It's been about 10 years since plans for a Minecraft movie adaptation were first announced, but this week the live-action film hit a major production milestone: filming has officially wrapped.
Jason Mamoa, who stars in the upcoming film alongside Jack Black and Kate McKinnon, posted a photo on his personal Instagram celebrating that principal photography has wrapped. The Minecraft movie started filming in January, meaning there were only about three months of filming, but there's presumably still a good amount of CG work to be done before it hits theaters next year.
"Minecraft we are wrapping! All my aloha to my crew and cast. Unbelievable movie experience truly one of the greatest times of my life," the actor wrote alongside a series of images and videos. "Too many laughs. I love this country. Aotearoa New Zealand you are magical. Mahalo for letting me film here."
Not much is known about the Minecraft movie other than the fact that it's based on the popular sandbox adventure game released by Mojang Studios in 2011. The original Minecraft video game isn't exactly known for its narrative, as it's more about offering players an open sandbox to build and do whatever they want. Over the year, Mojang has offered quest-like activities and boss-type mobs to try and defeat, but it's still largely up to the player to craft their own imaginative story.
In 2015, Telltale Games introduced a bit of story in their own narrative-driven spin-off Minecraft: Story Mode. But it remains to be seen if this will at all influence the plot of the movie. Other spin-offs of the original game include Minecraft Dungeons and Minecraft Legends.
Rumors on the internet suggest the story of the Minecraft movie could follow a young girl and her group of unlikely adventures as they attempt to save the Overworld from the deadly Ender Dragon.
Several big stars are attached the project, including Jason Mamoa, Kate McKinnon, Jack Black, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers, Jennifer Coolidge, and Jemaine Clement. The movie is being directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), from a screenplay written by Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer, and co-produced by Momoa.
The Minecraft movie is scheduled to release in theaters on April 4, 2025.
Released in 2011, Minecraft was created by Markus "Notch" Persson. It went on to become the best-selling video game in history, with over 300 million copies sold. Despite its age, it remains one of the most popular with around 140 million monthly active players as of 2023.