You may have obsessively played it into the wee small hours but you’ll soon also be able to experience Minecraft on the big-screen.
Yes, we’re going to be getting a Minecraft movie but it’s actually been in the works at Warner Bros. since last year. However, the latest word on the project is fascinating: they’ve reportedly tapped Rob McElehenney as the director. It did have Night at the Museum’s Shawn Levy attached but he dropped out late last year.
Mojang made the announcement on their official site:
Some of you may have seen this guy hanging around MINECON in London a couple weeks ago. He’s Rob McElhenney, and he’s going to be directing the upcoming Minecraft movie.
If you don’t know who McElhenney is then you’re probably not watching one of the most acclaimed TV comedies of recent years, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He’s the creator, star and writer of that show and earned himself a legion of fans as a result.
So what’s the guy who made a caustic, foul-mouthed TV comedy got in common with a big movie based on a popular video game? Well, as Deadline digs into the deal, they reveal that McElhenney rocked up to Legendary Pictures and pitched an idea for a family adventure film called Figment which is, “about an imagiantive boy and his family who are thrown for a loop when their greatest fears come to life.” He clinched the deal for that with a 20-minute pitch and a four-minute-long test reel. They must have been really impressed with him in that pitch to hand him this big new property.
If you don’t know what Minecraft is, basically it’s a game about using your imagination to build things using giant blocks. It’s immensely popular, particularly with kids but can be enjoyed by people of all ages for its combination of “anyone can play” style and how it encourages you to be as imaginative as possible. It recently passed the 100 million(!) registered users mark. Wow.
Warner Bros. picked up the rights to the movie adaptation right after the success it had with The LEGO Movie – even though they’re not strictly related, they’re not dissimilar either and the studio will undoubtedly be hoping audiences connect their love for that with wanting to see this and, if it’s the success they’re hoping for, a big franchise will be targeted.
In a world where just about anything gets an adaptation, is it that surprising that a movie studio wants to cinematically capitalize on one of the most popular games in the world right now?