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Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Minecraft_Movie#cite_ref-129] | [TOKENS: 6034] |
Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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Contents BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online news coverage. The service has over 5,500 journalists working across its output including in 50 foreign news bureaus where more than 250 foreign correspondents are stationed. Deborah Turness has been the CEO of news and current affairs since September 2022. In 2019, it was reported in an Ofcom report that the BBC spent £136m on news during the period April 2018 to March 2019. BBC News' domestic, global and online news divisions are housed within the largest live newsroom in Europe, in Broadcasting House in central London. Parliamentary coverage is produced and broadcast from studios in London. Through BBC English Regions, the BBC also has regional centres across England and national news centres in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. All nations and English regions produce their own local news programmes and other current affairs and sport programmes. The BBC is a quasi-autonomous corporation authorised by royal charter, making it operationally independent of the government. As of 2024, the BBC reaches an average of 450 million people per week, with the BBC World Service accounting for 320 million people. History This is London calling – 2LO calling. Here is the first general news bulletin, copyright by Reuters, Press Association, Exchange Telegraph and Central News. — BBC news programme opening during the 1920s The British Broadcasting Company broadcast its first radio bulletin from radio station 2LO on 14 November 1922. Wishing to avoid competition, newspaper publishers persuaded the government to ban the BBC from broadcasting news before 7 pm, and to force it to use wire service copy instead of reporting on its own. The BBC gradually gained the right to edit the copy and, in 1934, created its own news operation. However, it could not broadcast news before 6 p.m. until World War II. In addition to news, Gaumont British and Movietone cinema newsreels had been broadcast on the TV service since 1936, with the BBC producing its own equivalent Television Newsreel programme from January 1948. A weekly Children's Newsreel was inaugurated on 23 April 1950, to around 350,000 receivers. The network began simulcasting its radio news on television in 1946, with a still picture of Big Ben. Televised bulletins began on 5 July 1954, broadcast from leased studios within Alexandra Palace in London. The public's interest in television and live events was stimulated by Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. It is estimated that up to 27 million people viewed the programme in the UK, overtaking radio's audience of 12 million for the first time. Those live pictures were fed from 21 cameras in central London to Alexandra Palace for transmission, and then on to other UK transmitters opened in time for the event. That year, there were around two million TV Licences held in the UK, rising to over three million the following year, and four and a half million by 1955. Television news, although physically separate from its radio counterpart, was still firmly under radio news' control in the 1950s. Correspondents provided reports for both outlets, and the first televised bulletin, shown on 5 July 1954 on the then BBC television service and presented by Richard Baker, involved his providing narration off-screen while stills were shown. This was then followed by the customary Television Newsreel with a recorded commentary by John Snagge (and on other occasions by Andrew Timothy). On-screen newsreaders were introduced a year later in 1955 – Kenneth Kendall (the first to appear in vision), Robert Dougall, and Richard Baker—three weeks before ITN's launch on 21 September 1955. Mainstream television production had started to move out of Alexandra Palace in 1950 to larger premises – mainly at Lime Grove Studios in Shepherd's Bush, west London – taking Current Affairs (then known as Talks Department) with it. It was from here that the first Panorama, a new documentary programme, was transmitted on 11 November 1953, with Richard Dimbleby becoming anchor in 1955. In 1958, Hugh Carleton Greene became head of News and Current Affairs. On 1 January 1960, Greene became Director-General. Greene made changes that were aimed at making BBC reporting more similar to its competitor ITN, which had been highly rated by study groups held by Greene. A newsroom was created at Alexandra Palace, television reporters were recruited and given the opportunity to write and voice their own scripts, without having to cover stories for radio too. On 20 June 1960, Nan Winton, the first female BBC network newsreader, appeared in vision. 19 September 1960 saw the start of the radio news and current affairs programme The Ten O'clock News. BBC2 started transmission on 20 April 1964 and began broadcasting a new show, Newsroom. The World at One, a lunchtime news programme, began on 4 October 1965 on the then Home Service, and the year before News Review had started on television. News Review was a summary of the week's news, first broadcast on Sunday, 26 April 1964 on BBC 2 and harking back to the weekly Newsreel Review of the Week, produced from 1951, to open programming on Sunday evenings–the difference being that this incarnation had subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. As this was the decade before electronic caption generation, each superimposition ("super") had to be produced on paper or card, synchronised manually to studio and news footage, committed to tape during the afternoon, and broadcast early evening. Thus Sundays were no longer a quiet day for news at Alexandra Palace. The programme ran until the 1980s – by then using electronic captions, known as Anchor – to be superseded by Ceefax subtitling (a similar Teletext format), and the signing of such programmes as See Hear (from 1981). On Sunday 17 September 1967, The World This Weekend, a weekly news and current affairs programme, launched on what was then Home Service, but soon-to-be Radio 4. Preparations for colour began in the autumn of 1967 and on Thursday 7 March 1968 Newsroom on BBC2 moved to an early evening slot, becoming the first UK news programme to be transmitted in colour – from Studio A at Alexandra Palace. News Review and Westminster (the latter a weekly review of Parliamentary happenings) were "colourised" shortly after. However, much of the insert material was still in black and white, as initially only a part of the film coverage shot in and around London was on colour reversal film stock, and all regional and many international contributions were still in black and white. Colour facilities at Alexandra Palace were technically very limited for the next eighteen months, as it had only one RCA colour Quadruplex videotape machine and, eventually two Pye plumbicon colour telecines–although the news colour service started with just one. Black and white national bulletins on BBC 1 continued to originate from Studio B on weekdays, along with Town and Around, the London regional "opt out" programme broadcast throughout the 1960s (and the BBC's first regional news programme for the South East), until it started to be replaced by Nationwide on Tuesday to Thursday from Lime Grove Studios early in September 1969. Town and Around was never to make the move to Television Centre – instead it became London This Week which aired on Mondays and Fridays only, from the new TVC studios. The BBC moved production out of Alexandra Palace in 1969. BBC Television News resumed operations the next day with a lunchtime bulletin on BBC1 – in black and white – from Television Centre, where it remained until March 2013. This move to a smaller studio with better technical facilities allowed Newsroom and News Review to replace back projection with colour-separation overlay. During the 1960s, satellite communication had become possible; however, it was some years before digital line-store conversion was able to undertake the process seamlessly. On 14 September 1970, the first Nine O'Clock News was broadcast on television. Robert Dougall presented the first week from studio N1 – described by The Guardian as "a sort of polystyrene padded cell"—the bulletin having been moved from the earlier time of 20.50 as a response to the ratings achieved by ITN's News at Ten, introduced three years earlier on the rival ITV. Richard Baker and Kenneth Kendall presented subsequent weeks, thus echoing those first television bulletins of the mid-1950s. Angela Rippon became the first female news presenter of the Nine O'Clock News in 1975. Her work outside the news was controversial at the time, appearing on The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show in 1976 singing and dancing. The first edition of John Craven's Newsround, initially intended only as a short series and later renamed just Newsround, came from studio N3 on 4 April 1972. Afternoon television news bulletins during the mid to late 1970s were broadcast from the BBC newsroom itself, rather than one of the three news studios. The newsreader would present to camera while sitting on the edge of a desk; behind him staff would be seen working busily at their desks. This period corresponded with when the Nine O'Clock News got its next makeover, and would use a CSO background of the newsroom from that very same camera each weekday evening. Also in the mid-1970s, the late night news on BBC2 was briefly renamed Newsnight, but this was not to last, or be the same programme as we know today – that would be launched in 1980 – and it soon reverted to being just a news summary with the early evening BBC2 news expanded to become Newsday. News on radio was to change in the 1970s, and on Radio 4 in particular, brought about by the arrival of new editor Peter Woon from television news and the implementation of the Broadcasting in the Seventies report. These included the introduction of correspondents into news bulletins where previously only a newsreader would present, as well as the inclusion of content gathered in the preparation process. New programmes were also added to the daily schedule, PM and The World Tonight as part of the plan for the station to become a "wholly speech network". Newsbeat launched as the news service on Radio 1 on 10 September 1973. On 23 September 1974, a teletext system which was launched to bring news content on television screens using text only was launched. Engineers originally began developing such a system to bring news to deaf viewers, but the system was expanded. The Ceefax service became much more diverse before it ceased on 23 October 2012: it not only had subtitling for all channels, it also gave information such as weather, flight times and film reviews. By the end of the decade, the practice of shooting on film for inserts in news broadcasts was declining, with the introduction of ENG technology into the UK. The equipment would gradually become less cumbersome – the BBC's first attempts had been using a Philips colour camera with backpack base station and separate portable Sony U-matic recorder in the latter half of the decade. In 1980, the Iranian Embassy Siege had been shot electronically by the BBC Television News Outside broadcasting team, and the work of reporter Kate Adie, broadcasting live from Prince's Gate, was nominated for BAFTA actuality coverage, but this time beaten by ITN for the 1980 award. Newsnight, the news and current affairs programme, was due to go on air on 23 January 1980, although trade union disagreements meant that its launch from Lime Grove was postponed by a week. On 27 August 1981 Moira Stuart became the first African Caribbean female newsreader to appear on British television. By 1982, ENG technology had become sufficiently reliable for Bernard Hesketh to use an Ikegami camera to cover the Falklands War, coverage for which he won the "Royal Television Society Cameraman of the Year" award and a BAFTA nomination – the first time that BBC News had relied upon an electronic camera, rather than film, in a conflict zone. BBC News won the BAFTA for its actuality coverage, however the event has become remembered in television terms for Brian Hanrahan's reporting where he coined the phrase "I'm not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid, but I counted them all out and I counted them all back" to circumvent restrictions, and which has become cited as an example of good reporting under pressure. The first BBC breakfast television programme, Breakfast Time also launched during the 1980s, on 17 January 1983 from Lime Grove Studio E and two weeks before its ITV rival TV-am. Frank Bough, Selina Scott, and Nick Ross helped to wake viewers with a relaxed style of presenting. The Six O'Clock News first aired on 3 September 1984, eventually becoming the most watched news programme in the UK (however, since 2006 it has been overtaken by the BBC News at Ten). In October 1984, images of millions of people starving to death in the Ethiopian famine were shown in Michael Buerk's Six O'Clock News reports. The BBC News crew were the first to document the famine, with Buerk's report on 23 October describing it as "a biblical famine in the 20th century" and "the closest thing to hell on Earth". The BBC News report shocked Britain, motivating its citizens to inundate relief agencies, such as Save the Children, with donations, and to bring global attention to the crisis in Ethiopia. The news report was also watched by Bob Geldof, who would organise the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to raise money for famine relief followed by the Live Aid concert in July 1985. Starting in 1981, the BBC gave a common theme to its main news bulletins with new electronic titles–a set of computer-animated "stripes" forming a circle on a red background with a "BBC News" typescript appearing below the circle graphics, and a theme tune consisting of brass and keyboards. The Nine used a similar (striped) number 9. The red background was replaced by a blue from 1985 until 1987. By 1987, the BBC had decided to re-brand its bulletins and established individual styles again for each one with differing titles and music, the weekend and holiday bulletins branded in a similar style to the Nine, although the "stripes" introduction continued to be used until 1989 on occasions where a news bulletin was screened out of the running order of the schedule. In 1987, John Birt resurrected the practice of correspondents working for both TV and radio with the introduction of bi-media journalism. During the 1990s, a wider range of services began to be offered by BBC News, with the split of BBC World Service Television to become BBC World (news and current affairs), and BBC Prime (light entertainment). Content for a 24-hour news channel was thus required, followed in 1997 with the launch of domestic equivalent BBC News 24. Rather than set bulletins, ongoing reports and coverage was needed to keep both channels functioning and meant a greater emphasis in budgeting for both was necessary. In 1998, after 66 years at Broadcasting House, the BBC Radio News operation moved to BBC Television Centre. New technology, provided by Silicon Graphics, came into use in 1993 for a re-launch of the main BBC 1 bulletins, creating a virtual set which appeared to be much larger than it was physically. The relaunch also brought all bulletins into the same style of set with only small changes in colouring, titles, and music to differentiate each. A computer generated cut-glass sculpture of the BBC coat of arms was the centrepiece of the programme titles until the large scale corporate rebranding of news services in 1999. In November 1997, BBC News Online was launched, following individual webpages for major news events such as the 1996 Olympic Games, 1997 general election, and the death of Princess Diana. In 1999, the biggest relaunch occurred, with BBC One bulletins, BBC World, BBC News 24, and BBC News Online all adopting a common style. One of the most significant changes was the gradual adoption of the corporate image by the BBC regional news programmes, giving a common style across local, national and international BBC television news. This also included Newyddion, the main news programme of Welsh language channel S4C, produced by BBC News Wales. Following the relaunch of BBC News in 1999, regional headlines were included at the start of the BBC One news bulletins in 2000. The English regions did however lose five minutes at the end of their bulletins, due to a new headline round-up at 18:55. 