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Minecraft Movie To Compete With Avengers and Star Wars In 2019 (polygon.com) 91

Posted by BeauHD from the coming-soon-to-a-theater-near-you dept.
An anonymous reader writes: Warner Bros. announced today that it will be releasing its upcoming Minecraft movie on May 25, 2019, if all things go according to plan. It will be competing directly with Lucasfilm's Star Wars: Episode IX film, which will be released the same weekend, only a few weeks after Marvel's Infinity War film. The Minecraft movie has already faced some problems. The film's original director, Shawn Levy, left the project in 2014 after his Goonies-inspired movie idea was rejected by Warner Bros. executives. Mojang announced a new director for the movie last July -- Rob McElhenney, star of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The movie is likely to be a hit at the box office as the game has a massive following. Earlier this month, Mojang announced the game passed 100 million sales across all platforms, including PC, Mac, consoles and mobile.
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Minecraft Movie To Compete With Avengers and Star Wars In 2019 More

Minecraft Movie To Compete With Avengers and Star Wars In 2019

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  • compete? (Score:3)

    by bloodhawk ( 813939 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @03:11AM (#52404093)
    WTF? how are they competing, that is like saying a new ford mustang is competing with a new scooter just because they are releasing around the same time.

    • you can find previews on youtube. It's just some guy playing minecraft, and just talking. The person just needs to be a few years older than the target teenage audience to have to right level of language cool factor. ... or ...

      the alternative movie is a legos movie, substituting lego blocks with minecraft blockiness.

      Especially cool would be combining lego blocks morphed to minecraft blockiness and some-guy-talking. This is sure to be an instant hit, and a worthy competitor to Star Wars.

  • Likely to be a hit? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Z80a ( 971949 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @03:15AM (#52404105)

    If anything, movies about really popular game franchises are generally the ones that bomb the hardest, given those kind of games are centered on their gameplay rather than story, which puts the director, writer etc.. in a really bad pickle, and we end with things like Super mario the movie.

    • Super Mario Bros. was based on some of the tenets of the Church of Subgenius, especially the concept of de-evolution. It became a flop because the Church of the Subgenius is a religion of weirdos.
    • Minecraft game does success.The film is well produced will be a success too.

  • Games vs. Movies (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @03:18AM (#52404109)

    How many good movies can you name that were styled after a game? A few (and a metric ton of crappy ones).

    How many good movies can you name that were styled after a sandbox game? Umm... erh ... well...

    Folks, movies and games are different media. For good reasons. Have you ever watched someone play Minecraft (for other reasons than to learn how to do something new in Minecraft)? That's even more boring than watching someone fish.

    For the same reasons I don't get "e-sports" by the way. Playing a shooter is fun. But why the fuck would I want to watch someone do it?

    • Have you ever watched someone play Minecraft?

      Yes. Some people stage passable comedy and drama that way, making fun of movies and what not.

      For the same reasons I don't get "e-sports" by the way. Playing a shooter is fun. But why the fuck would I want to watch someone do it?

      I feel the same way about football.

      • I tried to avoid starting minecraft by watching "Survive & Thrive". It was a really fun 12ish hours before I couldn't resist and bought the game (for pennies). And proceeded to disappear into it as I feared for at least 2 years (and 300-400 hours of play time).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hodet ( 620484 )

      Actually there are some pretty good Let's Play's on Youtube around Minecraft. Some of them get millions of views and the quality of the video is pretty good (sound/editing). It's not everyone's thing, but what is?

    • How many good movies can you name that were styled after a game?

      The only one I can think of that was even halfway decent was Clue. Otherwise I'm drawing a blank. I can think of a few decent games that were styled after a movie but pretty much nothing the other way around. In fact a video game (or tv show) being turned into a movie seems to be a reliable indicate that that property has jumped the shark.

      For the same reasons I don't get "e-sports" by the way. Playing a shooter is fun. But why the fuck would I want to watch someone do it?

      Same reason you would want to watch an NBA or NFL or Premier League game. You find it entertaining. Different people are entertained by different things. Personally

    • Re:Games vs. Movies (Score:4, Informative)

      by ljw1004 ( 764174 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @10:21AM (#52405657)

      How many good movies can you name that were styled after a sandbox game? Umm... erh ... well...

      The Lego Movie. That was totally awesome. And it's the closest analog to Minecraft.

    • How many good movies can you name that were styled after a sandbox game? Umm... erh ... well...

      There was that farcry film....oh wait, you said good films.

    • Warcraft was pretty good.

      I really enjoyed most of the Resident Evil movies.

      Mortal Kombat, Silent Hill, and Wingcommander I liked though not as much as the above two.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Maritz ( 1829006 )
      Lots of people have heard of Minecraft now. Lots of kids are obsessed with it. The movie will get made because it will make money. It doesn't have to be good. It will make money anyway.

  • It's a blocky road ahead.

  • JRE installation (Score:4, Funny)

    by Cyberax ( 705495 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @04:43AM (#52404255)
    During the first 30 minutes of the movie they'll be showing JRE installation to run the second part of the movie.

  • Would be nice to see T, L, Square and Bar on the big screen. Then they can release the 3D sequel blockout

  • Mozzarella: The Movie (Score:5, Funny)

    by Required Snark ( 1702878 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @06:06AM (#52404457)
    The most popular cheese in the US is Mozzarella [answers.com] because of it's use on pizza. Since it's such a commercial hit with so big a fan base, clearly it deserves a CGI heavy blockbuster production.

