Just when you thought your obsession with MINECRAFT was left at the bottom of some pixelated pit, Warner Bros. is here to hand you a picaxe. The studio announced today that Peter Sollett (FREEHELD, RAISING VICTOR VARGAS) is now set to direct an animated film based on Mojang's uber-popular video game franchise, Minecraft. According to IMDB, the title of the film is MINECRAFT: THE FIRST MOVIE, though there's a chance that it will be re-named as production heats up.
The hotly-anticipated project is set to be produced by Vertigo’s Roy Lee and Jon Berg. Nicely enough, Jill Messick, who'd passed away in February of 2017, will still be credited as a producer on the film. Mojang, the video game publisher who introduced the world to Minecraft in May of 2009, will also produce, with Jon Spaihts serving as executive producer.
The story of Sollett's MINECRAFT movie follows a teenage girl and her unlikely group of adventurers who, after the malevolent Ender Dragon sets out on a path of destruction, must save their beautiful, blocky Overworld.
Hailed as Sollett's largest studio movie to date, Warner Bros. have been keeping their rights to the Minecraft franchise close to the chest since 2014. At one point in the project's evolution, STRANGER THINGS executive producer Shawn Levy and Rob McElhenney were both eyeing the opportunity to bring the beloved, family-friendly video game to life on the big screen. Steve Carell also became interested in the project, and was even thinking about voicing a character for the film, but alas, his scheduling conflicts required him to abandon the project at the time. After Carell's departure, the WB put the Minecraft venture back into development.
Even though it's a different animal, do you think MINECRAFT stands the chance of stacking up against films like THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART or PLAYMOBIL: THE MOVIE? Furthermore, is Minecraft still popular? I'm asking. I really have no idea. I mean, I see it advertised all over the local EB Games, but is Minecraft still hot? I would suspect that Fortnite has absconded with most of its players, but then again, something like Pokemon is still going strong. Educate me! Leave a word in the comment section below and let me know the deal, please and thank you.