2000 also saw the Nine O'Clock News moved to the later time of 22:00. This was in response to ITN who had just moved their popular News at Ten programme to 23:00. ITN briefly returned News at Ten but following poor ratings when head-to-head against the BBC's Ten O'Clock News, the ITN bulletin was moved to 22.30, where it remained until 14 January 2008. The retirement in 2009 of Peter Sissons and departure of Michael Buerk from the Ten O'Clock News led to changes in the BBC One bulletin presenting team on 20 January 2003. The Six O'Clock News became double headed with George Alagiah and Sophie Raworth after Huw Edwards and Fiona Bruce moved to present the Ten. A new set design featuring a projected fictional newsroom backdrop was introduced, followed on 16 February 2004 by new programme titles to match those of BBC News 24. BBC News 24 and BBC World introduced a new style of presentation in December 2003, that was slightly altered on 5 July 2004 to mark 50 years of BBC Television News. On 7 March 2005 director general Mark Thompson launched the "Creative Futures" project to restructure the organisation. The individual positions of editor of the One and Six O'Clock News were replaced by a new daytime position in November 2005. Kevin Bakhurst became the first Controller of BBC News 24, replacing the position of editor. Amanda Farnsworth became daytime editor while Craig Oliver was later named editor of the Ten O'Clock News. Bulletins received new titles and a new set design in May 2006, to allow for Breakfast to move into the main studio for the first time since 1997. The new set featured Barco videowall screens with a background of the London skyline used for main bulletins and originally an image of cirrus clouds against a blue sky for Breakfast. This was later replaced following viewer criticism. The studio bore similarities with the ITN-produced ITV News in 2004, though ITN uses a CSO Virtual studio rather than the actual screens at BBC News. BBC News became part of a new BBC Journalism group in November 2006 as part of a restructuring of the BBC. The then-Director of BBC News, Helen Boaden reported to the then-Deputy Director-General and head of the journalism group, Mark Byford until he was made redundant in 2010. On 18 October 2007, ED Mark Thompson announced a six-year plan, "Delivering Creative Futures" (based on his project begun in March 2005), merging the television current affairs department into a new "News Programmes" division. Thompson's announcement, in response to a £2 billion shortfall in funding, would, he said, deliver "a smaller but fitter BBC" in the digital age, by cutting its payroll and, in 2013, selling Television Centre. The various separate newsrooms for television, radio and online operations were merged into a single multimedia newsroom. Programme making within the newsrooms was brought together to form a multimedia programme making department. BBC World Service director Peter Horrocks said that the changes would achieve efficiency at a time of cost-cutting at the BBC. In his blog, he wrote that by using the same resources across the various broadcast media meant fewer stories could be covered, or by following more stories, there would be fewer ways to broadcast them. A new graphics and video playout system was introduced for production of television bulletins in January 2007. This coincided with a new structure to BBC World News bulletins, editors favouring a section devoted to analysing the news stories reported on. The first new BBC News bulletin since the Six O'Clock News was announced in July 2007 following a successful trial in the Midlands. The summary, lasting 90 seconds, has been broadcast at 20:00 on weekdays since December 2007 and bears similarities with 60 Seconds on BBC Three, but also includes headlines from the various BBC regions and a weather summary. As part of a long-term cost cutting programme, bulletins were renamed the BBC News at One, Six and Ten respectively in April 2008 while BBC News 24 was renamed BBC News and moved into the same studio as the bulletins at BBC Television Centre. BBC World was renamed BBC World News and regional news programmes were also updated with the new presentation style, designed by Lambie-Nairn. 2008 also saw tri-media introduced across TV, radio, and online. The studio moves also meant that Studio N9, previously used for BBC World, was closed, and operations moved to the previous studio of BBC News 24. Studio N9 was later refitted to match the new branding, and was used for the BBC's UK local elections and European elections coverage in early June 2009. A strategy review of the BBC in March 2010, confirmed that having "the best journalism in the world" would form one of five key editorial policies, as part of changes subject to public consultation and BBC Trust approval. After a period of suspension in late 2012, Helen Boaden ceased to be the Director of BBC News. On 16 April 2013, incoming BBC Director-General Tony Hall named James Harding, a former editor of The Times of London newspaper as Director of News and Current Affairs. From August 2012 to March 2013, all news operations moved from Television Centre to new facilities in the refurbished and extended Broadcasting House, in Portland Place. The move began in October 2012, and also included the BBC World Service, which moved from Bush House following the expiry of the BBC's lease. This new extension to the north and east, referred to as "New Broadcasting House", includes several new state-of-the-art radio and television studios centred around an 11-storey atrium. The move began with the domestic programme The Andrew Marr Show on 2 September 2012, and concluded with the move of the BBC News channel and domestic news bulletins on 18 March 2013. The newsroom houses all domestic bulletins and programmes on both television and radio, as well as the BBC World Service international radio networks and the BBC World News international television channel. BBC News and CBS News established an editorial and newsgathering partnership in 2017, replacing an earlier long-standing partnership between BBC News and ABC News. In an October 2018 Simmons Research survey of 38 news organisations, BBC News was ranked the fourth most trusted news organisation by Americans, behind CBS News, ABC News and The Wall Street Journal. In January 2020 the BBC announced a BBC News savings target of £80 million per year by 2022, involving about 450 staff reductions from the current 6,000. BBC director of news and current affairs Fran Unsworth said there would be further moves toward digital broadcasting, in part to attract back a youth audience, and more pooling of reporters to stop separate teams covering the same news. A further 70 staff reductions were announced in July 2020. BBC Three began airing the news programme The Catch Up in February 2022. It is presented by Levi Jouavel, Kirsty Grant, and Callum Tulley and aims to get the channel's target audience (16 to 34-year olds) to make sense of the world around them while also highlighting optimistic stories. Compared to its predecessor 60 Seconds, The Catch Up is three times longer, running for about three minutes and not airing during weekends. According to its annual report as of December 2021[update], India has the largest number of people using BBC services in the world. In May 2025, following the earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand, a television news bulletin (BBC News Myanmar) from the Burmese service using a vacated Voice of America satellite frequency began its broadcasts. Programming and reporting In November 2023, BBC News joined with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Paper Trail Media [de] and 69 media partners including Distributed Denial of Secrets and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and more than 270 journalists in 55 countries and territories to produce the 'Cyprus Confidential' report on the financial network which supports the regime of Vladimir Putin, mostly with connections to Cyprus, and showed Cyprus to have strong links with high-up figures in the Kremlin, some of whom have been sanctioned. Government officials including Cyprus president Nikos Christodoulides and European lawmakers began responding to the investigation's findings in less than 24 hours, calling for reforms and launching probes. BBC News is responsible for the news programmes and documentary content on the BBC's general television channels, as well as the news coverage on the BBC News Channel in the UK, and 22 hours of programming for the corporation's international BBC World News channel. Coverage for BBC Parliament is carried out on behalf of the BBC at Millbank Studios, though BBC News provides editorial and journalistic content. BBC News content is also output onto the BBC's digital interactive television services under the BBC Red Button brand, and until 2012, on the Ceefax teletext system. The music on all BBC television news programmes was introduced in 1999 and composed by David Lowe. It was part of the re-branding which commenced in 1999 and features 'BBC Pips'. The general theme was used on bulletins on BBC One, News 24, BBC World and local news programmes in the BBC's Nations and Regions. Lowe was also responsible for the music on Radio One's Newsbeat. The theme has had several changes since 1999, the latest in March 2013. The BBC Arabic Television news channel launched on 11 March 2008, a Persian-language channel followed on 14 January 2009, broadcasting from the Peel wing of Broadcasting House; both include news, analysis, interviews, sports and highly cultural programmes and are run by the BBC World Service and funded from a grant-in-aid from the British Foreign Office (and not the television licence). The BBC Verify service was launched in 2023 to fact-check news stories, followed by BBC Verify Live in 2025. BBC Radio News produces bulletins for the BBC's national radio stations and provides content for local BBC radio stations via the General News Service (GNS), a BBC-internal news distribution service. BBC News does not produce the BBC's regional news bulletins, which are produced individually by the BBC nations and regions themselves. The BBC World Service broadcasts to some 150 million people in English as well as 27 languages across the globe. BBC Radio News is a patron of the Radio Academy. BBC News Online is the BBC's news website. Launched in November 1997, it is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the UK's internet users for news. The website contains international news coverage as well as entertainment, sport, science, and political news. Mobile apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone systems have been provided since 2010. Many television and radio programmes are also available to view on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds services. The BBC News channel is also available to view 24 hours a day, while video and radio clips are also available within online news articles. In October 2019, BBC News Online launched a mirror on the dark web anonymity network Tor in an effort to circumvent censorship. Criticism The BBC is required by its charter to be free from both political and commercial influence and answers only to its viewers and listeners. This political objectivity is sometimes questioned. For instance, The Daily Telegraph (3 August 2005) carried a letter from the KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky, referring to it as "The Red Service". Books have been written on the subject, including anti-BBC works like Truth Betrayed by W J West and The Truth Twisters by Richard Deacon. The BBC has been accused of bias by Conservative MPs. The BBC's Editorial Guidelines on Politics and Public Policy state that while "the voices and opinions of opposition parties must be routinely aired and challenged", "the government of the day will often be the primary source of news". The BBC is regularly accused by the government of the day of bias in favour of the opposition and, by the opposition, of bias in favour of the government. Similarly, during times of war, the BBC is often accused by the UK government, or by strong supporters of British military campaigns, of being overly sympathetic to the view of the enemy. An edition of Newsnight at the start of the Falklands War in 1982 was described as "almost treasonable" by John Page, MP, who objected to Peter Snow saying "if we believe the British". During the first Gulf War, critics of the BBC took to using the satirical name "Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation". During the Kosovo War, the BBC were labelled the "Belgrade Broadcasting Corporation" (suggesting favouritism towards the FR Yugoslavia government over ethnic Albanian rebels) by British ministers, although Slobodan Milosević (then FRY president) claimed that the BBC's coverage had been biased against his nation. Conversely, some of those who style themselves anti-establishment in the United Kingdom or who oppose foreign wars have accused the BBC of pro-establishment bias or of refusing to give an outlet to "anti-war" voices. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a study by the Cardiff University School of Journalism of the reporting of the war found that nine out of 10 references to weapons of mass destruction during the war assumed that Iraq possessed them, and only one in 10 questioned this assumption. It also found that, out of the main British broadcasters covering the war, the BBC was the most likely to use the British government and military as its source. It was also the least likely to use independent sources, like the Red Cross, who were more critical of the war. When it came to reporting Iraqi casualties, the study found fewer reports on the BBC than on the other three main channels. The report's author, Justin Lewis, wrote "Far from revealing an anti-war BBC, our findings tend to give credence to those who criticised the BBC for being too sympathetic to the government in its war coverage. Either way, it is clear that the accusation of BBC anti-war bias fails to stand up to any serious or sustained analysis." Prominent BBC appointments are constantly assessed by the British media and political establishment for signs of political bias. The appointment of Greg Dyke as Director-General was highlighted by press sources because Dyke was a Labour Party member and former activist, as well as a friend of Tony Blair. The BBC's former Political Editor, Nick Robinson, was some years ago a chairman of the Young Conservatives and did, as a result, attract informal criticism from the former Labour government, but his predecessor Andrew Marr faced similar claims from the right because he was editor of The Independent, a liberal-leaning newspaper, before his appointment in 2000. Mark Thompson, former Director-General of the BBC, admitted the organisation has been biased "towards the left" in the past. He said, "In the BBC I joined 30 years ago, there was, in much of current affairs, in terms of people's personal politics, which were quite vocal, a massive bias to the left". He then added, "The organization did struggle then with impartiality. Now it is a completely different generation. There is much less overt tribalism among the young journalists who work for the BBC." Following the EU referendum in 2016, some critics suggested that the BBC was biased in favour of leaving the EU. For instance, in 2018, the BBC received complaints from people who took issue that the BBC was not sufficiently covering anti-Brexit marches while giving smaller-scale events hosted by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage more airtime. On the other hand, a poll released by YouGov showed that 45% of people who voted to leave the EU thought that the BBC was 'actively anti-Brexit' compared to 13% of the same kinds of voters who think the BBC is pro-Brexit. In 2008, the BBC Hindi was criticised by some Indian outlets for referring to the terrorists who carried out the 2008 Mumbai attacks as "gunmen". The response to this added to prior criticism from some Indian commentators suggesting that the BBC may have an Indophobic bias. In March 2015, the BBC was criticised for a BBC Storyville documentary interviewing one of the rapists in India. In spite of a ban ordered by the Indian High court, the BBC still aired the documentary "India's Daughter" outside India. BBC News was at the centre of a political controversy following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Three BBC News reports (Andrew Gilligan's on Today, Gavin Hewitt's on The Ten O'Clock News and another on Newsnight) quoted an anonymous source that stated the British government (particularly the Prime Minister's office) had embellished the September Dossier with misleading exaggerations of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities. The government denounced the reports and accused the corporation of poor journalism. In subsequent weeks the corporation stood by the report, saying that it had a reliable source. Following intense media speculation, David Kelly was named in the press as the source for Gilligan's story on 9 July 2003. Kelly was found dead, by suicide, in a field close to his home early on 18 July. An inquiry led by Lord Hutton was announced by the British government the following day to investigate the circumstances leading to Kelly's death, concluding that "Dr. Kelly took his own life." In his report on 28 January 2004, Lord Hutton concluded that Gilligan's original accusation was "unfounded" and the BBC's editorial and management processes were "defective". In particular, it specifically criticised the chain of management that caused the BBC to defend its story. The BBC Director of News, Richard Sambrook, the report said, had accepted Gilligan's word that his story was accurate in spite of his notes being incomplete. Davies had then told the BBC Board of Governors that he was happy with the story and told the Prime Minister that a satisfactory internal inquiry had taken place. The Board of Governors, under the chairman's, Gavyn Davies, guidance, accepted that further investigation of the Government's complaints were unnecessary. Because of the criticism in the Hutton report, Davies resigned on the day of publication. BBC News faced an important test, reporting on itself with the publication of the report, but by common consent (of the Board of Governors) managed this "independently, impartially and honestly". Davies' resignation was followed by the resignation of Director General, Greg Dyke, the following day, and the resignation of Gilligan on 30 January. While undoubtedly a traumatic experience for the corporation, an ICM poll in April 2003 indicated that it had sustained its position as the best and most trusted provider of news. The BBC has faced accusations of holding both anti-Israel and anti-Palestine bias. Douglas Davis, the London correspondent of The Jerusalem Post, has described the BBC's coverage of the Arab–Israeli conflict as "a relentless, one-dimensional portrayal of Israel as a demonic, criminal state and Israelis as brutal oppressors [which] bears all the hallmarks of a concerted campaign of vilification that, wittingly or not, has the effect of delegitimising the Jewish state and pumping oxygen into a dark old European hatred that dared not speak its name for the past half-century.". However two large independent studies, one conducted by Loughborough University and