    Unfortunately there are rumors that a rival film is headed towards a competing release the same summer: Pizza: The Movie. Both projects may be delayed because of impending cross litigation over rights to the original concept. This may help green light the dark horse project that seemed to be going nowhere: The Grilled Cheese Saga. It's complete lack of mozzarella may turn out to be it's saving grace. Given that cheddar is the second most consumed cheese in the US, Grilled Cheese Saga with it's multi-cheese fan appeal could satisfy the market for cheese themed blockbuster entertainment.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Quirkz ( 1206400 )

        You say that because you don't think they'll do a Cheddar 2: The Meltening, in which that delicious sandwich that you think was finally eaten in the first movie, solving world hunger, actually has a back-story involving other sandwiches from another planet. The intergalactic sandwiches grow impatient waiting for the universal signal of sandwich-eatery and jump through a space portal, resetting world hunger on earth, making everyone go through the whole thing a second time.

        Don't even ask about the third movi

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by WallyL ( 4154209 )

      Nah, sounds too cheesy.

    • Mystic Pizza did poorly at the box office in 1988, so they is no way the executives would green light a movie like that.

  • What do all three of those movies have in common? Merchandise that goes along with the film.

    "Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made. Spaceballs-the T-shirt, Spaceballs-the Coloring Book, Spaceballs-the Lunch box, Spaceballs-the Breakfast Cereal, Spaceballs-the Flame Thrower."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

      "Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made. Spaceballs-the T-shirt, Spaceballs-the Coloring Book, Spaceballs-the Lunch box, Spaceballs-the Breakfast Cereal, Spaceballs-the Flame Thrower."

      I don't care if it's branded My Little Pony or Barney, I would still buy a flamethrower because, well, flamethrower. The wife probably wouldn't be too happy but honestly, who's going to argue with someone holding a flamethrower?

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z80a ( 971949 )

      Minecraft actually runs at a much higher resolution.
      It's the textures that lack bilinear filtering.

  • Whenever a video game or tv show is turned into a movie it is a reliable and clear indication that the game or show has jumped the shark.

    • Whenever a video game or tv show is turned into a movie it is a reliable and clear indication that the game or show has jumped the shark.

      Minecraft is still one of the most-played PC games. So, no. It's a reliable and clear indication that someone thinks there is money to be made.

      • Minecraft is still one of the most-played PC games.

        Happy Days was still one of the most watched shows on TV when Fonzie literally jumped the shark with the show that eventually coined the phrase. Plenty of media properties have jumped the shark while still popular. It doesn't mark the end but it usually marks the beginning of the end or at least a slow decline.

  • The movie is likely to be a hit at the box office as the game has a massive following.

    This is a sad statement about the Hollywood. Yes, they probably will get a boatload of people to show up just because they love to play Minecraft and want to extend that experience to the big screen. Yup, that'll probably mean a lot of money. But that doesn't mean that making a movie about a thinly-premised video game - no matter how playable and engaging - is necessarily a good idea. The long, sad history of video-g

  • e passed 100 million sales across all platforms,

    100 million? I would have guessed a much bigger number. I guess it is just because I have kids right in their target demographic. There are loads of youtube channels with millions of subscribers that feature guys playing minecraft and narrating as they play the game. Seriously, these minecraft youtube shows have much bigger audiences than MSNBC - yet you've heard of the people on MSNBC.

    Every elementary school kid knows minecraft. They have it on their Xbo

  • I was (am?) always a big Lego Technic fan. Although I've not bought any this side of the year 2000.

    I've had Minecraft PE on my phone/tablet, which I mostly play in creative mode (the controls are awful for reacting and moving quickly) every now and again, when bored.

    However a couple of weeks ago I decided to jump in and get the "Real thing"; buying the java client for laptop/desktop.

    It's fun, but I was shocked at how bad the server eco-system is: There is 1) The official server, which I use, but I am
  • It could work, look at the LEGO Movie. Similarly, Minecraft has no narrative, so they have quite a bit of creative liberty. If they do it well, it could be pretty entertaining.
    • >> It could work, look at the LEGO Movie.

      You can only pull that off once per generation.

      Furthermore, the movie-going audience is getting a little fatigued with "breaking the fourth wall" especially after Deadpool.

  • I hope they do a better job casting John Steed this time. But I imagine it's hard to live up to Patrick Macnees's iconic portrayal...

  • There is a version of Minecraft called Story Mode, and from what I've seen of my son playing it, it seems in the vein of Indiana Jones.

    And it has a story.

    The original director dropped out because he wanted to do a Goonies style story. That would have probably worked, especially if it was targeted at younger children through early teens (the ones playing Minecraft Story Mode).

    Spoiler Alert for Lego Movie:
    Shoot, Lego made a fantastic film about Krazy Glue.

  • We can only hope the film is as exciting as watching my nephew spend 12 hours building a gigantic castle, filling it with goats, then burning it to the ground.
  • Having the creator of "It's always Sunny in Philadelphia" direct what ostensibly would be a kid's movie will probably result in a good movie.

    Good thing my kids already know what a crack pipe is.

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