A Minecraft Movie Had A Clever Callback To A Steven Spielberg Movie

It's safe to say that 2025 has been a financially successful year for Warner Bros. Obviously, much of the talk of the town has centered around "Superman" thriving as a launchpad for the newly-established DC Universe, but films such as "Sinners," "Final Destination Bloodlines," and "F1" (which WB distributed in collaboration with Apple Original Films) have all performed extremely well for the studio. However, the hot streak of box office success kicked off in April when "A Minecraft Movie" dominated the box office, filling theaters with young people obsessed with the viral, ironic memes related to Steve (Jack Black) and, of course, the chicken jockey scene.

A lot can be argued about the overall quality of "A Minecraft Movie." /Film's review defended the film's merits, while other critics have dismissed its ambitions and humor as being too juvenile. However, there's no denying director Jared Hess brought his unique sensibilities to one of this year's biggest box office hits. Known for his work on comedies such as "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Nacho Libre" (the latter of which also stars Black), Hess often tells stories about eccentric characters who are thrust into circumstances bigger than themselves. In some ways, these tales mirror the formula of the blockbusters that legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg helmed in his prime — making it all the more appropriate that "A Minecraft Movie" features a surprisingly clever callback to one of Spielberg's classic sci-fi movies.

In the opening sequence of "A Minecraft Movie," Jack Black's Steve narrates about his childhood, in which he "yearned for the mines" (in one of the many memed-about lines that young audiences audibly recited in sold-out theaters back in April). Much to his chagrin, however, he grew up to be a miserable adult man working as a doorknob salesman. Then, one day, while feeling stuck in the rut of mundanity, Steve has an epiphany during his lunch break. While preparing a TV dinner for himself, he molds his side dish of mashed potatoes together to craft a mineshaft, which inspires him to dig deeper into the same one he yearned to explore in his childhood.

Steve's mashed potato-induced epiphany is, of course, a direct reference to one of the most memorable moments from Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." The scene in question involves the film's protagonist, Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), whose growing obsession following an encounter with a UFO leads to his crafting of mashed potatoes to resemble Devils Tower in Wyoming, where he's drawn during the movie's unforgettable climax. Much like how Roy is attracted to the allure of UFOs, Steve is drawn to the allure of where the mineshaft leads. This scene is not only referenced in "A Minecraft Movie" but also parodied in the "Simpsons" episode "Homie the Clown" and the "Weird Al" Yankovic film "UHF," among other movies and TV shows.

If the "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" reference in the opening scene of "A Minecraft Movie" is any indication, it's clear that, just like most other filmmakers working today, Jared Hess has been heavily influenced by the movies of Steven Spielberg. In fact, Hess has acknowledged another one of Spielberg's sci-fi classics as being one of the films that influenced his video game adaptation. Fittingly, he was referring to the seminal family film "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."

On Letterboxd, Hess shared a list of 10 films that served as a major influence on "A Minecraft Movie." In acknowledging "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," the filmmaker had nothing but the highest praises for Spielberg's 1982 cultural phenomenon, proclaiming via Letterboxd notes, "This is a perfect film. The BMX chase is probably my favorite scene in all of cinema." Given the playful nature of some of the chase sequences in "A Minecraft Movie," it's not hard to see how Hess was inspired by the spectacle of that climactic moment.

"A Minecraft Movie" is available to own on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, and digital HD. It's also available to stream exclusively on HBO Max.