the other by Glasgow University's Media Group concluded that Israeli perspectives are given greater coverage. Critics of the BBC argue that the Balen Report proves systematic bias against Israel in headline news programming. The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph criticised the BBC for spending hundreds of thousands of British tax payers' pounds from preventing the report being released to the public. Jeremy Bowen, the Middle East Editor for BBC world news, was singled out specifically for bias by the BBC Trust which concluded that he violated "BBC guidelines on accuracy and impartiality." An independent panel appointed by the BBC Trust was set up in 2006 to review the impartiality of the BBC's coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The panel's assessment was that "apart from individual lapses, there was little to suggest deliberate or systematic bias." While noting a "commitment to be fair accurate and impartial" and praising much of the BBC's coverage the independent panel concluded "that BBC output does not consistently give a full and fair account of the conflict. In some ways the picture is incomplete and, in that sense, misleading." It notes that, "the failure to convey adequately the disparity in the Israeli and Palestinian experience, [reflects] the fact that one side is in control and the other lives under occupation". Writing in the Financial Times, Philip Stephens, one of the panellists, later accused the BBC's director-general, Mark Thompson, of misrepresenting the panel's conclusions. He further opined "My sense is that BBC news reporting has also lost a once iron-clad commitment to objectivity and a necessary respect for the democratic process. If I am right, the BBC, too, is lost". Mark Thompson published a rebuttal in the FT the next day. The description by one BBC correspondent reporting on the funeral of Yassir Arafat that she had been left with tears in her eyes led to other questions of impartiality, particularly from Martin Walker in a guest opinion piece in The Times, who picked out the apparent case of Fayad Abu Shamala, the BBC Arabic Service correspondent, who told a Hamas rally on 6 May 2001, that journalists in Gaza were "waging the campaign shoulder to shoulder together with the Palestinian people". Walker argues that the independent inquiry was flawed for two reasons. Firstly, because the time period over which it was conducted (August 2005 to January 2006) surrounded the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Ariel Sharon's stroke, which produced more positive coverage than usual. Furthermore, he wrote, the inquiry only looked at the BBC's domestic coverage, and excluded output on the BBC World Service and BBC World. Tom Gross accused the BBC of glorifying Hamas suicide bombers, and condemned its policy of inviting guests such as Jenny Tonge and Tom Paulin who have compared Israeli soldiers to Nazis. Writing for the BBC, Paulin said Israeli soldiers should be "shot dead" like Hitler's S.S, and said he could "understand how suicide bombers feel". The BBC also faced criticism for not airing a Disasters Emergency Committee aid appeal for Palestinians who suffered in Gaza during 22-day war there between late 2008 and early 2009. Most other major UK broadcasters did air this appeal, but rival Sky News did not. British journalist Julie Burchill has accused BBC of creating a "climate of fear" for British Jews over its "excessive coverage" of Israel compared to other nations. In light of the Gaza war, the BBC suspended seven Arab journalists over allegations of expressing support for Hamas via social media. BBC and ABC share video segments and reporters as needed in producing their newscasts. with the BBC showing ABC World News Tonight with David Muir in the UK. However, in July 2017, the BBC announced a new partnership with CBS News allows both organisations to share video, editorial content, and additional newsgathering resources in New York, London, Washington and around the world. BBC News subscribes to wire services from leading international agencies including PA Media (formerly Press Association), Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. In April 2017, the BBC dropped Associated Press in favour of an enhanced service from AFP. BBC News reporters and broadcasts are now and have in the past been banned in several countries primarily for reporting which has been unfavourable to the ruling government. For example, correspondents were banned by the former apartheid regime of South Africa. The BBC was banned in Zimbabwe under Mugabe for eight years as a terrorist organisation until being allowed to operate again over a year after the 2008 elections. The BBC was banned in Burma (officially Myanmar) after their coverage and commentary on anti-government protests there in September 2007. The ban was lifted four years later in September 2011. Other cases have included Uzbekistan, China, and Pakistan. BBC Persian, the BBC's Persian language news site, was blocked from the Iranian internet in 2006. The BBC News website was made available in China again in March 2008, but as of October 2014[update], was blocked again. In June 2015, the Rwandan government placed an indefinite ban on BBC broadcasts following the airing of a controversial documentary regarding the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Rwanda's Untold Story, broadcast on BBC2 on 1 October 2014. The UK's Foreign Office recognised "the hurt caused in Rwanda by some parts of the documentary". In February 2017, reporters from the BBC (as well as the Daily Mail, The New York Times, Politico, CNN, and others) were denied access to a United States White House briefing. In 2017, BBC India was banned for a period of five years from covering all national parks and sanctuaries in India. Following the withdrawal of CGTN's UK broadcaster licence on 4 February 2021 by Ofcom, China banned BBC News from airing in China. See also References External links |below = Category }} |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A.V._Club] | [TOKENS: 2073] |
Contents The A.V. Club The A.V. Club is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. The A.V. Club was created in 1993 as a supplement to its satirical parent publication, The Onion. While it was a part of The Onion's 1996 website launch, The A.V. Club had minimal presence on the website at that point. A 2005 website redesign placed The A.V. Club in a more prominent position, allowing its online identity to grow. Unlike The Onion, The A.V. Club is not satirical. The publication's name is a reference to audiovisual (AV) clubs typical of American high schools. History In 1993, five years after the founding of The Onion, Stephen Thompson, a student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, launched an entertainment section of the newspaper. Its name refers to audio visual clubs offered by American high schools during the late 20th century for students to use and learn about equipment like speakers and projectors. Alongside The Onion's move from Madison, Wisconsin, to New York City in early 2001, the A.V. Club staff also left Madison to move into The Onion's satellite office in Chicago. However, Thompson chose to stay in Madison, and in December 2004, Thompson was fired from his position as founding editor. In 1996, both The Onion and The A.V. Club debuted on the Internet. The A.V. Club was originally a subsection of the main theonion.com domain. The supplement was moved to its own domain name, theavclub.com, before the 2005 acquisition of the shorter avclub.com domain name. The latter change coincided with a redesign that incorporated reader comments and blog content. In 2006, the website shifted its content model to add content on a daily, rather than weekly, basis. Some contributors have become established as freelance writers and editors.[citation needed] According to Sean Mills, then-president of The Onion, the A.V. Club website first reached more than 1 million unique visitors in October 2007. In late 2009, the website was reported to have received more than 1.4 million unique visitors and 75,000 comments per month. At its peak, the print version of The A.V. Club was available in 17 different cities. Localized sections of the website were also maintained with reviews and news relevant to specific cities. The print version and localized websites were gradually discontinued, and in December 2013, print publication ceased production in the last three markets. On 9 December 2010, the website ComicsComicsMag revealed that a capsule review for the book Genius, Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth had been fabricated. The book had not yet been published nor even completed by the authors. After the review was removed, editor Keith Phipps posted an apology on the website, stating that the reporter being assigned to review the book could not locate a copy of it ("for obvious reasons"), so they fabricated it. Leonard Pierce, the author of the review, was terminated from his freelance role with the website. On 13 December 2012, long-time writer and editor Keith Phipps, who oversaw the website after Stephen Thompson left, stepped down from his role as editor of The A.V. Club. He said, "Onion, Inc. and I have come to a mutual parting of the ways." On 2 April 2013, long-time film review editor and critic Scott Tobias stepped down as film editor of The A.V. Club. He said via Twitter, "After 15 great years @theavclub, I step down as Film Editor next Friday." On 26 April 2013, long-time writers Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, and Genevieve Koski announced they would also be leaving the website to begin work on a new project with Scott Tobias and Keith Phipps. Koski also said that she would continue to write freelance articles. Writer Noel Murray announced he would be joining their new project, while continuing to contribute to The A.V. Club in a reduced capacity. On 30 May 2013, those six writers were announced as becoming part of the senior staff of The Dissolve, a film website run by Pitchfork Media. In April and June 2014, senior staff writers Kyle Ryan, Sonia Saraiya, and Emily St. James left the website for positions at Entertainment Weekly, Salon, and Vox Media, respectively. In 2015, Ryan returned to Onion, Inc. for a position in development. Following his departure from The Dissolve earlier that month, Nathan Rabin returned to write freelance for the A.V. Club website in May 2015. He renewed his regular column "My World of Flops". The Dissolve folded in July 2015. In January 2016, Univision Communications acquired a 40% controlling stake in Onion Inc., the parent company of The A.V. Club. Later that year, Univision also purchased Gawker Media and reorganized several of Gawker's sites into the new Gizmodo Media Group, a division of Fusion Media Group. On 16 February 2017, The A.V. Club's editor-at-large, John Teti, posted an article on the website announcing the upcoming release of a television series, titled The A.V. Club, based on the website. The series, hosted by Teti, began airing on Fusion on 16 March 2017 and ran for one season. The series featured news, criticism, and discussions about various popular-culture topics and featured staff members from the website. The site was subsequently migrated from Bulbs, an internal content management system developed by Onion Inc., to the Gawker-developed Kinja platform. Audience reviews hosted on the previous site were deleted and the Kinja comment system was heavily derided by the site's commenting community, leading to a sharp decline in activity. In March 2018, employees announced they had unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East. The union comprises "all of the creative staffs at Onion Inc.: The A.V. Club, The Onion, ClickHole, The Takeout, Onion Labs, and Onion Inc.'s video and art departments." (ClickHole was acquired by Cards Against Humanity in February 2020.) The union was recognized on 20 April 2018 and reached a contract agreement with management on 20 December 2018. The contract includes "annual pay increases, minimum pay grades, strong diversity and anti-harassment language, just cause, union security, editorial independence, intellectual property rights, and an end to permalancers." In July 2018, Univision announced it was looking for a buyer for the entire Gizmodo Group. In April 2019, Gizmodo and The Onion were sold to private-equity firm Great Hill Partners, which combined them into a new company named G/O Media. In July 2019, executive editor Laura M. Browning and managing editor Caitlin PenzeyMoog left. In early 2020, former People magazine and Entertainment Weekly editor Patrick Gomez was named editor-in-chief, and it was announced that the site was opening a Los Angeles bureau. In August 2021, Yahoo! Entertainment and E! Online alum Scott Robson joined to lead the team. On 18 January 2022, the union representing staff at the website announced that all seven staff members based in Chicago had taken severance as opposed to accepting a mandatory move of work location to Los Angeles. This predominantly affected the senior staff of the site and comprised the managing editor, film editor, TV editor, associate editor, senior writer, assistant editor, and editorial coordinator. After this, the headquarters of the A.V. Club was moved to Los Angeles. In March 2024, it was reported that G/O Media had sold The A.V. Club to Paste Media, who had previously bought the dormant G/O Media sites Jezebel and Splinter News for a relaunch. This resulted in The A.V. Club being completely separated from The Onion, with G/O Media selling The Onion to Global Tetrahedron the following month. Two employees were laid off as part of the transition. Paste Media CEO Josh Jackson stressed that Paste and The A.V. Club would not be consolidated together and assured that the comments, briefly disabled by G/O Media, would be restored. In June 2024, various changes were announced, including that the A.V. Undercover web series would be revived after a 7-year hiatus, A.I. written articles during the G/O Media era would be removed, familiar writers would return (including Nathan Rabin and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky), and a subscriber program will be introduced. In July 2024, Danette Chavez, a writer and editor for The A.V. Club from 2015 to 2022, rejoined the website as editor-in-chief. Endless Mode, a spin-off of Paste's games section that launched in July 2025, merged with The A.V. Club's games section just five months later in November, with Garrett Martin remaining editor of the section. Awards In 2017, The A.V. Club won an Eisner Award for "Best Comics-related Periodical/Journalism" (for works published in 2016). The award went to writers Oliver Sava, Caitlin Rosberg, Shea Hennum, and Tegan O'Neil. The award also went to editor Caitlin PenzeyMoog. A.V. Club year-end and decade-end lists Starting in 1999, only lists written by individual writers were published. Beginning in 2006, The A.V. Club began publishing website-consensus, year-end album and film rankings, together with lists created by individual writers, followed by annual rankings of television shows from 2010 onward. Additionally, decade-end lists were published for the 2000s and 2010s. Books References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTUU-TV] | [TOKENS: 2020] |
Contents KTUU-TV KTUU-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Anchorage, Alaska, United States, affiliated with NBC and CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KAUU (channel 5). The two stations share studios on East 40th Avenue in midtown Anchorage; KTUU-TV's transmitter is located in Knik, Alaska. Some of KTUU-TV's programming is broadcast to rural communities via low-power translators through the Alaska Rural Communications Service (ARCS). History The construction permit for channel 2 in Anchorage was issued on July 29, 1953, to Keith Kiggins and Richard R. Rollins. The permit took the call sign KFIA ("First in Anchorage") and then began construction, with an antenna being placed atop the Westward Hotel at Third Avenue and F Street. The same day the FCC granted a construction permit for channel 2, it also greenlit Anchorage's channel 11, KTVA, sparking a race to be the first broadcast television station in the territory (statehood for Alaska would come in 1959). It appeared that KFIA was ahead when it announced it would broadcast its first test pattern on October 15, as KTVA was unpacking its equipment. However, it failed to put out a picture that night. Two days later, on the October 17, the first television test pattern in Alaska was broadcast, but the station missed its announced November 1 start date. Picture quality control equipment was late getting to Anchorage, pushing back the start date twice. It was only a month and a half later that KFIA made it on the air, on December 14, but in that time, it had lost its claim to be first in Anchorage with programming, as KTVA had signed on December 11. Both stations had also been beat by a cable system in Ketchikan to be the first source of television programming anywhere in the territory. When the station did get on the air, it did so "quietly and without fanfare", in the words of its general manager. Midnight Sun Broadcasting (The Lathrop Company), owned by Alvin Oscar "Al" Bramstedt Sr. bought the station in 1954; the station's call letters were changed to KENI-TV in 1955; that year, it moved into the Fourth Avenue Theatre, also known as the Lathrop Building, downtown. Lathrop sold KENI-AM-TV plus its other radio and TV stations—KTKN in Ketchikan, KFAR-AM-TV in Fairbanks, and KINY-AM-TV in Juneau—to All-Alaska Broadcasting Company, which later became Midnight Sun Broadcasters in 1960. On September 19, 1966, channel 2 became the first station in Alaska to transmit in color when it aired the premiere episode of the ABC sitcom That Girl (entitled "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!"). The station had joint primary affiliation with NBC and ABC (with KTVA picking up some of the slack) until October 1, 