A Minecraft Movie
A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. It was directed by Jared Hess from a screenplay Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, based on a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. The film stars Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Sebastian Hansen, and Jennifer Coolidge. It follows four misfits from the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho, that are pulled through a portal into a cubic world, and must embark on a quest back to the real world with the help of a "crafter" named Steve.
Plans for a Minecraft film adaptation originated in 2014, when game creator Markus Persson revealed that Mojang Studios was in talks with Warner Bros. Pictures to develop the project. Throughout its development, the film shifted between several directors, producers, and story drafts. By 2022, Legendary Entertainment became involved, and Hess was hired as director with Momoa in talks to star. Further casting took place from May 2023 to January 2024. Principal photography began later that month in New Zealand and concluded in April 2024. Mark Mothersbaugh composed the score, and Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain provided the film's visual effects.
A Minecraft Movie had its premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4. The film received mixed reviews from critics, and was a box-office success, grossing $958 million against a budget of $150 million, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. A sequel is scheduled for release on July 23, 2027.
Plot
Struggling doorknob salesman Steve breaks into a mine to fulfill a childhood dream, where he discovers the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal. When combined, they create a portal that transports him to the Overworld, a world where the terrain is made of easily manipulated cubes. He builds his own paradise and later stumbles across a portal to a hellish world called the Nether. He is imprisoned by Malgosha, the gold-obsessed piglin ruler of the Nether who gravely discourages creativity. Because the Orb would allow her to control the Overworld, Steve has his dog Dennis escape with the Orb and Crystal and hide them under his bed in the real world.Sometime later, 1980s video game champion Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison owns a failing video game store in Chuglass, Idaho. He heads to a storage auction to acquire items to sell for cash, ultimately winning the contents of Steve's old house. While searching through the items, particularly hoping to find an Atari Cosmos, he instead finds Steve's old belongings including the Orb and Crystal.
Siblings Henry and Natalie move to Chuglass following their mother's death. The two meet Dawn, their real estate agent who also runs a mobile petting zoo. On Henry's first day of school, he gets in trouble when his experimental jetpack is sabotaged and damages the potato chip factory's mascot Chuggy. To avoid expulsion from Vice Principal Marlene, he pays Garrett to play his uncle and takes him to the video game store. There, Henry discovers the Orb and Crystal and combines them, leading the two to Steve's mine. Natalie finds Henry missing and calls Dawn who tracks down Henry's location via Natalie's phone. As the four reunite, they are sucked into the portal and arrive in the Overworld. Malgosha learns that the Orb has returned and releases Steve from his imprisonment in the Nether to reclaim it, saying that she has Dennis as a hostage.
While fighting off monsters at night, Henry learns to manipulate blocks and builds a wooden fortress. The Earth Crystal is destroyed in the commotion. Steve appears at dawn and defeats the monsters as he tells the group that a replacement Crystal will be needed from the Woodland Mansion and joins them. To prepare for this quest, he leads them to a nearby village and demonstrates how to craft. Piglins seeking the Orb of Dominance launch an attack on the village. Steve, Garrett, and Henry narrowly escape while Natalie and Dawn are separated from them and befriend Dennis. Malgosha responds by sending out the Great Hog, a massive Piglin.
When Steve mentions that he has a hoard of diamonds, Garrett becomes interested and demands access as an added condition to handing over the Orb. They make a detour and find the hoard, but Henry is angered by their disregard for Natalie's safety. When the Great Hog arrives, they escape using minecarts and the Hog is blown up by creepers. Arriving at the mansion, Steve and Garrett attempt to distract the guards while Henry acquires both the Earth Crystal and an Ender Pearl which can facilitate one's teleportation. Malgosha returns and destroys the bridge to the mansion. Steve and Henry lose the Orb to her, but escape as Garrett seemingly sacrifices himself in the blast. The two awaken with Dawn, Natalie, and Dennis in a mushroom house.
Malgosha uses the Orb to superpower the Nether portal, blotting out the sun and declaring war on the Overworld. The party crafts an arsenal of weaponry and an army of iron golems to fight the piglin invasion, while Steve fights Malgosha. Henry uses the Ender Pearl to obtain the Orb, restoring the sunlight and causing Malgosha and her army to zombify.
