Video game adaptations used to receive a bad rap, but after the recent successes of titles likeThe Super Mario Bros Movie,The Last of Us,Fallout, andArcane,it’s been proven that they can work if they have the right creative team. Warner Brothers and Mojang have changed teams repeatedly over the years sincefirst announcing their plans for aMinecraftfilm in 2014. The film has gone through many different iterations and multiple directors were attached before ultimately departing the project, that is until now. With a director, an A-list star, and a release date in place it sounds like things are finally coming together for the long-delayed and much-reworkedMinecraftA Minecraft Movie.
Editor’s Note: This piece was updated on July 01, 2025.
7Does ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Have a Release Date?
In April 2023, Warner Bros announceda new release date forA Minecraft Movie: August 01, 2025. Currently set to open in the same month asA Minecraft Movieare theRami Malek-led thrillerThe Amateur,Christopher Landon’s latest Blumhouse movieDrop, and theBen Affleck-fronted sequelThe Accountant 2. However,A Minecraft Movie’s biggest competition will likely beAntoine Fuqua’sMichael Jacksonbiopic,Michael.
A Minecraft Moviehas been slated for multiple different release dates,Rob McElhenney’s iteration of the film was dated for August 21, 2025, but after his departure andPeter Sollettwas brought in the film’s release date wasmarked for July 20, 2025, before being removed from the release calendar.
6Will ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Be in Theaters?
A Minecraft Moviewill be released exclusively to theaters in April 2025. The movie will also receive a release in IMAX theaters.
Once the exclusive theatrical window concludes,A Minecraft Moviewill be made available to stream on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max service, which is where all of WB’s movies stream after their theatrical release. Other Warner Bros. movies slated for early 2025 include the sci-fi horror filmCompanionproduced byZach Cregger,Bong Joon-ho’sMickey 17starringRobert Pattinson,Ryan Coogler&Michael B. Jordan’sSinners, andDavid Robert Michell’sFlowervale StreetstarringAnne Hathaway.
5Is There a Trailer for ‘A Minecraft Movie’?
Warner Bros. releasedthe first official teaser trailer forA Minecraft Movieon July 13, 2025, ahead of the studio’s major September release,Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
The teaser only runs at a little under 80 seconds, but it gives audiences their first real look at the movie’s visual style after years of speculation of how the video game’s blocky aesthetic would be adapted for a live-action movie.
It is also interesting to note that the teaser is set to “Magical Mystery Tour” byThe Beatles. While the British rock group may be one of the biggest musical acts in history, their legendary catalog of music has rarely been used for movie marketing outside of covers. The only other two films in the last ten years to use a Beatles' song for a trailer wereValerian and the City of a Thousand Planets(“Because”) andBardo(“I am the Walrus”).
Asecond trailer forA Minecraft Moviewas released by Warner Bros on July 17, 2025. This new trailer goes more into the film’s plot, as it introduces how Steve ended up in the world of Minecraft, before introducing the film’s main protagonist. This time, the marketing trades the Beatles forMGMT’s “Time to Pretend,” which feels quite fitting when you think about how much the video game’s concept relies on the player’s imagination.
A day before the second trailer dropped, Warner Bros. releaseda behind-the-scenes look at the film, detailing the practical effects being used to create the movie’s blocky aesthetic.
4Who Is Starring in the ‘Minecraft’ Movie?
Jack Black
Jason Momoa
Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison
Emma Myers
Danielle Brooks
Sebastian Eugene Hansen
Jennifer Coolidge
Kate McKinnon
Jemaine Clement
In April 2022, it was announced thatJason Momoa would be the star ofA Minecraft Movie. Momoa will play Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, one of the four “misfits” from the real world who is transported into the world of Minecraft.
In November 2023, Academy Award nomineeDanielle Brooks(The Color Purple) andSebastian Eugene Hansen(Just Mercy) were added to the cast, playing Dawn and Henry, two of the other aforementioned “misfits.” In December 2023, it was announcedEmma Myers(Wednesday) had also been cast. Myers will round out the ragtag quartet at the center of the film as Natalie.
In January 2024, it was revealed thatJack Blackwould be joining the film as “Steve,” the most recognizable player avatar from the game. This is far from Black’s first video-game movie role. He notably voiced Bowser inThe Super Mario Bros. Movieand recently took on the role of Claptrap in the critically malignedBorderlandsmovie.
Also cast in the film are Emmy-winnersJennifer Coolidge(The White Lotus) andKate McKinnon(Barbie) in undisclosed roles.Jemaine Clement(What We Do in the Shadows) will also appear in the movie.
YouTuberValkyraealso revealed that she will be making a cameo in the film.
You may have heard in the past thatSteve Carellwas starring in theMinecraftmovie, however, that is no longer the case. In 2016 Carrell’s involvement was widely reported, but the project has been reworked significantly since then and the star ofThe OfficeandDespicable Meis no longer believed to be attached.
3What Is ‘A Minecraft Movie’ About?