1967, when it switched to ABC primary and NBC secondary, primarily because ABC had more programs on film. Channel 2 became a full-time ABC affiliate in 1970 when KHAR (channel 13, now KYUR) took the NBC affiliation. The two stations switched networks in October 1971, at which time KHAR became KIMO. Channel 2 also carried a few PBS programs (particularly The Electric Company) until KAKM signed on in 1975. Until KTVF in Fairbanks switched networks from CBS to NBC in April 1996, KTUU was the only full-time NBC affiliate in Alaska, clearing every network program. On June 3, 1981, Midnight Sun Broadcasters sold the station to Zaser and Longston of Bellevue, Washington, who changed the call letters to the current KTUU-TV the next week on June 10 in conjunction with the sale. In August 2010, KTUU became the third Schurz-owned television station (after KWCH-DT and KSCW-DT in Wichita, Kansas, and WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia) to relaunch its website through a new partnership with the Tribune Company's Tribune Interactive division. Previously, the Web address was operated by the local media division of World Now. The other Schurz television station websites, which were operated by Broadcast Interactive Media, also followed after their CMS contract with BIM ran out. On November 9, 2013, KTUU-TV was dropped by GCI in 22 rural communities, after the two sides were unable to come to a new retransmission agreement, though GCI still carries some KTUU and NBC programming in some of these areas through the Alaska Rural Communications Service. The dispute did not involve areas (including Anchorage) where GCI carries KTUU through must-carry. The move followed the sale of rival KTVA to a subsidiary of GCI a week earlier, which KTUU had opposed over concerns that this move could be made. KTUU's channel slot on most of the affected systems was filled by Starz Kids & Family. Despite this dispute, KTUU extended its newscast carriage agreement with KATH-LD in Juneau and KSCT-LP in Sitka (which were also acquired by GCI at the same time it acquired KTVA) through November 22; that agreement was subsequently extended through December 6 as negotiations continued toward a long-term deal, but talks ultimately broke down, and by December 7 KATH/KSCT no longer aired KTUU programming. A deal between GCI and KTUU was finally reached on February 6, 2014; this allowed the station to return to GCI's rural systems (as well as separately-owned cable systems that receive KTUU through GCI) in time for NBC's broadcast of the 2014 Winter Olympics, as well as the eventual restoration of KTUU's newscasts to KATH/KSCT. Schurz announced on September 14, 2015, that it would exit broadcasting and sell its television and radio stations, including KTUU-TV, to Gray Television for $442.5 million. Associated with the purchase, on October 1, 2015, it was announced that Gray would buy MyNetworkTV-affiliated KYES-TV for $500,000. The acquisition of KYES created the first legal duopoly in the market (KTBY and KYUR operate as a virtual duopoly). The FCC approved the Schurz sale on February 12, 2016; and the sale was completed on February 16. The KYES acquisition was completed on June 27, 2016; it had been approved on June 17 under the condition that KYES not affiliate with a network that would make that station one of the top-four stations in the Anchorage market. News operation KTUU presently broadcasts 22 hours, 25 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 4 hours, 5 minutes each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). The two-hour weekday newscast Morning Edition, 6 p.m. hour, and 10 p.m. late newscast are simulcast with KAUU. A half-hour KTUU-exclusive newscast airs at 5 p.m., followed by the NBC Nightly News at 5:30 p.m. All newscasts are branded as Alaska's News Source, KTUU's longtime news slogan. KTUU does not carry a midday or weekend morning newscast. Following Gray's purchase of the non-license assets of KTVA, that station's news operation was inherited by KYES-TV (now KAUU); with its existing ownership of KTUU-TV, this gave Gray control of two news operations in the Anchorage market. On August 30, 2020, KTVA's news operation aired its final newscast from its facility. The next day, Gray launched Alaska's News Source, which hired 11 staffers from KTVA, and acts as a combined news operation for both KTUU and KYES. The combined newscasts began to air August 31, 2020. In November 2024, sister station KTVF in Fairbanks closed its news department and began to simulcast KTUU's newscasts. KTUU has been the top-rated station in the Anchorage market for decades; its ratings for their newscasts helped make them one of the strongest NBC affiliates in the country and its newscasts routinely receive several times more viewers than its competition. The KTUU news team routinely wins regional and national awards and in 1999, became the first television station in Alaska with their own satellite uplink truck (NewsStar 2). The National Press Photographers Association named KTUU the Small Market Television News Photography Station of the Year in 2006, 2008 and 2010. In 2013, KTUU was also the first in Alaska to broadcast their news in high definition. Notable former staff Technical information The station's digital signal is multiplexed: KTUU-TV ended regular programming over its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 10, using virtual channel 2. As part of the SAFER Act, KTUU-TV kept its analog signal on the air until July 12 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters. KTUU-TV extends its over-the-air coverage through a network of translator stations. See also References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Minecraft_Movie#cite_ref-150] | [TOKENS: 6034] |
Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Observer] | [TOKENS: 1985] |
Contents The Observer The Observer is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to The Guardian and The Guardian Weekly. In December 2024, Tortoise Media acquired the paper from the Scott Trust Limited, with the transition taking place on 22 April 2025. History The first issue was published on 4 December 1791 by W.S. Bourne, making The Observer the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600. Though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bourne's brother (a wealthy businessman) made an offer to the government, which also refused to buy the paper but agreed to subsidise it in return for influence over its editorial content. As a result, the paper soon took a strong line against progressive reformers such as Thomas Paine, Francis Burdett and Joseph Priestley. In 1807, the brothers decided to relinquish editorial control, naming Lewis Doxat as the new editor. Seven years later, the brothers sold The Observer to William Innell Clement, a newspaper proprietor who owned a number of publications. The paper continued to receive government subsidies during this period; in 1819, of the approximately 23,000 copies of the paper distributed weekly, approximately 10,000 were given away as "specimen copies", distributed by postmen who were paid to deliver them to "lawyers, doctors, and gentlemen of the town." Clement maintained ownership of The Observer until his death in 1852.[citation needed] After Doxat retired in 1857, Clement's heirs sold the paper to Joseph Snowe, who also took over the editor's chair.[citation needed] In 1870, wealthy businessman Julius Beer bought the paper and appointed Edward Dicey as editor, whose efforts succeeded in reviving circulation. Though Beer's son Frederick became the owner upon Julius's death in 1880, he had little interest in the newspaper and was content to leave Dicey as editor until 1889.[citation needed] Henry Duff Traill took over the editorship after Dicey's departure, only to be replaced in 1891 by Frederick's wife, Rachel Beer, of the Sassoon family. She remained as editor for thirteen years, combining it in 1893 with the editorship of The Sunday Times, a newspaper that she had also bought. Upon Frederick's death in 1903, the paper was purchased by the newspaper magnate Lord Northcliffe. In 1911, William Waldorf Astor was approached by James Louis Garvin, the editor of The Observer, about purchasing the newspaper from Northcliffe. Northcliffe and Garvin had a disagreement over the issue of Imperial Preference, and Northcliffe had given Garvin the option of finding a buyer for the paper. Northcliffe sold the paper to Astor, who transferred ownership to his son Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor four years later. Astor convinced his father to purchase the paper, which William did on the condition that Garvin also agree to edit the Pall Mall Gazette, which was also a property of the Astor family. Garvin departed as editor in 1942.[citation needed] Ownership passed to Waldorf's sons in 1948, with David Astor taking over as editor. He remained in the position for 27 years, during which time he turned it into a trust-owned newspaper employing, among others, George Orwell, Paul Jennings and C. A. Lejeune.[citation needed] In 1977, the Astors sold the ailing newspaper to US oil giant Atlantic Richfield, which then sold it to Lonrho plc in 1981.: 42 It became part of the Guardian Media Group in June 1993, after a rival acquisition bid by The Independent was rejected. Farzad Bazoft, a journalist for The Observer, was executed in Iraq in 1990 on charges of spying. In 2003, The Observer interviewed the Iraqi colonel who had arrested and interrogated Bazoft and who was convinced that Bazoft was not a spy. On 27 February 2005, The Observer Blog was launched. In addition to the weekly Observer Magazine colour supplement which is still present every Sunday, for several years each issue of The Observer came with a different free monthly magazine. These magazines had the titles Observer Sport Monthly, Observer Music Monthly, Observer Woman and Observer Food Monthly. The Observer followed its daily partner The Guardian and converted to Berliner format on Sunday 8 January 2006. The Observer was awarded the National Newspaper of the Year at the British Press Awards 2007. Editor Roger Alton stepped down at the end of 2007, and was replaced by his deputy, John Mulholland. The paper was banned in Egypt in February 2008 for publishing cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In early 2010, the paper was restyled. An article on the paper's website previewing the new version stated that "The News section, which will incorporate Business and personal finance, will be home to a new section, Seven Days, offering a complete round-up of the previous week's main news from Britain and around the world, and will also focus on more analysis and comment." In July 2021, Ofcom announced that The Guardian continued to be the UK's most widely used newspaper website and app for news and had increased its audience share by 1% over the preceding year. 23% of consumers, who used websites or apps for news, used The Guardian, which also then hosted The Observer online content. This compared to 22% for the Daily Mail website. In September 2024, The Guardian revealed it was in talks to sell The Observer to news website Tortoise Media. Journalists at Guardian Media Group passed a vote to condemn the sale and passed a vote of no confidence in the newspaper's owners, accusing it of betrayal amid concerns that the sale of the paper could harm the financial security of staff members. On 6 December 2024, it was announced that, despite 48 hours of strikes by journalists, the Observer deal with Tortoise was agreed in principle and would go ahead. The agreement included the Trust taking a significant stock position in the purchaser. The final sale price has not been disclosed. On 18 December 2024, Guardian Media and Tortoise Media closed the sale. A new website was launched on 25 April 2025 and the first print edition under the new owners appeared on 27 April 2025.[citation needed] It was announced that Lucy Rock, previously the paper's deputy editor, would be the new editor of The Observer. It was later clarified she is editor (print) reporting to the editor-in-chief, founder and major shareholder James Harding. Supplements and features After the paper was rejuvenated in early 2010, the main paper came with only a small number of supplements – Sport, The Observer Magazine, The New Review and The New York Times International Weekly, an 8-page supplement of articles selected from The New York Times that has been distributed with the paper since 2007. Every four weeks the paper includes The Observer Food Monthly magazine, and in September 2013 it launched Observer Tech Monthly, a science and technology section which won the Grand Prix at the 2014 Newspaper Awards. Previously, the main paper had come with a larger range of supplements including Sport, Business & Media, Review, Escape (a travel supplement), The Observer Magazine and various special interest monthlies, such as The Observer Food Monthly, Observer Women monthly which was launched in 2006, Observer Sport Monthly and The Observer Film Magazine. The Newsroom The Observer and its then-sister newspaper The Guardian opened The Newsroom, an archive and visitor centre in London, in 2002. The centre preserved and promoted the histories and values of the newspapers through its archive, educational programmes and exhibitions. The Newsroom's activities were all transferred to Kings Place in 2008. Now known as The Guardian News & Media archive, the archive preserves and promotes the histories and values of The Guardian and The Observer newspapers by collecting and making accessible material that provides an accurate and comprehensive history of the papers. The archive holds official records of The Guardian and The Observer, and also seeks to acquire material from individuals who have been associated with the papers. As well as corporate records, the archive holds correspondence, diaries, notebooks, original cartoons and photographs belonging to staff of the papers. This material may be consulted by members of the public by prior appointment. An extensive Manchester Guardian archive also exists at the University of Manchester's John Rylands University Library, and there is a collaboration programme between the two archives. Additionally, the British Library has a large archive of The Manchester Guardian available in its British Library Newspapers collection, in online, hard copy, microform, and CD-ROM formats. In November 2007, The Observer and The Guardian made their archives available over the Internet. The current extent of the archives available is 1791 to 2003 for The Observer and 1821 to 2003 for The Guardian. [citation needed] Editors Photographers Awards The Observer was named the British Press Awards National Newspaper of the Year for 2006. Its supplements have three times won "Regular Supplement of the Year" (Sport Monthly, 2001; Food Monthly, 2006, 2012). Observer journalists have won a range of British Press Awards, including See also Notes References Bibliography External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Minecraft_Movie#cite_ref-137] | [TOKENS: 6034] |
Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorage_Daily_News] | [TOKENS: 1066] |
Contents Anchorage Daily News The Anchorage Daily News is a newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, with bureaus in Wasilla and Juneau. History The Anchorage Daily News was born as the weekly Anchorage News, publishing its first issue January 13, 1946. The paper's founder and first publisher was Norman C. Brown. The early president of the paper's parent company was Harry J. Hill, who was also assistant treasurer of The Lathrop Company. This established the theory that Cap Lathrop was really behind the publication, but didn't wish to have his name formally associated with it, unlike his other newspapers such as the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Brown did share Lathrop's views on the statehood issue. Brown became a leader in the short-lived mid-1950s movement to turn Alaska into a commonwealth rather than a state. The newspaper became an afternoon daily in May 1948, although it wouldn't publish a Sunday newspaper until June 13, 1965. By then, the Anchorage Daily News had become a morning newspaper, making that switch on April 13, 1964. By the 1970s, the gradual downturn in the newspaper industry was taking its toll on the ADN. Lawrence Fanning had purchased the paper in 1968, but suffered a heart attack at his desk and died in 1971. His widow, Katherine Woodruff "Kay" Fanning, took over. Kay Fanning had previously been married into the Marshall Field family (she was the mother of Ted Field). This was of no help to her, as the paper plunged further into debt as the decade wore on. In 1974, Fanning entered into a joint operating agreement with the Anchorage Times. Times publisher Robert Atwood cancelled the agreement 4 years later. By this point, the paper's news-gathering and editorial operations were operating out of a small two-story storefront building at the corner of West Seventh Avenue and I Street. The McClatchy Company purchased the Daily News in 1979, when it bought a controlling interest from Kay Fanning, who had been editor and publisher since Larry Fanning's death in 1971. Kay Fanning continued as the head of the paper until mid-1983. While retaining some financial interest in the paper, she went on to become the editor of The Christian Science Monitor. The Daily News was the first of two newspapers that the then-122-year-old, California-based, McClatchy Company bought outside the state; the Kennewick, Washington, Tri-City Herald was the next. McClatchy would later grow to become a national newspaper company, including the purchase of the Knight-Ridder chain in 2006. In April, 2014, it was announced that the Alaska Dispatch web publication would be buying the Anchorage Daily News for US$34 million. The deal closed in May 2014. On Sunday, July 20, 2014, the Alaska Dispatch, renamed the paper the Alaska Dispatch News. Adn.com announced on August 13, 2017, that it had filed for bankruptcy after being sued for back rent by Alaska telecommunications company GCI. Control of operations was immediately assumed by a group led by Ryan Binkley of Fairbanks, who were in the process of purchasing the paper. Binkley is the son of John Binkley, a Republican politician. In November 2017, the paper's Facebook page reverted its name back to Anchorage Daily News; the paper itself rebranded to Anchorage Daily News on November 18. Binkley Co. acquired the Alaska Journal of Commerce in 2018. In 2019, Binkley Co. acquired the Arctic Sounder, the Bristol Bay Times and the Dutch Harbor Fisherman. In April 2024, the newspaper's staff was informed by management that the paper will reduce the number of print editions from six to two a week. Newsroom staff launched a campaign to unionize in September 2024 and voted two months later 13-4 in favor of unionization. Pulitzer Prizes The newspaper has won the Pulitzer Prize three times in the Public Service category, in 1976, 1989 and 2020. The 1976 Pulitzer was for its series "Empire: The Alaska Teamsters Story," which disclosed the effect and influence of the Teamsters Union on the state's economy and politics. The Daily News was at that time the smallest daily newspaper and the first in the state to win the Public Service Pulitzer. The 1988 series was "A People in Peril," which documented the high degree of alcoholism, suicide and despair in the Alaska Native population. In 2020, the Daily News again won the Public Service Pulitzer for the paper's "Lawless" series, about the failings of Alaska's criminal justice system, particularly in rural Alaska. The Daily News shared that Pulitzer with ProPublica, with whom the Daily News had collaborated on the series. References External links |
