never his spirit. At home, his loving, funny, slightly chaotic family feared he was withdrawing from the world."
"But Mats proved them wrong; he wasn’t escaping life. He was redefining it. Ibelin is a celebration of life, tender, funny, and profoundly moving; a heartfelt family story intertwined with an epic adventure that explores the power of friendship and the invisible threads that connect us all."
This isn’t the first time Steen’s story has been told. In 2024, the acclaimed Norwegian documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, directed by Benjamin Ree, explored his life through home videos, in-game chats, and entries from his blog Musings of Life.
The documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, earning two awards and international praise for its emotional depth and honest portrayal of digital connection.
Now, with a feature film on the horizon, Ibelin is set to bring Mats Steen’s incredible journey to a global audience. There’s no doubt it will be a touching, visually rich story about family, friendship, and how a video game world became a place where one young man’s spirit could truly soar.
This is one movie World of Warcraft fans, and anyone who’s ever found real friendship online, won’t want to miss.