Summary
The first clip forA Minecraft Moviestarring Jack Black and Jason Momoa has been released. The movie is the first big-screen adaptation of Mojang Studios' dynamically popular sandbox video game,Minecraft, and incorporates many elements from the source material, such as crafting.
A movie based onMinecrafthas been in development at Warner Bros. Pictures since 2014. The film initially struggled to get off the ground, with a revolving door of directors attaching and departing the project, including Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine) and Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). Things picked up steam whenNacho LibreandNapoleon Dynamitedirector Jared Hess boarded the project and filming commenced in New Zealand in January 2024.Jack Black was cast asMinecraft’splayer character, Steve, with Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, and Danielle Brooks also joining the cast as new characters.
Thefirst trailer forA Minecraft Moviewas released in September and received mixed reactions, with many hesitant about the film’s live-action take on theMinecraftworld. More recently, duringMinecraft Live 2024 on YouTubea new clip fromA Minecraft Moviewas released. In the clip, Steve brings his companions to a crafting table and explains how placing elements in different patterns and then smashing them with a hammer can result in new creations. Using this method Steve forges a sword which impresses Henry (Sebastian Eugene Hansen). Determined not to be outdone, Garrett (Momoa) attempts to craft a better sword on the first try, but ends up producing a bucket instead. Steve responds to this with: “That’s OK, bud. Buckets are useful here!”
Minecraft Live 2024 also included a discussionbetween Hess and Torfi Frans Olafsson, Mojang Studios' Creative Director of Entertainment. “We had to honor what you experience in the game but also make it work for human scale,” Hess said, when explaining how they brought the video game element of crafting to live-action. Olafsson added, “we honor the three-by-three grid perfectly, and thought it would be cool, and fun, and kind of gratifying to just give it a massive whack and then have things appear.”
Crafting is integral to the gameplay ofMinecraft, so it makes sense that it would also make up a core component of the film adaptation as well. The plot of the upcoming Minecraft movie will see Momoa, Hansen, Myers and Brooks play four misfit characters who are each struggling with their everyday problems until they are thrown together into the Overworld, a mysterious, cubic wonderland. Once there they are taken under the wing of Steve, an expert crafter, and go on an adventure to reconnect with the skills that make them unique.
Most of the criticisms aimed atA Minecraft Movieso far have been related to its visual aesthetic, which translatesMinecraft’s lively animated block styleinto somewhat realistic CGI surroundings. Olafsson said the team mulled over what sort of movie theMinecraftadaptation should be, before settling on live-action because “it’s not something that’s been seen before on this scale.”
A Minecraft Movieis scheduled to release in cinemas on June 01, 2025.