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Contents Parents (magazine) Parents is a digital media site, formerly run as an American monthly magazine, founded in 1926 that featured scientific information on child development geared to help parents in raising their children. Subscribers were notified of the magazine's dissolution via a postcard mailing in March 2022. History The magazine was started by George J. Hecht in 1926. The magazine was originally titled Children, The Magazine for Parents. Hecht hired Clara Savage Littledale to be its first editor. The first issue was published in October 1926 and soon was selling 100,000 copies a month. Beginning with the August 1929 issue, the name was changed to Parents' Magazine (with an apostrophe). Littledale was followed as editor by Mary Buchanan. In 1937, the magazine was granted trademark registration for the mark Parents' Magazine. From 1941 to 1965, Parents' Magazine Press published a line of comic books and magazines heavily featuring comics, including such long-running titles as Calling All Girls, Children's Digest, Polly Pigtails, True Comics, and True Picture-Magazine. Parents Magazine Press also published Humpty Dumpty from the 1950s through the early 1980s, until it and Children's Digest were sold to The Saturday Evening Post company. Parents' Magazine was sold to Gruner + Jahr in 1978. At that time, the magazine was "relaunched" and its name was shortened, utilizing only the word "Parents", without an apostrophe. Elizabeth Crow became the magazine's editor for the next decade, before being replaced by Ann Pleshette Murphy, who was editor-in-chief between 1988 and 1998, and a contributing editor from 1998 to 2002. In 1992, Gruner + Jahr filed suit against Meredith for trademark infringement of Parents when Meredith published Parent's Digest. With the court finding no actual confusion of the products (though there was testimony from managers and employees as to inquiries about a possible relationship between the publications), the case was dismissed. Meredith acquired Parents magazine when Gruner + Jahr left the US magazine business in 2005. Sally Lee was the editor from 1998 to 2008. Dana Points was editor-in-chief from 2008 to 2016. The Meredith Corporation would later be acquired by IAC in 2021. In February 2022, it was revealed that Parents would end print publication and switch to an all-digital format. Profile Parents editorial focus is on the daily needs and concerns of mothers with young children. The monthly features information about child health, safety, behavior, discipline and education. There are also stories on women's health, nutrition, pregnancy, marriage, and beauty. It is aimed primarily at women ages 18–35 with young children. Columns include "As They Grow," which covers age-specific child development issues, as well as the reader-generated "Baby Bloopers," "It Worked for Me," and "Goody Bag." The magazine produces a website, an iPhone app for kids, Parents Flash Cards, and GoodyBlog.com, the later-defunct blog. With its historical reach, Parents has frequently been used by academics to document social and cultural shifts over time. Melissa Milkie and Kathleen Denny described the prominence of the magazine: The magazine's goal of disseminating scientific knowledge of all types concerning children's development and family life in general, proved to be very popular. The magazine was the only U.S. periodical whose circulation rose during the Great Depression, and during the 1930s and 1940s, it was proclaimed as the most popular advice periodical in the world (Schlossman, 1985). By 1971, PM claimed in its pages to have counseled mothers and fathers in the 'rearing of more than 100 million children,' attesting to its prominence" Despite its gender-neutral title, the magazine's advice has implicitly been directed toward women. On the February 2019 cover it featured a same-sex male couple, the first in its history. The magazine received criticism for featuring a bored white child who appears to be screaming, dressed in a toy headdress on its January 2016 cover. Dr. Debbie Reese of American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) called the depiction racist, as it implies a "wild Indian" stereotype. Medal for "Movie of the Month" Each month, Parents' Magazine would award a medal to a "Movie of the Month". The image of the "Movie of the Month" Medal was subsequently used on movie posters and lobby cards. Past recipients include: References External links |
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Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Minecraft_Movie#cite_ref-Chaos_135-2] | [TOKENS: 6034] |
Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Minecraft_Movie#cite_ref-Crazy_134-1] | [TOKENS: 6034] |
Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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Contents The New York Times The New York Times (NYT)[b] is a newspaper based in Manhattan, New York City. The New York Times covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the Times serves as one of the country's newspapers of record. As of August 2025[update], The New York Times had 11.88 million total and 11.3 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 580,000 print subscribers. The New York Times is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publisher is A. G. Sulzberger. The Times is headquartered at The New York Times Building in Midtown Manhattan. The Times was founded as the conservative New-York Daily Times in 1851, and came to national recognition in the 1870s with its aggressive coverage of corrupt politician Boss Tweed. Following the Panic of 1893, Chattanooga Times publisher Adolph Ochs gained a controlling interest in the company. In 1935, Ochs was succeeded by his son-in-law, Arthur Hays Sulzberger, who began a push into European news. Sulzberger's son Arthur Ochs Sulzberger became publisher in 1963, adapting to a changing newspaper industry and introducing radical changes. The New York Times was involved in the landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which restricted the ability of public officials to sue the media for defamation. In 1971, The New York Times published the Pentagon Papers, an internal Department of Defense document detailing the United States's historical involvement in the Vietnam War, despite pushback from then-president Richard Nixon. In the landmark decision New York Times Co. v. United States (1971), the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment guaranteed the right to publish the Pentagon Papers. In the 1980s, the Times began a two-decade progression to digital technology and launched nytimes.com in 1996. In the 21st century, it shifted its publication online amid the global decline of newspapers. Currently, the Times maintains several regional bureaus staffed with journalists across six continents. It has expanded to several other publications, including The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times International Edition, and The New York Times Book Review. In addition, the paper has produced several television series, podcasts—including The Daily—and games through The New York Times Games. The New York Times has been involved in a number of controversies in its history. Among other accolades, it has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize 135 times since 1918, the most of any publication. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center study on educational differences among audiences of 30 major U.S. news outlets, The New York Times had the highest proportion of college-educated readers among the daily newspapers surveyed, with 56% of its audience holding at least a bachelor's degree. History The New York Times was established in 1851 as the New-York Daily Times by New-York Tribune journalists Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones. The Times experienced significant circulation, particularly among conservatives; New-York Tribune publisher Horace Greeley praised the Times. During the American Civil War, Times correspondents gathered information directly from Confederate states. In 1869, Jones inherited the paper from Raymond, who had changed its name to The New-York Times. Under Jones, the Times began to publish a series of articles criticizing Tammany Hall political boss William M. Tweed, despite vehement opposition from other New York newspapers. In 1871, The New-York Times published Tammany Hall's accounting books; Tweed was tried in 1873 and sentenced to twelve years in prison. The Times earned national recognition for its coverage of Tweed. In 1891, Jones died, creating a management imbroglio in which his children had insufficient business acumen to inherit the company and his will prevented an acquisition of the Times. Editor-in-chief Charles Ransom Miller, editorial editor Edward Cary, and correspondent George F. Spinney established a company to manage The New-York Times, but faced financial difficulties during the Panic of 1893. In August 1896, Chattanooga Times publisher Adolph Ochs acquired The New-York Times, implementing significant alterations to the newspaper's structure. Ochs established the Times as a merchant's newspaper and removed the hyphen from the newspaper's name. In 1905, The New York Times opened Times Tower, marking expansion. The Times experienced a political realignment in the 1910s amid several disagreements within the Republican Party. The New York Times reported on the sinking of the Titanic, as other newspapers were cautious about bulletins circulated by the Associated Press. Through managing editor Carr Van Anda, the Times paid considerable attention to advances in science, reporting on Albert Einstein's then-obscure theory of general relativity and becoming involved in the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. In April 1935, Ochs died, leaving his son-in-law Arthur Hays Sulzberger as publisher. The Great Depression forced Sulzberger to reduce The New York Times's operations, and developments in the New York newspaper landscape resulted in the formation of larger newspapers, such as the New York Herald Tribune and the New York World-Telegram. In contrast to Ochs, Sulzberger encouraged wirephotography. The New York Times extensively covered World War II through large headlines, reporting on exclusive stories such as the Yugoslav coup d'état. Amid the war, Sulzberger began expanding the Times's operations further, acquiring WQXR-FM in 1944—the first non-Times investment since the Jones era—and established a fashion show in Times Hall. Despite reductions as a result of conscription, The New York Times retained the largest journalism staff of any newspaper. The Times's print edition became available internationally during the war through the Army & Air Force Exchange Service; The New York Times Overseas Weekly later became available in Japan through The Asahi Shimbun and in Germany through the Frankfurter Zeitung. The international edition would develop into a separate newspaper. Journalist William L. Laurence publicized the atomic bomb race between the United States and Germany, resulting in the Federal Bureau of Investigation seizing copies of the Times. The United States government recruited Laurence to document the Manhattan Project in April 1945. Laurence became the only witness of the Manhattan Project, a detail realized by employees of The New York Times following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Following World War II, The New York Times continued to expand. The Times was subject to investigations from the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, a McCarthyist subcommittee that investigated purported communism from within press institutions. Arthur Hays Sulzberger's decision to dismiss a copyreader who had pleaded the Fifth Amendment drew ire from within the Times and from external organizations. In April 1961, Sulzberger resigned, appointing his son-in-law, The New York Times Company president Orvil Dryfoos. Under Dryfoos, The New York Times established a newspaper based in Los Angeles. In 1962, the implementation of automated printing presses in response to increasing costs mounted fears over technological unemployment. The New York Typographical Union staged a strike in December, altering the media consumption of New Yorkers. The strike left New York with three remaining newspapers—the Times, the Daily News, and the New York Post—by its conclusion in March 1963. In May, Dryfoos died of a heart ailment. Following weeks of ambiguity, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger became The New York Times's publisher. Technological advancements leveraged by newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and improvements in coverage from The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal necessitated adaptations to nascent computing. The New York Times published "Heed Their Rising Voices" in 1960, a full-page advertisement purchased by supporters of Martin Luther King Jr. criticizing law enforcement in Montgomery, Alabama for their response to the civil rights movement. Montgomery Public Safety commissioner L. B. Sullivan sued the Times for defamation. In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the verdict in Alabama county court and the Supreme Court of Alabama violated the First Amendment. The decision is considered to be landmark. After financial losses, The New York Times ended its international edition, acquiring a stake in the Paris Herald Tribune, forming the International Herald Tribune. The Times initially published the Pentagon Papers, facing opposition from then-president Richard Nixon. The Supreme Court ruled in The New York Times's favor in New York Times Co. v. United States (1971), allowing the Times and The Washington Post to publish the papers. The New York Times remained cautious in its initial coverage of the Watergate scandal. As Congress began investigating the scandal, the Times furthered its coverage, publishing details on the Huston Plan, alleged wiretapping of reporters and officials, and testimony from James W. McCord Jr. that the Committee for the Re-Election of the President paid the conspirators off. The exodus of readers to suburban New York newspapers, such as Newsday and Gannett papers, adversely affected The New York Times's circulation. Contemporary newspapers balked at additional sections; Time devoted a cover for its criticism and New York wrote that the Times was engaging in "middle-class self-absorption". The New York Times, the Daily News, and the New York Post were the subject of a strike in 1978, allowing emerging newspapers to leverage halted coverage. The Times deliberately avoided coverage of the AIDS epidemic, running its first front-page article in May 1983. Max Frankel's editorial coverage of the epidemic, with mentions of anal intercourse, contrasted with then-executive editor A. M. Rosenthal's puritan approach, intentionally avoiding descriptions of the luridity of gay venues. Following years of waning interest in The New York Times, Sulzberger resigned in January 1992, appointing his son, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., as publisher. The Internet represented a generational shift within the Times; Sulzberger, who negotiated The New York Times Company's acquisition of The Boston Globe in 1993, derided the Internet, while his son expressed antithetical views. @times appeared on America Online's website in May 1994 as an extension of The New York Times, featuring news articles, film reviews, sports news, and business articles. Despite opposition, several employees of the Times had begun to access the Internet. The online success of publications that traditionally co-existed with the Times—such as America Online, Yahoo, and CNN—and the expansion of websites such as Monster.com and Craigslist that threatened The New York Times's classified advertisement model increased efforts to develop a website. nytimes.com debuted on January 19 and was formally announced three days later. The Times published domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski's essay Industrial Society and Its Future in 1995, contributing to his arrest after his brother David recognized the essay's penmanship. Following the establishment of nytimes.com, The New York Times retained its journalistic hesitancy under executive editor Joseph Lelyveld, refusing to publish an article reporting on the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal from Drudge Report. nytimes.com editors conflicted with print editors on several occasions, including wrongfully naming security guard Richard Jewell as the suspect in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing and covering the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in greater detail than the print edition. The New York Times Electronic Media Company was adversely affected by the dot-com crash. The Times extensively covered the September 11 attacks. The following day's print issue contained sixty-six articles, the work of over three hundred dispatched reporters. Journalist Judith Miller was the recipient of a package containing a white powder during the 2001 anthrax attacks, furthering anxiety within The New York Times. In September 2002, Miller and military correspondent Michael R. Gordon wrote an article for the Times claiming that Iraq had purchased aluminum tubes. The article was cited by then-president George W. Bush to claim that Iraq was constructing weapons of mass destruction; the theoretical use of aluminum tubes to produce nuclear material was speculation. In March 2003, the United States invaded Iraq, beginning the Iraq War. The New York Times attracted controversy after thirty-six articles from journalist Jayson Blair were discovered to be plagiarized. Criticism over then-executive editor Howell Raines and then-managing editor Gerald M. Boyd mounted following the scandal, culminating in a town hall in which a deputy editor criticized Raines for failing to question Blair's sources in article he wrote on the D.C. sniper attacks. In June 2003, Raines and Boyd resigned. