If Hollywood loves anything, it’s bankable IP – they’ll turn any somewhat-successful concept into a film. Comic book universe? Of course. Mildly popular thriller novel? Why not. Beloved musical? Cast James Corden in it, and it’s a deal.
In recent years, however, the industry has more often than not turned to video games in search of the next big film. There’s been Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog), and even the glorious world of arcade games (Pixels and Wreck it Ralph) immortalized on the silver screen. But the best-selling video game of all time, Minecraft, has yet to be adapted, although that’s not for a lack of trying.
Since being officially released in 2011, Minecraft has become the most popular game in the history of the medium, selling over 200m copies over a plethora of platforms. The blocky, procedurally generated adventure game has enthralled fans with its balance of creativity, survival, and mod-ability (there’s literally a mod for everything for this game). So, predictably, having seen the sheer level of popularity attained by the game, Hollywood has been all over it, with studios trying to buy the rights as early as 2012. Unfortunately, this process of adaptation hasn’t been smooth sailing.
As said, the first attempts to produce a Minecraft film began in 2012, with smaller-level Hollywood producers contacting the game’s developer, Mojang, with offers to buy the film rights. However, the company recognized the value of their IP, announcing they would only engage in such projects when “the right idea [came] along” (which was widely understood to mean “we’re waiting until the bigger studios get in touch”). Indeed, when a collection of enthusiasts tried to crowdfund a fan film through Kickstarter, Mojang quickly shut down any efforts – clearly, the developer didn’t want these hobby efforts to impede the chance of a blockbuster getting made.
Luckily, Mojang would get their wish. In early 2014, the developer announced that talks were happening with Warner Bros. (clearly a big enough fish) to get a Minecraft film on the big screen. In fact, by October of that year, the film was said to be in “early days of development”, and a May 2019 release date was announced. This is when the bad luck began.
When the film was originally announced, director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Cheaper by the Dozen) and writer Jason Fuchs (Pan, Wonder Woman) were slated to lead its creative team. However, not even a year later, Levy exited the project without giving a reason and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney was brought in to replace him. Over the next few years, breadcrumbs of updates were released by the studio, such as that McElhenney’s vision was based around the “open-world” nature of the game, that the project would have a budget of around $150m, and that Steve Carell was being lined up to star (whether or not as Minecraft’s ‘Steve’ is unknown).
But, in late 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Greg Silverman stepped down and was replaced by Toby Emmerich who had a different vision for the studio, and therefore also for Minecraft. Any progress made on the film was put on hold, and McElhenney’s movie “slowly died on the vine”. Around a year later, in 2018, McElhenney and Fuchs left the project completely, and Aaron and Adam Nee (the ‘masterminds’ behind the critically panned Band of Robbers) were brought in to brainstorm a new screenplay – the film’s release date was consequently pushed back.
Moreover, in January 2019, the Nees were kicked from the project and Peter Sollett (writer and director of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) was bought in, apparently working on an idea that was completely separate to McElhenney’s. Around March of 2020, a new release date of March 2022 was given, signaling that Sollett and Warner Bros. may actually see the project through to completion… and then the coronavirus happened.
With much of Hollywood shutting down and studios having to frantically reorder release slates, Minecraft was a casualty of this cinematic game of musical chairs. In October 2020, the film was removed from Warner Bros.’ release schedule completely, with no new date given. As of this writing, no new updates or even confirmations of the film’s continued production have been given.
Although, perhaps this is for the best. If Fox’s The New Mutants shows anything, films don’t tend to survive protracted development periods, and Minecraft means too much to too many people for the film to be awful. This is a game that has provided much-needed escapism to many a young person – it would be heart-breaking for the end film to be utterly awful. So the production of the Minecraft film has been cursed, but better cursed than disappointing.
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