- A Minecraft Movie‘s name was chosen for a very simple reason
- Its director has lifted the lid on why he didn’t get more creative with its title
- The decision was taken in light of the hugely successful game’s endless storytelling potential
A Minecraft Movie director Jared Hess has a very simple explanation for the film adaptation’s uncomplicated title.
Speaking ahead of the movie’s release on April 4, Hess revealed its plot and cast of characters were just “one of many stories” that could exist within the Minecraft universe.
It’s an obvious answer to an obvious question, but there’s logic to what Hess means. The primary reason is that there’s unlimited storytelling potential in Mojang’ Studios’ best-selling sandbox title. Indeed, every time someone starts a new game, or a group of individuals embark on a new adventure in a unique, procedurally generated world, they’ve no idea how this new world’s story will unfold.
It’s that ‘leap into the unknown’ storytelling component that Hess wanted to capture in one of 2025’s new movies. Rather than seek narrative inspiration from the seemingly endless number of Minecraft Let’s Plays on YouTube, then, Hess and the film’s team of writers decided to create a wholly original tale with character that, while relatable, had distinct personalities, strengths, and weaknesses.
“That’s what’s special about Minecraft,” Hess told me. “It’s the biggest video game of all-time, but it doesn’t have a built-in story to follow, so you bring your own narrative to it every time that you play.
You bring your own narrative to it every time that you play
Jared Hess, A Minecraft Movie director
“I watched my daughter playing it one day [and] she had a crazy, complex storyline [where] she’d built a hotel for wolves,” Hess continued. “I’d never seen that before, but that’s proof that there’s endless stories that go along with the game.
“So, while we were developing our movie, we had to have the same approach. We’re just one of many, many stories out there that’s set in this world with these characters. For me, it was like ‘how do we take a group of unlikely heroes, who are in a difficult place in their lives, and send them on this adventure where they have to use creativity to survive and cooperate?’.
“My introduction to the game was right when it came out. My kids would play it and they were having such a riot, so I thought I had to play it, too. It became something we did together as a family, so to be able to be creative and collaborate with other people just became one of the movie’s big themes.”
Fun as all of that sounds, Warner Bros’ film adaptation hasn’t been a hit with critics. In my review of A Minecraft Movie, I gave it two stars out of five, said it “isn’t the wildly creative blockbuster videogame film adaptation I was hoping for”, and told people to wait until it’s available to stream on Max.
Based on its near-bang average 52% Rotten Tomatoes critical score, it seems many agree with me that it’s not very good, either. Nonetheless, industry analysts expect the movie to rake in the cash during its opening weekend at the global box office. Per Deadline, A Minecraft Movie is reportedly eyeing a huge $140m haul this weekend (April 4 to 6). With relatively little in the way of competition during that three-day period, it could defy the critics and easily earn that amount, too.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