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. appointed Bill Keller as executive editor. Miller continued to report on the Iraq War as a journalistic embed covering the country's weapons of mass destruction program. Keller and then-Washington bureau chief Jill Abramson unsuccessfully attempted to subside criticism. Conservative media criticized the Times over its coverage of missing explosives from the Al Qa'qaa weapons facility. An article in December 2005 disclosing warrantless surveillance by the National Security Agency contributed to further criticism from the George W. Bush administration and the Senate's refusal to renew the Patriot Act. In the Plame affair, a Central Intelligence Agency inquiry found that Miller had become aware of Valerie Plame's identity through then-vice president Dick Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby, resulting in Miller's resignation. During the Great Recession, The New York Times suffered significant fiscal difficulties as a consequence of the subprime mortgage crisis and a decline in classified advertising. Exacerbated by Rupert Murdoch's revitalization of The Wall Street Journal through his acquisition of Dow Jones & Company, The New York Times Company began enacting measures to reduce the newsroom budget. The company was forced to borrow $250 million (equivalent to $373.84 million in 2025) from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and fired over one hundred employees by 2010. nytimes.com's coverage of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, resulting in the resignation of then-New York governor Eliot Spitzer, furthered the legitimacy of the website as a journalistic medium. The Times's economic downturn renewed discussions of an online paywall; The New York Times implemented a paywall in March 2011. Abramson succeeded Keller, continuing her characteristic investigations into corporate and government malfeasance into the Times's coverage. Following conflicts with newly appointed chief executive Mark Thompson's ambitions, Abramson was dismissed by Sulzberger Jr., who named Dean Baquet as her replacement. Leading up to the 2016 presidential election, The New York Times elevated the Hillary Clinton email controversy into a national issue. Donald Trump's upset victory contributed to an increase in subscriptions to the Times. The New York Times experienced unprecedented indignation from Trump, who referred to publications such as the Times as "enemies of the people" at the Conservative Political Action Conference and tweeted his disdain for the newspaper and CNN. In October 2017, The New York Times published an article by journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey alleging that dozens of women had accused film producer and The Weinstein Company co-chairman Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. The investigation resulted in Weinstein's resignation and conviction, precipitated the Weinstein effect, and served as a catalyst for the #MeToo movement. The New York Times Company vacated the public editor position and eliminated the copy desk in November. Sulzberger Jr. announced his resignation in December 2017, appointing his son, A. G. Sulzberger, as publisher. Trump's relationship—equally diplomatic and negative—marked Sulzberger's tenure. In September 2018, The New York Times published "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration", an anonymous essay by a self-described Trump administration official later revealed to be Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor. The animosity—which extended to nearly three hundred instances of Trump disparaging the Times by May 2019—culminated in Trump ordering federal agencies to cancel their subscriptions to The New York Times and The Washington Post in October 2019. Trump's tax returns have been the subject of three separate investigations.[c] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Times began implementing data services and graphs. On May 23, 2020, The New York Times's front page solely featured U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, An Incalculable Loss, a subset of the 100,000 people in the United States who died of COVID-19, the first time that the Times's front page lacked images since they were introduced. Since 2020, The New York Times has focused on broader diversification, developing online games and producing television series. The New York Times Company acquired The Athletic in January 2022. Organization Since 1896, The New York Times has been published by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, having previously been published by Henry Jarvis Raymond until 1869 and by George Jones until 1896. Adolph Ochs published the Times until his death in 1935, when he was succeeded by his son-in-law, Arthur Hays Sulzberger. Sulzberger was publisher until 1961 and was succeeded by Orvil Dryfoos, his son-in-law, who served in the position until his death in 1963. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger succeeded Dryfoos until his resignation in 1992. His son, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., served as publisher until 2018. The New York Times's current publisher is A. G. Sulzberger, Sulzberger Jr.'s son. As of 2023, the Times's executive editor is Joseph Kahn and the paper's managing editors are Marc Lacey and Carolyn Ryan, having been appointed in June 2022. The New York Times's deputy managing editors are Sam Dolnick, Monica Drake, and Steve Duenes, and the paper's assistant managing editors are Matthew Ericson, Jonathan Galinsky, Hannah Poferl, Sam Sifton, Karron Skog, and Michael Slackman. The New York Times is owned by The New York Times Company, a publicly traded company. The New York Times Company, in addition to the Times, owns Wirecutter, The Athletic, The New York Times Cooking, and The New York Times Games, and acquired Serial Productions and Audm. The New York Times Company holds undisclosed minority investments in multiple other businesses, and formerly owned The Boston Globe and several radio and television stations. The New York Times Company is majority-owned by the Ochs-Sulzberger family through elevated shares in the company's dual-class stock structure held largely in a trust, in effect since the 1950s; as of 2022, the family holds ninety-five percent of The New York Times Company's Class B shares, allowing it to elect seventy percent of the company's board of directors. Class A shareholders have restrictive voting rights. As of 2023, The New York Times Company's chief executive is Meredith Kopit Levien, the company's former chief operating officer who was appointed in September 2020. As of March 2023, The New York Times Company employs 5,800 individuals, including 1,700 journalists according to deputy managing editor Sam Dolnick. Journalists for The New York Times may not run for public office, provide financial support to political candidates or causes, endorse candidates, or demonstrate public support for causes or movements. Journalists are subject to the guidelines established in "Ethical Journalism" and "Guidelines on Integrity". According to the former, Times journalists must abstain from using sources with a personal relationship to them and must not accept reimbursements or inducements from individuals who may be written about in The New York Times, with exceptions for gifts of nominal value. The latter requires attribution and exact quotations, though exceptions are made for linguistic anomalies. Staff writers are expected to ensure the veracity of all written claims, but may delegate researching obscure facts to the research desk. In March 2021, the Times established a committee to avoid journalistic conflicts of interest with work written for The New York Times, following columnist David Brooks's resignation from the Aspen Institute for his undisclosed work on the initiative Weave. The New York Times editorial board was established in 1896 by Adolph Ochs. With the opinion department, the editorial board is independent of the newsroom. Then-editor-in-chief Charles Ransom Miller served as opinion editor from 1883 until his death in 1922. Rollo Ogden succeeded Miller until his death in 1937. From 1937 to 1938, John Huston Finley served as opinion editor; in a prearranged plan, Charles Merz succeeded Finley. Merz served in the position until his retirement in 1961. John Bertram Oakes served as opinion editor from 1961 to 1976, when then-publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger appointed Max Frankel. Frankel served in the position until 1986, when he was appointed as executive editor. Jack Rosenthal was the opinion editor from 1986 to 1993. Howell Raines succeeded Rosenthal until 2001, when he was made executive editor. Gail Collins succeeded Raines until her resignation in 2006. From 2007 to 2016, Andrew Rosenthal was the opinion editor. James Bennet succeeded Rosenthal until his resignation in 2020. As of July 2024[update], the editorial board comprises thirteen opinion writers. The New York Times's opinion editor is Kathleen Kingsbury and the deputy opinion editor is Patrick Healy. The New York Times's editorial board was initially opposed to liberal beliefs, opposing women's suffrage in 1900 and 1914. The editorial board began to espouse progressive beliefs during Oakes's tenure, conflicting with the Ochs-Sulzberger family, of which Oakes was a member as Adolph Ochs's nephew; in 1976, Oakes publicly disagreed with Sulzberger's endorsement of Daniel Patrick Moynihan over Bella Abzug in the 1976 Senate Democratic primaries in a letter sent from Martha's Vineyard. Under Rosenthal, the editorial board took positions supporting assault weapons legislation and the legalization of marijuana, but publicly criticized the Obama administration over its portrayal of terrorism. In presidential elections, The New York Times has endorsed a total of twelve Republican candidates and thirty-two Democratic candidates, and has endorsed the Democrat in every election since 1960.[j] With the exception of Wendell Willkie, Republicans endorsed by the Times have won the presidency. In 2016, the editorial board issued an anti-endorsement against Donald Trump for the first time in its history. In February 2020, the editorial board reduced its presence from several editorials each day to occasional editorials for events deemed particularly significant. Since August 2024, the board no longer endorses candidates in local or congressional races in New York. Since 1940, editorial, media, and technology workers of The New York Times have been represented by the New York Times Guild. The Times Guild, along with the Times Tech Guild, are represented by the NewsGuild-CWA. In 1940, Arthur Hays Sulzberger was called upon by the National Labor Relations Board amid accusations that he had discouraged Guild membership in the Times. Over the next few years, the Guild would ratify several contracts, expanding to editorial and news staff in 1942 and maintenance workers in 1943. The New York Times Guild has walked out several times in its history, including for six and a half hours in 1981 and in 2017, when copy editors and reporters walked out at lunchtime in response to the elimination of the copy desk. On December 7, 2022, the union held a one-day strike, the first interruption to The New York Times since 1978. The New York Times Guild reached an agreement in May 2023 to increase minimum salaries for employees and a retroactive bonus. The Times Tech Guild is the largest technology union with collective bargaining rights in the United States. The guild held a second strike beginning on November 4, 2024, threatening the Times's coverage of the 2024 United States presidential election. Content As of August 2025, The New York Times has 11.8 million subscribers, with 11.3 million online-only subscribers and 580,000 print subscribers. The New York Times Company intends to have 15 million subscribers by 2027. The Times's shift towards subscription-based revenue with the debut of an online paywall in 2011 contributed to subscription revenue exceeding advertising revenue the following year, furthered by the 2016 presidential election and Donald Trump. In 2022, Vox wrote that The New York Times's subscribers skew "older, richer, whiter, and more liberal"; to reflect the general population of the United States, the Times has attempted to alter its audience by acquiring The Athletic, investing in verticals such as The New York Times Games, and beginning a marketing campaign showing diverse subscribers to the Times. The New York Times Company chief executive Meredith Kopit Levien stated that the average age of subscribers has remained constant. In October 2001, The New York Times began publishing DealBook, a financial newsletter edited by Andrew Ross Sorkin. The Times had intended to publish the newsletter in September, but delayed its debut following the September 11 attacks. A website for DealBook was established in March 2006. The New York Times began shifting towards DealBook as part of the newspaper's financial coverage in November 2010 with a renewed website and a presence in the Times's print edition. In 2011, the Times began hosting the DealBook Summit, an annual conference hosted by Sorkin. During the COVID-19 pandemic, The New York Times hosted the DealBook Online Summit in 2020 and 2021. The 2022 DealBook Summit featured—among other speakers—former vice president Mike Pence and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, culminating in an interview with former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried; FTX had filed for bankruptcy several weeks prior. The 2023 DealBook Summit's speakers included vice president Kamala Harris, Israeli president Isaac Herzog, and businessman Elon Musk. In June 2010, The New York Times licensed the political blog FiveThirtyEight in a three-year agreement. The blog, written by Nate Silver, had garnered attention during the 2008 presidential election for predicting the elections in forty-nine of fifty states. FiveThirtyEight appeared on nytimes.com in August. According to Silver, several offers were made for the blog; Silver wrote that a merger of unequals must allow for editorial sovereignty and resources from the acquirer, comparing himself to Groucho Marx. According to The New Republic, FiveThirtyEight drew as much as a fifth of the traffic to nytimes.com during the 2012 presidential election. In July 2013, FiveThirtyEight was sold to ESPN. In an article following Silver's exit, public editor Margaret Sullivan wrote that he was disruptive to the Times's culture for his perspective on probability-based predictions and scorn for polling—having stated that punditry is "fundamentally useless", comparing him to Billy Beane, who implemented sabermetrics in baseball. According to Sullivan, his work was criticized by several notable political journalists. The New Republic obtained a memo in November 2013 revealing then-Washington bureau chief David Leonhardt's ambitions to establish a data-driven newsletter with presidential historian Michael Beschloss, graphic designer Amanda Cox, economist Justin Wolfers, and The New Republic journalist Nate Cohn. By March, Leonhardt had amassed fifteen employees from within The New York Times; the newsletter's staff included individuals who had created the Times's dialect quiz, fourth down analyzer, and a calculator for determining buying or renting a home. The Upshot debuted in April 2014. Fast Company reviewed an article about Illinois Secure Choice—a state-funded retirement saving system—as "neither a terse news item, nor a formal financial advice column, nor a politically charged response to economic policy", citing its informal and neutral tone. The Upshot developed "the needle" for the 2016 presidential election and 2020 presidential elections, a thermometer dial displaying the probability of a candidate winning. In January 2016, Cox was named editor of The Upshot. Kevin Quealy was named editor in June 2022. The New York Times has said it is perceived as a liberal newspaper. An analysis by Pew Research Center in October 2014 placed the Times readership as ideologically liberal based on a scale of 10 political values questions. According to an internal readership poll conducted by The New York Times in 2019, eighty-four percent of readers identified