If the Minecraft movie is even half as popular as the video game, then Mojang will have a true, ahem, blockbuster on its hands. As anticipation builds for Minecraft's silver screen debut, we've decided to dig around for some more information.
From potential release dates and budgets, to storylines, directors and producers, here's everything we know about the Minecraft movie so far.
What's the Minecraft movie all about?
Plot details are thin on the ground, but Mojang COO Vu Bui told The Guardian that it will tell one of the countless possible stories from Minecraft's build-it-yourself game world. "When coming up with a story, we want to make sure it is just a story within Minecraft, as opposed to the story within Minecraft," he said.
Elaborating on his comments, Bui said that the company doesn't want to discourage players by coming up with an official story of the Minecraft universe. Bui said: "We don't want any story that we make, whether it's a movie or a book, to create some sort of 'this is the official Minecraft, this is how you play the game' thing. That would discourage all the players who don't play in that way."
An early report in Deadline suggested that the story would be told in live-action form and wouldn't be animated, although this remains unconfirmed by Mojang.
Who's making the movie?
Developer Mojang has entrusted Warner Bros to handle the Minecraft move adaptation, with The LEGO Movie's Roy Lee working alongside Jill Messick as producer.
Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy was originally attached to direct, but would later drop out due to creative differences. Writers Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney left the project at the same time.
A report in Variety said that Levy's ideas "didn't mesh with what the video game developers [Mojang] were looking for".
After making an appearance at Minecon 2015 in London, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's co-creator Rob McElhenney was later announced as the film's new director.
Who is Minecraft movie director Rob McElhenney?
McElhenney tweeted his delight at the announcement, telling Mojang that he wanted to make "something strange and wonderful".
It looks like McElhenney will have a decent amount of cash at his disposal to make the film. Vu Bui has described it as a "large-budget" movie project, although the exact amount is yet to be disclosed.
Wait - what is Minecraft, and why is it a big deal?
Taking place in procedurally-generated open worlds made up of millions of cubed blocks, Minecraft tasks players with building, exploring and surviving within multiple game modes.
The game made its debut in back in 2009, but wouldn't debut in full until November 2011. It was hugely popular even before its full release, earning its creator $350k a day and Mojang $33 million.
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Since its debut, it has sold over 70 million copies and has well over 100 million registered users. In 2014, it was the most popular search term on YouTube.
It's such a hot commodity, in fact, that the Minecraft brand and Mojang studio was sold to Microsoft for a whopping $2.5bn in 2014.
The game has so far appeared on pretty much every modern gaming platform - from PC, to Mac, through to PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Amazon Fire TV.
Texture packs themed around The Simpsons, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy and even Beano have been added to Minecraft since it launched.
It has also spawned countless merchandise, including books, toys, clothing and LEGO. Telltale, meanwhile, is working on Minecraft Story Mode, a plot-driven adventure game set in the Minecraft world.
Is there a release date for Minecraft movie?
Last year, COO Vu Bui said that the Minecraft movie was still 3-4 years away from becoming a reality. That would mean a 2017 release date at the very earliest.
Contributions by Liam Martin, Matthew Reynolds
