Dune and Aquaman star Jason Momoa's successful partnership with Warner Bros. is expanding into the realm of video game adaptation with his upcoming Minecraft movie.
Prior to the writers and actors strike in Hollywood, the film was slated to be released on April 4, 2025.
However, filming was originally set to commence back in August but was delayed due to the strike. The production is now slated to begin shooting four months later in December, so it's currently unknown whether the video game movie will hold on to its original April 2025 release date.
However, what is known is that Peacemaker actress Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black, The Color Purple) and Just Mercy actor Sebastian Eugene Hansen (Lisey’s Story, Mozart in the Jungle).
Prior to the strike, it was also reported that Matt Berry (What We Do In The Shadows, Christopher Robin) had joined the cast but post-strike, it's no longer clear if Berry is still attached.
Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) is directing the film from a script penned by Chris Bowman & Hubbel Palmer (Masterminds).
Brooks will portray Dawn while Hansen will star as Henry.
The 3D survival sandbox game is the highest-selling video game of all time with over 300 million copies sold to date and over 40 million, active monthly subscriptions.
Details on the film's plot are being kept under wraps so it's difficult to say whether the movie is adapting the main Minecraft title or one of the franchise's many spin-offs including Minicraft, Minecraft: Story Mode, Minecraft Dungeon, Minecraft Earth or Minecraft Legends.
Warner Bros. secured the film rights to Minecraft in October 2014 and originally pegged Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Free Guy) to direct. However, Levy soon departed the project and was replaced by Rob McElhenney (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Mythic Quest) in July 2015, who lined up Steve Carell (The Office, Welcome to Marwen) to star.
Slow development and scheduling conflicts eventually saw this version of the project wither away and WB turned to Peter Sollett (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Metal Lords) to direct a new concept in January 2019. This version also failed to move forward and would eventually give way to Hess and Momoa, who boarded the project in April 2022.
Are you excited by the prospect of a live-action Minecraft film and do you think live-action is the right medium, as opposed to animation? Let us know in the comment section below.