as liberal. The New York Times has struggled internally with how to balance its coverage, dismissing criticism from the left for "sanewashing" right-wing viewpoints in its coverage of Donald Trump. In covering Israel's war on the Gaza Strip that began in 2023, The New York Times instructed its reporters to restrict use of the terms 'Palestine', 'genocide', and 'refugee camps' to specific usages, with data analysis showing a pattern of articles emphasizing Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians over a much larger number of Palestinian civilians killed by Israelis. The group Writers Against the War on Gaza wrote in the blog Mondoweiss that this has contrasted with The New York Times coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in which Russia is considered a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests, while Israel is considered an ally. In February 1942, The New York Times crossword debuted in The New York Times Magazine; according to Richard Shepard, the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 convinced then-publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger of the necessity of a crossword. The New York Times has published recipes since the 1850s and has had a separate food section since the 1940s. In 1961, restaurant critic Craig Claiborne published The New York Times Cookbook, an unauthorized cookbook that drew from the Times's recipes. Since 2010, former food editor Amanda Hesser has published The Essential New York Times Cookbook, a compendium of recipes from The New York Times. The Innovation Report in 2014 revealed that the Times had attempted to establish a cooking website since 1998, but faced difficulties with the absence of a defined data structure. In September 2014, The New York Times introduced NYT Cooking, an application and website. Edited by food editor Sam Sifton, the Times's cooking website features 21,000 recipes as of 2022. NYT Cooking features videos as part of an effort by Sifton to hire two former Tasty employees from BuzzFeed. In August 2023, NYT Cooking added personalized recommendations through the cosine similarity of text embeddings of recipe titles. The website also features no-recipe recipes, a concept proposed by Sifton. In May 2016, The New York Times Company announced a partnership with startup Chef'd to form a meal delivery service that would deliver ingredients from The New York Times Cooking recipes to subscribers; Chef'd shut down in July 2018 after failing to accrue capital and secure financing. The Hollywood Reporter reported in September 2022 that the Times would expand its delivery options to US$95 cooking kits curated by chefs such as Nina Compton, Chintan Pandya, and Naoko Takei Moore. That month, the staff of NYT Cooking went on tour with Compton, Pandya, and Moore in Los Angeles, New Orleans, and New York City, culminating in a food festival. In addition, The New York Times offered its own wine club originally operated by the Global Wine Company. The New York Times Wine Club was established in August 2009, during a dramatic decrease in advertising revenue. By 2021, the wine club was managed by Lot18, a company that provides proprietary labels. Lot18 managed the Williams Sonoma Wine Club and its own wine club Tasting Room. The New York Times archives its articles in a basement annex beneath its building known as "the morgue", a venture started by managing editor Carr Van Anda in 1907. The morgue comprises news clippings, a pictures library, and the Times's book and periodicals library. As of 2014, it is the largest library of any media company, dating back to 1851. In November 2018, The New York Times partnered with Google to digitize the Archival Library. Additionally, The New York Times has maintained a virtual microfilm reader known as TimesMachine since 2014. The service launched with archives from 1851 to 1980; in 2016, TimesMachine expanded to include archives from 1981 to 2002. The Times built a pipeline to take in TIFF images, article metadata in XML and an INI file of Cartesian geometry describing the boundaries of the page, and convert it into a PNG of image tiles and JSON containing the information in the XML and INI files. The image tiles are generated using GDAL and displayed using Leaflet, using data from a content delivery network. The Times ran optical character recognition on the articles using Tesseract and shingled and fuzzy string matched the result. The New York Times uses a proprietary content management system known as Scoop for its online content and the Microsoft Word-based content management system CCI for its print content. Scoop was developed in 2008 to serve as a secondary content management system for editors working in CCI to publish their content on the Times's website; as part of The New York Times's online endeavors, editors now write their content in Scoop and send their work to CCI for print publication. Since its introduction, Scoop has superseded several processes within the Times, including print edition planning and collaboration, and features tools such as multimedia integration, notifications, content tagging, and drafts. The New York Times uses private articles for high-profile opinion pieces, such as those written by Russian president Vladimir Putin and actress Angelina Jolie, and for high-level investigations. In January 2012, the Times released Integrated Content Editor (ICE), a revision tracking tool for WordPress and TinyMCE. ICE is integrated within the Times's workflow by providing a unified text editor for print and online editors, reducing the divide between print and online operations. By 2017, The New York Times began developing a new authoring tool to its content management system known as Oak, in an attempt to further the Times's visual efforts in articles and reduce the discrepancy between the mediums in print and online articles. The system reduces the input of editors and supports additional visual mediums in an editor that resembles the appearance of the article. Oak is based on ProseMirror, a JavaScript rich-text editor toolkit, and retains the revision tracking and commenting functionalities of The New York Times's previous systems. Additionally, Oak supports predefined article headers. In 2019, Oak was updated to support collaborative editing using Firebase to update editors's cursor status. Several Google Cloud Functions and Google Cloud Tasks allow articles to be previewed as they will be printed, and the Times's primary MySQL database is regularly updated to update editors on the article status. Style and design Since 1895, The New York Times has maintained a manual of style in several forms. The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage was published on the Times's intranet in 1999. The New York Times uses honorifics when referring to individuals. With the AP Stylebook's removal of honorifics in 2000 and The Wall Street Journal's omission of courtesy titles in May 2023, the Times is the only national newspaper that continues to use honorifics. According to former copy editor Merrill Perlman, The New York Times continues to use honorifics as a "sign of civility". The Times's use of courtesy titles led to an apocryphal rumor that the paper had referred to singer Meat Loaf as "Mr. Loaf". Several exceptions have been made; the former sports section and The New York Times Book Review do not use honorifics. A leaked memo following the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011 revealed that editors were given a last-minute instruction to omit the honorific from Osama bin Laden's name, consistent with deceased figures of historic significance, such as Adolf Hitler, Napoleon, and Vladimir Lenin. The New York Times uses academic and military titles for individuals prominently serving in that position. In 1986, the Times began to use Ms., and introduced the gender-neutral title Mx. in 2015. The New York Times uses initials when a subject has expressed a preference, such as Donald Trump. The New York Times maintains a strict but not absolute obscenity policy, including phrases. In a review of the Canadian hardcore punk band Fucked Up, music critic Kelefa Sanneh wrote that the band's name—entirely rendered in asterisks—would not be printed in the Times "unless an American president, or someone similar, says it by mistake"; The New York Times did not repeat then-vice president Dick Cheney's use of "fuck" against then-senator Patrick Leahy in 2004 or then-vice president Joe Biden's remarks that the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 was a "big fucking deal". The Times's profanity policy has been tested by former president Donald Trump. The New York Times published Trump's Access Hollywood tape in October 2016, containing the words "fuck", "pussy", "bitch", and "tits", the first time the publication had published an expletive on its front page, and repeated an explicit phrase for fellatio stated by then-White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci in July 2017. The New York Times omitted Trump's use of the phrase "shithole countries" from its headline in favor of "vulgar language" in January 2018. The Times banned certain words, such as "bitch", "whore", and "sluts", from Wordle in 2022. Journalists for The New York Times do not write their own headlines, but rather copy editors who specifically write headlines. The Times's guidelines insist headline editors get to the main point of an article but avoid giving away endings, if present. Other guidelines include using slang "sparingly", avoiding tabloid headlines, not ending a line on a preposition, article, or adjective, and chiefly, not to pun. The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage states that wordplay, such as "Rubber Industry Bounces Back", is to be tested on a colleague as a canary is to be tested in a coal mine; "when no song bursts forth, start rewriting". The New York Times has amended headlines due to controversy. In 2019, following two back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, the Times used the headline, "Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism", to describe then-president Donald Trump's words after the shootings. After criticism from FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver, the headline was changed to, "Assailing Hate But Not Guns". Online, The New York Times's headlines do not face the same length restrictions as headlines that appear in print; print headlines must fit within a column, often six words. Additionally, headlines must "break" properly, containing a complete thought on each line without splitting up prepositions and adverbs. Writers may edit a headline to fit an article more aptly if further developments occur. The Times uses A/B testing for articles on the front page, placing two headlines against each other. At the end of the test, the headlines that receives more traffic is chosen. The alteration of a headline regarding intercepted Russian data used in the Mueller special counsel investigation was noted by Trump in a March 2017 interview with Time, in which he claimed that the headline used the word "wiretapped" in the print version of the paper on January 20, while the digital article on January 19 omitted the word. The headline was intentionally changed in the print version to use "wiretapped" in order to fit within the print guidelines. The nameplate of The New York Times has been unaltered since 1967. In creating the initial nameplate, Henry Jarvis Raymond took as his model the British newspaper The Times, which used a Blackletter style called Textura, popularized following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and regional variations of Alcuin's script, as well as a period. With the change to The New-York Times on September 14, 1857, the nameplate followed. Under George Jones, the terminals of the "N", "r", and "s" were intentionally exaggerated into swashes. The nameplate in the January 15, 1894, issue trimmed the terminals once more, smoothed the edges, and turned the stem supporting the "T" into an ornament. The hyphen was dropped on December 1, 1896, after Adolph Ochs purchased the paper. The descender of the "h" was shortened on December 30, 1914. The largest change to the nameplate was introduced on February 21, 1967, when type designer Ed Benguiat redesigned the logo, most prominently turning the arrow ornament into a diamond. Notoriously, the new logo dropped the period that had followed the word Times up until that point; one reader compared the omission of the period to "performing plastic surgery on Helen of Troy." Picture editor John Radosta worked with a New York University professor to determine that dropping the period saved the paper US$41.28 (equivalent to $398.59 in 2025). Print edition As of December 2023, The New York Times has printed sixty thousand issues, a statistic represented in the paper's masthead to the right of the volume number, the Times's years in publication written in Roman numerals. The volume and issues are separated by four dots representing the edition number of that issue; on the day of the 2000 presidential election, the Times was revised four separate times, necessitating the use of an em dash in place of an ellipsis. The em dash issue was printed hundreds times over before being replaced by the one-dot issue. Despite efforts by newsroom employees to recycle copies sent to The New York Times's office, several copies were kept, including one put on display at the Museum at The Times. From February 7, 1898, to December 31, 1999, the Times's issue number was incorrect by five hundred issues, an error suspected by The Atlantic to be the result of a careless front page type editor. The misreporting was noticed by news editor Aaron Donovan, who was calculating the number of issues in a spreadsheet and noticed the discrepancy. The New York Times celebrated fifty thousand issues on March 14, 1995, an observance that should have occurred on July 26, 1996. The New York Times has reduced the physical size of its print edition while retaining its broadsheet format. The New-York Daily Times debuted at 18 inches (460 mm) across. By the 1950s, the Times was being printed at 16 inches (410 mm) across. In 1953, an increase in paper costs to US$10 (equivalent to $120.34 in 2025) a ton increased newsprint costs to US$21.7 million (equivalent to $326,110,074.63 in 2025) On December 28, 1953, the pages were reduced to 15.5 inches (390 mm). On February 14, 1955, a further reduction to 15 inches (380 mm) occurred, followed by 14.5 and 13.5 inches (370 and 340 mm). On August 6, 2007, the largest cut occurred when the pages were reduced to 12 inches (300 mm),[k] a decision that other broadsheets had previously considered. Then-executive editor Bill Keller stated that a narrower paper would be more beneficial to the reader but acknowledged a net loss in article space of five percent. In 1985, The New York Times Company established a minority stake in a US$21.7 million (equivalent to $326,110,074.63 in 2025) newsprint plant in Clermont, Quebec through Donahue Malbaie. The company sold its equity interest in Donahue Malbaie in 2017. The New York Times often uses large, bolded headlines for major events. For the print version of the Times, these headlines are written by one copy editor, reviewed by two other copy editors, approved by the masthead editors, and polished by other print editors. The process is completed before 8 p.m., but it may be repeated if further development occur, as did take place during the 2020 presidential election. On the day Joe Biden was declared the winner, The New York Times utilized a "hammer headline" reading, "Biden Beats Trump", in all caps and bolded. A dozen journalists discussed several potential headlines, such as "It's Biden" or "Biden's Moment", and prepared for a Donald Trump victory, in which they would use "Trump Prevails". During Trump's first impeachment, the Times drafted the hammer headline, "Trump Impeached". The New York Times altered the ligatures between the E and the A, as not doing so would leave a noticeable gap due to the stem of the A sloping away from the E. The Times reused the tight kerning for "Biden Beats Trump" and Trump's second impeachment, which simply read, "Impeached". In cases where two major events occur on the same day or immediately after each other, The New York Times has used a "paddle wheel" headline, where both headlines are used but split by a line. The term dates back to August 8, 1959, when it was revealed that the United States was monitoring Soviet missile firings and when Explorer 6—shaped like a paddle wheel—launched. Since then, the paddle wheel has been used several times, including on January 21, 1981, when Ronald Reagan was sworn in minutes before Iran released fifty-two American hostages, ending the Iran hostage crisis. At the time, most newspapers favored the end of the hostage crisis, but the Times placed the inauguration above the crisis. Other occasions in which the paddle wheel has been used include on July 26, 2000, when the 2000 Camp David Summit ended without an agreement and when Bush announced that Dick Cheney would be his running mate, and on June 24, 2016, when the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum passed, beginning Brexit, and when the Supreme Court deadlocked in United States v. Texas. The New York Times has run editorials from its editorial board on the front page twice. On June 13, 1920, the Times ran an editorial opposing Warren G. Harding, who was nominated during that year's Republican Party presidential primaries. Amid growing acceptance to run editorials on the front pages from publications such as the Detroit Free Press, The Patriot-News, The Arizona Republic, and The Indianapolis Star, The New York Times ran an editorial on its front page on December 5, 2015, following a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in which fourteen people were killed. The editorial advocates for the prohibition of "slightly modified combat rifles" used in the San Bernardino shooting and "certain kinds of ammunition". Conservative