The party, including Garrett who survived the explosion, returns to Chuglass, where they develop the successful video game Block City Battle Buddies. Dawn opens her zoo with Dennis as an attraction, Natalie opens a dojo, Henry completes his jetpack, and Garrett revitalizes the game store with Steve.
Cast
- Jason Momoa as Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison, a struggling video game store owner and former game champion
- * Moana Williams as young Garrett Garrison
- Jack Black as Steve, a former doorknob salesman who has spent years living in the Overworld
- * Bram-Scott Breheny as young Steve
- Emma Myers as Natalie, Henry's caring older sister and legal guardian
- Danielle Brooks as Dawn, a real estate agent who runs a mobile petting zoo
- Sebastian Hansen as Henry, a creative boy
- Jennifer Coolidge as Marlene, the vice principal of Chuglass High School
- Rachel House as the voice of Malgosha, the piglin ruler of the Nether
- * Allan Henry serves as the motion-capture performer of Malgosha.
- Jemaine Clement as:
- * Daryl, an auctioneer who runs the storage auction of the stuff in Steve's storage unit
- * The voice of Bruce, a piglin who taunts Malgosha in a flashback
- Jared Hess as the voice of General Chungus, a high-ranking piglin in Malgosha's army
- Matt Berry as the voice of Nitwit, a villager who ends up transported to Earth and becomes Marlene's eventual romantic partner
- * Bret McKenzie serves as the motion-capture performer of Nitwit
- Hiram Garcia as Mr. Gunchie, a science teacher at Chuglass High School who is revealed to be one of Marlene's ex-husbands in a mid-credits scene
- Tommy Broadmore as Trevor, a student who bullies Henry and sabotages his jetpack prototype
- Frankie Creagh-Leslie as the unnamed friend of Trevor
Production
Background
Following a series of offers from Hollywood producers to create a Minecraft-related television series and a crowdfunding campaign for a fan film that was shut down by Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, Persson revealed that Mojang Studios was in talks with Warner Bros. Pictures to develop an official Minecraft film in February 2014. Later in October, Mojang CCO Vu Bui stated that the movie was early in development, and would be a "large-budget" production. He also said that the film might not be released until at least 2018. Originally, Roy Lee and Jill Messick were set to produce the project. That same month, Warner Bros. hired Shawn Levy to direct the film, though he and writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney, who were developing the film together, left the project by December.By July 2015, Warner Bros. hired Rob McElhenney to direct the film. He said that he had been drawn to the film based on the open-world nature of the game, an idea Warner Bros. had initially agreed with and for which they had provided him with a preliminary US$150 million budget. Early production started in 2016, and an initial release date was announced for May 24, 2019. Jason Fuchs was set to write the script of the film, and Steve Carell was going to star as the voice of an unknown character. However, by late 2016, McElhenney's Minecraft film "slowly died on the vine", after studio executive Greg Silverman's departure from Warner Brothers in late 2016. Aaron and Adam Nee were tapped to rewrite the script and the film was delayed as a result. No new director was announced at that time. By January 2019, Peter Sollett was announced to write and direct the film, which would feature an entirely different story from McElhenney's version. Messick, who died in 2018, was posthumously credited as producer. The original vision Sollet had for the film involved "a teenage girl and her unlikely group of adventurers" as they set out on a quest to defeat the Ender Dragon, the final boss of the original Minecraft game. The film was later given a new release date of March 4, 2022. In June 2019, Allison Schroeder was hired to write the script and co-write the story with Sollett. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Warner Bros. was forced to adjust its release schedule, which included removing the Minecraft film from its planned release date.
In April 2022, production on the Minecraft film was announced to be moving forward without Sollett and Schroeder, with Jared Hess now set to direct, Legendary Entertainment to co-produce, and Jason Momoa in early talks to star. The film was also confirmed to be live action. It was also reported that Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer, who collaborated with Hess on Masterminds, would rewrite the script. Producer Roy Lee credited new leadership at Warner Brothers for pushing the film into production after so many years saying: "Toby Emmerich shut it down when he first started, and if he had never run Warner Bros., it would’ve been made years earlier. It was only after Pam and Mike started that they reignited the project and it got made."