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Warner Bros. has released a new featurette going behind-the-scenes of its long-gestating Minecraft movie, now officially titled A Minecraft Movie. Have a look:
In the words of director Jared Hess, “when we were developing this into a film, we just thought, “Let’s bring our fun story. It’s very intentional that this movie is called A Minecraft Movie as opposed to The Minecraft Movie.”
So, what does this unique vision for an original narrative using the Minecraft IP as a springboard reveal? Well, as divulged in the trailer that arrived in September, we have stars Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers, and Sebastien Eugene Hansen becoming trapped in the game itself, much like Jumanji, whereupon they discover Steve (Jack Black) a man who has been inside the game so long he has mastered its various intricacies… much like Jumanji.
Though the video skips over both Brooks’ and Myers’ characters, we see Steve as a child investigating a mine with his own pickaxe and helmet, before transforming into an identically dressed adult. As it happens, Jack Black narrates, “You see Steve wishing he was able to just do what he wants and let his imagination run wild.” It may sound cynical on our part, but it appears the featurette reveals a major twist of the movie, preemptively: it sounds like Steve unknowingly created the Minecraft dimension, himself, via the power of his own mind, in a similar manner to Billy Maximoff in Agatha All Along, or even R.L. Stine in another previous Jack Black movie: 2015’s Goosebumps.
We also learn Momoa’s character, Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, was an 1980s video game prodigy who claimed the world championship title for a fictitious beat ’em up titled Hunk City Rampage. However, “he hasn’t moved past when he was on top,” according to director Hess. Momoa additionally speculates he doesn’t think the character has “ever had a hug.”
Hansen’s character, meanwhile, is described as “a mother figure” to the group who “literally has to create to survive,” while Myers’ character, Natalie, (who looks like she’s wearing a t-shirt bearing the New World Pictures logo) is the snarky one. We still don’t really know anything about Brooks’ character, Dawn, but the actress expertly feigns enthusiasm for the film’s depiction of zombies, skeletons, and “creepers” who assault our cast on their first horrifying night inside the Minecraft realm.
From a production standpoint, we also learn YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo worked on the film as a consultant, helping to create the film’s square cactuses that are catapulted at our heroes at some point in the story.
And that’s about the size of it. It certainly feels like an amalgam of various Jack Black projects from the last decade. As the man himself states in the video above, “that’s one of the great things about Minecraft—if you want to survive, you gotta be creative.”
We’ll find out how audiences take A Minecraft Movie when it finally reaches theaters April 5, 2025.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
