Jason Momoa To Star In Live-Action Minecraft Movie, Unclear If He'll Portray The Mine Or The Craft
Jason Momoa may have taken on all kinds of bad guys in his career, but nothing could possibly prepare him to take on his next foes: the dreaded Creepers. That's right, Momoa will be starring in a "Minecraft" movie for Warner Bros.! According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be helmed by "Napoleon Dynamite" director Jared Hess and will be based on the popular video game. While there's no word on what kind of story the movie will have or if Momoa will be playing the main "Minecraft" character, Steve, it is exciting to hear that the movie finally has both a director and a major star attached.
From the sands of Arrakis to the mines of the Overworld
Momoa is one of Hollywood's most in-demand actors, with roles in Warner Bros. "Dune" and "Aquaman" franchises, so it's no wonder that he's been tapped to star in a movie based on such a popular game. "Minecraft" first debuted in 2011 as a rough-looking but charming PC game where players could create their own worlds using a building-block style system. It's survival LEGOs, essentially, with never-ending variations on what kind of things players can design. The game went big and is now available on almost every console, PCs, and even tablets and phones. Minecraft gaming streams helped usher in the Twitch and YouTube era, and it's a huge part of modern gamer culture. It will be fun to see the always-affable Momoa in such a uniquely creative world, although he may only be voicing an animated character, so time will tell.
The "Minecraft" movie has been in the works for quite a while, with Shawn Levy ("Free Guy"), Rob McElhenney ("Mythic Quest"), and Peter Sollett ("Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist") all attached to direct at some time or another. The movie originally had a Spring 2022 release date, but that was in a pre-pandemic world, so things clearly changed.
There's no word on the plot of "Minecraft," and they could really do just about anything. Maybe Momoa gets sucked into the game via some kind of "Tron" situation and is forced to fight Creepers, zombies, and Endermen. Maybe he's a villager in a land besieged by monsters and he sets off to find their lair in the mines nearby. Maybe it's something weird and meta, like "The Lego Movie." However Warner Bros. decides to handle the story, it will benefit from having Momoa front and center. They'll just have to get working on it soon, because Momoa's going to be busy promoting "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," so their window of opportunity is limited.