The official synopsis forA Minecraft Moviereads:
Welcome to the world of Minecraft, where creativity doesn’t just help you craft, it’s essential to one’s survival! Four misfits—Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Momoa), Henry (Hansen), Natalie (Myers) and Dawn (Brooks)—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like Piglins and Zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Black). Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.
An early version of the movie was intended to focus on the concept of “people taking agency over their experience in [the] digital landscape,” and another version was going to feature “the story of a teenage girl and her unlikely group of adventurers” who must save their Overworld from an Ender Dragon. It’s unclear if that story will still be used.
Of course, the gameMinecraftitself has never been about the plot. Instead, the game is an open-world building and survival game where players, either alone or with friends, construct elaborate and detailed structures and try to survive attacks from enemies like creepers, zombies, and skeletons.Minecraft’s many different modes allow players to focus on the aspects of the game they prefer, be that building, survival, or collaborative play.
Despite the game’s lack of plot, it does have some distinctive locations, including The Nether, a dangerous and hellish dimension, and The End, a series of floating islands guarded by the ferocious Ender Dragon. It also has some iconic enemies including Creepers and Endermen. We imagine the movie will want to highlight these classic and instantly recognizable baddies.
2Who Is Making ‘A Minecraft Movie’?
Jared Hess, the filmmaker behind the cult-favorite comediesNapoleon DynamiteandNacho Libre, serves as the director ofA Minecraft Movie. Momoa,Roy Lee(The Lego Movie),Jon Berg(Elf),Mary Parent(Dune),Cale Boyter(Dune), Microsoft’s creative directorTorfi Frans Olafsson,Mojang Studios' Chief Content OfficerVu Bui, and the lateJill Messick(Mean Girls) serve as the movie’s producers. Executive producers includeTodd Hallowell,Kayleen Walters,Brian Mendoza,Jonathan Spaihts,Pete Chiappetta,Andrew Lary, andAnthony Tittanegro.
Penning the script forA Minecraft Movieare Hess' frequent collaboratorsChris BowmanandHubbel Palmer,who co-wrote Hess' filmMastermindsas well as his Oscar-nominated animated short filmNinety-Five Senses.
Filling out the behind-the-camera talent onA Minecraft Movieare DPEnrique Chediak(127 Hours), Academy Award-winning production designerGrant Major(The Lord of the RIngs: Return of the King), editorJames Thomas(Borat), Academy Award-winning VFX supervisorDan Lemmon(The Jungle Book), and costume designerAmanda Neale(What We Do in the Shadows).Mark Mothersbaugh(The Lego Movie) composed the movie’s musical score.
A Minecraft Moviemarks the latest collaboration between Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, an on-and-off partnership that has lasted nearly two decades. They most recently partnered up for theDunefilms as well as the Monsterverse.
As many shakeups as there have been to the cast ofMinecraft, there have been even more behind the scenes.Shawn Levy, who directedNight at the Museum,The Adam Project,andFree Guywas originally tapped to direct theMinecraftmovie with a script written byKieranandMichele Mulroney(Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows). However,all three of them left the project in 2014 citing “creative differences” with Mojang, the creators of the videogame. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, a few weeks after his departure, Levy described his vision for the projectas an adventure flick with “a bit of aGooniesflair.”
Nearly two years later, it was announced that the film wasreportedly going to be directed by Rob McElhenney(It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), from a script he would co-write alongsideJason Fuchs(Wonder Woman). In an interview with Collider back in 2016, the film’s producer, Roy Lee, described that the film would havefocused on the concept of player agency and what that means in a digital open-world experience. When talking withJosh Horowitzon the “Happy Sad Confused Podcast” McElhenney explained thatthe project had been extremely close to going throughbut after a change in studio heads fromGreg SilvermantoToby Emmerichit became clear that his version of the project was no longer in line with the studio’s vision.
After McElhenney left the project,AdamandAaron Nee(The Lost City) were brought in to rewrite the script in 2018. A few months later, in early 2019,Peter Sollett(Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist) was brought in to direct the film. Sollett’s version of the film was intended to have a female protagonist who must fight an Ender Dragon. A few months later it was announced that Academy Award-nominated screenwriterAllison Schroeder(Hidden Figures) would be tackling the script, taking over from the Nee Brothers.
1When and Where Did ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Film?
In a report from Production Weekly,filming on theMinecraftmovie was initially set to beginin New Zealand on July 01, 2025. However, production was delayed due to the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that took place in 2023. Filming began in January 2024 in New Zealand. In April 2024, Jason Momoa took to Instagram to reveal thathe had wrapped filming onA Minecraft Movie.
A few days later, Jack Black shared a video on his Instagram from the set of the movie, giving his followers a tour of his trailer,while confirming that he would indeed be playing Steve.
In May 2024,Minecraft’s official X account shared a video from the set ofJason Momoa and Jack Black celebrating the 15th birthday of the video game.
A Minecraft Movie
The malevolent Ender Dragon sets out on a path of destruction, prompting a young girl and her group of unlikely adventurers to set out to save the Overworld.
