After numerous delays, ‘Minecraft’ finally looks to be making the trek to the big screen.
Video Game adaptations used to receive a bad rap, but after the recent successes of titles like The Super Mario Bros Movie, The Last of Us, and Arcane it’s been proven that they can work if they have the right creative team. Warner Brothers and Mojang have changed teams repeatedly over the years since first announcing their plans for a Minecraft film in 2014. The film has gone through many different iterations and multiple directors were attached before ultimately departing the project, that is until now. With a director, an A-list star, and a release date in place it sounds like things are finally coming together for the long-delayed and much-reworked Minecraft movie.
Editor’s Note: This piece was updated on April 14, 2024.
Minecraft
The malevolent Ender Dragon sets out on a path of destruction, prompting a young girl and her group of unlikely adventurers to set out to save the Overworld.
- Release Date
- April 4, 2025
- Director
- Jared Hess
- Cast
- Jason Momoa , Jack Black , Danielle Brooks , Emma Myers , Matt Berry
- Main Genre
- Adventure
- Writers
- Markus Persson , Allison Schroeder , Peter Sollett
- Studio
- Warner Bros.
- Studio(s)
- Warner Bros. , Legendary Pictures , Vertigo Entertainment
- Distributor(s)
- Warner Bros.
- Franchise(s)
- Minecraft
When Is the ‘Minecraft’ Movie Coming Out?
The Minecraft movie has been slated for multiple different release dates, Rob McElhenney‘s iteration of the film was dated for May 24, 2019, but after his departure and Peter Sollett was brought in the film’s release date was marked for March 4, 2022, before being removed from the release calendar. Recently, Warner Bros announced a new release date for the film: April 4, 2025. Hopefully, all will go well, and the movie will come out on schedule this time.
Will the ‘Minecraft’ Movie Be in Theaters?
The plan currently appears to be for the Minecraft movie to come exclusively to theaters in April 2025. While the Minecraft movie will almost certainly be on a streaming service eventually, it is likely to spend some time in theaters before that happens. Their recently rebranded streaming service Max will likely be the streaming service that Minecraft eventually goes to, but of course, a lot can happen in two years.
It sounds like the Minecraft film is back on track now with Hess directing and Momoa starring. We’re looking forward to learning more about this project as it goes forward, and we hope we’ll be seeing it land in theaters on schedule.
Is There a Trailer for the ‘Minecraft’ Movie?
So far no promotional material for the film has been released, but considering we’re still two years out from the planned release date that isn’t surprising.
Who Is Starring in the ‘Minecraft’ Movie?
In April 2022 it was announced that Jason Momoa will be the star of the Minecraft movie. Momoa has had a packed schedule lately, between playing Aquaman in the DCEU and playing the big bad in this summer’s Fast X. We don’t have much information yet about the character Momoa will be playing yet.
In November 2023, Academy Award nominee Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple) and Sebastian Eugene Hansen (Just Mercy) were added to the cast, with Brooks playing a character named Dawn and Hansen playing a character named Henry. In December 2023, it was announced Emma Myers (Wednesday) had also been cast.
In January 2024, it was revealed that Jack Black would be joining the film, with rumors circling that he will play “Steve,” the most recognizable player avatar from the game. This is far from Black’s first video-game movie role. He notably voiced Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and will take on the role of Claptrap in the long-delayed Borderlands movie. Also cast in the film are Emmy-winners Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus) and Kate McKinnon (Barbie) in undisclosed roles. Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows) will also appear in the movie.
You may have heard in the past that Steve Carell was starring in the Minecraft movie, however, that is no longer the case. In 2016 Carrell’s involvement was widely reported, but the project has been reworked significantly since then and the star of The Office and Despicable Me is no longer believed to be attached.
What Is the ‘Minecraft’ Movie About?
Plot details about the movie have been limited. Multiple different versions of the project have existed, and it is unclear what, if any, details of those earlier variations will carry over to this film. An early version of the movie was intended to focus on the concept of “people taking agency over their experience in [the] digital landscape,” and another version was going to feature “the story of a teenage girl and her unlikely group of adventurers” who must save their Overworld from an Ender Dragon. It’s unclear if that story will still be used.
Of course, the game Minecraft itself has never been about the plot. Instead, the game is an open-world building and survival game where players, either alone or with friends, construct elaborate and detailed structures and try to survive attacks from enemies like creepers, zombies, and skeletons. Minecraft’s many different modes allow players to focus on the aspects of the game they prefer, be that building, survival, or collaborative play.
Despite the game’s lack of plot, it does have some distinctive locations, including The Nether, a dangerous and hellish dimension, and The End, a series of floating islands guarded by the ferocious Ender Dragon. It also has some iconic enemies including Creepers and Endermen. We imagine the movie will want to highlight these classic and instantly recognizable baddies.
Who Is Making the ‘Minecraft’ Movie?
Jared Hess, the filmmaker behind the cult-favorite comedies Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, will be directing the Minecraft movie. Momoa, Roy Lee, Jon Berg, Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Torfi Frans Olafsson, Vu Bui, and the late Jill Messick serve as the movie’s producers.
As many shakeups as there have been to the cast of Minecraft, there have been even more behind the scenes. Shawn Levy, who directed Night at the Museum, The Adam Project, and Free Guy was originally tapped to direct the Minecraft movie with a script written by Kieran and Michele Mulroney (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows). However, all three of them left the project in 2014 citing “creative differences” with Mojang, the creators of the videogame. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, a few weeks after his departure, Levy described his vision for the project as an adventure flick with “a bit of a Goonies flair.”
Nearly two years later, it was announced that the film was reportedly going to be directed by Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), from a script he would co-write alongside Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman). In an interview with Collider back in 2016, the film’s producer, Roy Lee, described that the film would have focused on the concept of player agency and what that means in a digital open-world experience. When talking with Josh Horowitz on the “Happy Sad Confused Podcast” McElhenney explained that the project had been extremely close to going through but after a change in studio heads from Greg Silverman to Toby Emmerich it became clear that his version of the project was no longer in line with the studio’s vision.
After McElhenney left the project, Adam and Aaron Nee (The Lost City) were brought in to rewrite the script in 2018. A few months later, in early 2019, Peter Sollett (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist) was brought in to direct the film. Sollett’s version of the film was intended to have a female protagonist who must fight an Ender Dragon. A few months later it was announced that Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures) would be tackling the script, taking over from the Nee Brothers.
When and Where is the ‘Minecraft’ Movie Filming?
In a report from Production Weekly, filming on the Minecraft movie was initially set to begin in New Zealand on August 7, 2023. However, production was delayed due to the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that took place in 2023. Filming began in January 2024 in New Zealand. In April 2024, Jason Momoa took to Instagram to reveal that filming on the Minecraft movie had wrapped.
This article was originally published on collider.com