figures, including Texas senator Ted Cruz, The Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, Fox & Friends co-anchor Steve Doocy, and then-New Jersey governor Chris Christie criticized the Times. Talk radio host Erick Erickson acquired an issue of The New York Times to fire several rounds into the paper, posting a picture online. Since 1997, The New York Times's primary distribution center is located in College Point, Queens. The facility is 300,000 ft2 (28,000 m2) and employs 170 people as of 2017. The College Point distribution center prints 300,000 to 800,000 newspapers daily. On most occasions, presses start before 11 p.m. and finish before 3 a.m. A robotic crane grabs a roll of newsprint and several rollers ensure ink can be printed on paper. The final newspapers are wrapped in plastic and shipped out. As of 2018, the College Point facility accounted for 41 percent of production. Other copies are printed at 26 other publications, such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Dallas Morning News, The Santa Fe New Mexican, and the Courier Journal. With the decline of newspapers, particularly regional publications, the Times must travel further; for example, newspapers for Hawaii are flown from San Francisco on United Airlines, and Sunday papers are flown from Los Angeles on Hawaiian Airlines. Computer glitches, mechanical issues, and weather phenomena affect circulation but do not stop the paper from reaching customers. The College Point facility prints over two dozen other papers, including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. The New York Times has halted its printing process several times to account for major developments. The first printing stoppage occurred on March 31, 1968, when then-president Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would not seek a second term. Other press stoppages include May 19, 1994, for the death of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and July 17, 1996, for Trans World Airlines Flight 800. The 2000 presidential election necessitated two press stoppages. Al Gore appeared to concede on November 8, forcing then-executive editor Joseph Lelyveld to stop the Times's presses to print a new headline, "Bush Appears to Defeat Gore", with a story that stated George W. Bush was elected president. However, Gore held off his concession speech over doubts over Florida. Lelyveld reran the headline, "Bush and Gore Vie for an Edge". Since 2000, three printing stoppages have been issued for the death of William Rehnquist on September 3, 2005, for the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011, and for the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in the New York State Assembly and subsequent signage by then-governor Andrew Cuomo on June 24, 2011. Online platforms The New York Times website is hosted at nytimes.com. It has undergone several major redesigns and infrastructure developments since its debut. In April 2006, The New York Times redesigned its website with an emphasis on multimedia. In preparation for Super Tuesday in February 2008, the Times developed a live election system using the Associated Press's File Transfer Protocol (FTP) service and a Ruby on Rails application; nytimes.com experienced its largest traffic on Super Tuesday and the day after. The NYTimes application debuted with the introduction of the App Store on July 10, 2008. Engadget's Scott McNulty wrote critically of the app, negatively comparing it to The New York Times's mobile website. An iPad version with select articles was released on April 3, 2010, with the release of the first-generation iPad. In October, The New York Times expanded NYT Editors' Choice to include the paper's full articles. NYT for iPad was free until 2011. The Times applications on iPhone and iPad began offering in-app subscriptions in July 2011. The Times released a web application for iPad—featuring a format summarizing trending headlines on Twitter—and a Windows 8 application in October 2012. Efforts to ensure profitability through an online magazine and a "Need to Know" subscription emerged in Adweek in July 2013. In March 2014, The New York Times announced three applications—NYT Now, an application that offers pertinent news in a blog format, and two unnamed applications, later known as NYT Opinion and NYT Cooking—to diversify its product laterals. The Daily is the modern front page of The New York Times. The New York Times manages several podcasts, including multiple podcasts with Serial Productions. The Times's longest-running podcast is The Book Review Podcast, debuting as Inside The New York Times Book Review in April 2006. The New York Times's defining podcast is The Daily, a daily news podcast hosted by Michael Barbaro which debuted on February 1, 2017. Between March 2022 and March 2025, the approximately 30 minute programme was co-hosted with Sabrina Tavernise. Beginning in April 2025 Barbaro was joined by two new regular co-hosts, Natalie Kitroeff and Rachel Abrams. The Interview was launched in 2024 and is hosted weekly by David Marchese and Lulu Garcia-Navarro. Episodes typically last 40 to 50 minutes. Condensed versions of the interviews are published simultaneously in The New York Times Magazine. Guests have included politicians, actors, influential experts, media figures and high-profile writers. In October 2021, The New York Times began testing "New York Times Audio", an application featuring podcasts from the Times, audio versions of articles—including from other publications through Audm, and archives from This American Life. The application debuted in May 2023 exclusively on iOS for Times subscribers. New York Times Audio includes exclusive podcasts such as The Headlines, a daily news recap, and Shorts, short audio stories under ten minutes. In addition, a "Reporter Reads" section features Times journalists reading their articles and providing commentary. The New York Times has used video games as part of its journalistic efforts, among the first publications to do so, contributing to an increase in Internet traffic; the publication has also developed its own video games. In 2014, The New York Times Magazine introduced Spelling Bee, a word game in which players guess words from a set of letters in a honeycomb and are awarded points for the length of the word and receive extra points if the word is a pangram. The game was proposed by Will Shortz, created by Frank Longo, and has been maintained by Sam Ezersky. In May 2018, Spelling Bee was published on nytimes.com, furthering its popularity. In February 2019, the Times introduced Letter Boxed, in which players form words from letters placed on the edges of a square box, followed in June 2019 by Tiles, a matching game in which players form sequences of tile pairings, and Vertex, in which players connect vertices to assemble an image. In July 2023, The New York Times introduced Connections, in which players identify groups of words that are connected by a common property. In April, the Times introduced Digits, a game that required using operations on different values to reach a set number; Digits was shut down in August. In March 2024, The New York Times released Strands, a themed word search. In January 2022, The New York Times Company acquired Wordle, a word game developed by Josh Wardle in 2021, at a valuation in the "low-seven figures". The acquisition was proposed by David Perpich, a member of the Sulzberger family who proposed the purchase to Knight over Slack after reading about the game. The Washington Post purportedly considered acquiring Wordle, according to Vanity Fair. At the 2022 Game Developers Conference, Wardle stated that he was overwhelmed by the volume of Wordle facsimiles and overzealous monetization practices in other games. Concerns over The New York Times monetizing Wordle by implementing a paywall mounted; Wordle is a client-side browser game and can be played offline by downloading its webpage. Wordle moved to the Times's servers and website in February. The game was added to the NYT Games application in August, necessitating it be rewritten in the JavaScript library React. In November, The New York Times announced that Tracy Bennett would be the Wordle's editor. Other publications The New York Times Magazine and The Boston Globe Magazine are the only weekly Sunday magazines following The Washington Post Magazine's cancellation in December 2022. In February 2016, The New York Times introduced a Spanish website, The New York Times en Español. The website, intended to be read on mobile devices, would contain translated articles from the Times and reporting from journalists based in Mexico City. The Times en Español's style editor is Paulina Chavira, who has advocated for pluralistic Spanish to accommodate the variety of nationalities in the newsroom's journalists and wrote a stylebook for The New York Times en Español. Articles the Times intends to publish in Spanish are sent to a translation agency and adapted for Spanish writing conventions; the present progressive tense may be used for forthcoming events in English, but other tenses are preferable in Spanish. The Times en Español consults the Real Academia Española and Fundéu and frequently modifies the use of diacritics—such as using an acute accent for the Cártel de Sinaloa but not the Cartel de Medellín—and using the gender-neutral pronoun elle. Headlines in The New York Times en Español are not capitalized. The Times en Español publishes El Times, a newsletter led by Elda Cantú intended for all Spanish speakers. In September 2019, The New York Times ended The New York Times en Español's separate operations. A study published in The Translator in 2023 found that the Times en Español engaged in tabloidization. In June 2012, The New York Times introduced a Chinese website, 纽约时报中文, in response to Chinese editions created by The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Conscious to censorship, the Times established servers outside of China and affirmed that the website would uphold the paper's journalistic standards; the government of China had previously blocked articles from nytimes.com through the Great Firewall, and the website was blocked in China until August 2001 after then-general secretary Jiang Zemin met with journalists from The New York Times. Then-foreign editor Joseph Kahn assisted in the establishment of cn.nytimes.com, an effort that contributed to his appointment as executive editor in April 2022. In October 2012, 纽约时报中文 published an article detailing the wealth of then-premier Wen Jiabao's family. In response, the government of China blocked access to nytimes.com and cn.nytimes.com and references to the Times and Wen were censored on microblogging service Sina Weibo. In March 2015, a mirror of 纽约时报中文 and the website for GreatFire were the targets for a government-sanctioned distributed denial of service attack on GitHub in March 2015, disabling access to the service for several days. Chinese authorities requested the removal of The New York Times's news applications from the App Store in December 2016. Awards and recognition As of 2023, The New York Times has received 137 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any publication. The New York Times is considered a newspaper of record in the United States.[l] The Times is the largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States; as of 2022, The New York Times is the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States behind The Wall Street Journal. A study published in Science, Technology, & Human Values in 2013 found that The New York Times received more citations in academic journals than the American Sociological Review, Research Policy, or the Harvard Law Review. With sixteen million unique records, the Times is the third-most referenced source in Common Crawl, a collection of online material used in datasets such as GPT-3, behind Wikipedia and a United States patent database. The New Yorker's Max Norman wrote in March 2023 that the Times has shaped mainstream English usage. In a January 2018 article for The Washington Post, Margaret Sullivan stated that The New York Times affects the "whole media and political ecosystem". The New York Times's nascent success has led to concerns over media consolidation, particularly amid the decline of newspapers. In 2006, economists Lisa George and Joel Waldfogel examined the consequences of the Times's national distribution strategy and audience with circulation of local newspapers, finding that local circulation decreased among college-educated readers. The effect of The New York Times in this manner was observed in The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, the newspaper of record for Fargo, North Dakota. Axios founder Jim VandeHei opined that the Times is "going to basically be a monopoly" in an opinion piece written by then-media columnist and former BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief Ben Smith; in the article, Smith cites the strength of The New York Times's journalistic workforce, broadening content, and the expropriation of Gawker editor-in-chief Choire Sicha, Recode editor-in-chief Kara Swisher, and Quartz editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney. Smith compared the Times to the New York Yankees during their 1927 season containing Murderers' Row. Controversies Since 2003, studies analyzing coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the New York Times have demonstrated a bias against Palestinians and in favor of Israel.[m] The New York Times has received criticism for its coverage of the Gaza war and genocide. In April 2024, The Intercept reported that a November 2023 internal memorandum by Susan Wessling and Philip Pan instructed journalists to reduce using the terms "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" and to avoid using the phrase "occupied territory" in the context of Palestinian land, "Palestine" except in rare circumstances, and the term "refugee camps" to describe areas of Gaza despite recognition from the United Nations. A spokesperson from the Times stated that issuing guidance was standard practice. An analysis by The Intercept noted that The New York Times described Israeli deaths as a massacre nearly sixty times, but had only described Palestinian deaths as a massacre once. Writers and editors have left the newspaper due to its coverage of events in Gaza, including Jazmine Hughes and Jamie Lauren Keiles. In December 2023, The New York Times published an investigation titled "'Screams Without Words': How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7", alleging that Hamas weaponized sexual and gender-based violence during its armed incursion on Israel. The investigation was the subject of an article from The Intercept questioning the journalistic acumen of Anat Schwartz, a filmmaker involved in the inquiry who had no prior reporting experience and agreed with a post stating Israel should "violate any norm, on the way to victory", doubting the veracity of the opening claim that Gal Abdush was raped in a timespan disputed by her family, and alleging that the Times was pressured by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. The New York Times initiated an inquiry into the leaking of confidential information about the report to other outlets, which received criticism from NewsGuild of New York president Susan DeCarava for purported racial targeting; the Times's investigation was inconclusive, but found gaps in the way proprietary journalistic material is handled. The New York Times Building has been a site of protest action during the Gaza war and genocide, including a November 2023 sit-in demanding that The Times's editorial board publicly call for a ceasefire and accusing the media company of "complicity in laundering genocide", a February 29, 2024, protest and press conference following the release of The Intercept's critical investigation into the NYT "Screams Without Words" exposé, and an action on July 30, 2025, in which protesters spray-painted "NYT Lies, Gaza dies" on the building's glass facade. In addition, protesters blocked The New York Times's distribution center March 14, 2024 and executive editor Joseph Kahn's residence was splattered with red paint on August 25, 2025. The collective Writers Against the War on Gaza, which publishes the mock publication The New York War Crimes, has been associated with protests against The New York Times. On October 27, 2025, 300 writers—including scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals—pledged to boycott The New York Times and withhold contributions to the paper in protest of what they describe as its complicity in the Gaza genocide, demanding 1) a review of anti-Palestinian bias in the newsroom, 2) a retraction of "Screams Without Words", and 3) a call from the editorial board for a US arms embargo on Israel. Among the initial signatories, about 150 had previously contributed to the Times. The New York Times has received criticism regarding its coverage of transgender people. When it published an opinion piece by Weill Cornell Medicine professor Richard A. Friedman called "How Changeable Is Gender?" in August 2015, Vox's German Lopez criticized Friedman as suggesting that parents and doctors might be right in letting children suffer from severe dysphoria in case something changes down the line, and as implying that conversion therapy may work for transgender children. In February 2023, nearly one thousand current and former Times writers and contributors wrote an open letter addressed to standards editor Philip B. Corbett, criticizing the paper's coverage of transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people; some of the Times's articles have been cited in state legislatures attempting to justify criminalizing gender-affirming care. Contributors wrote in the open letter that "the Times has in recent years treated gender diversity with an eerily familiar mix of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language, while publishing reporting on trans children that omits relevant information about its sources."[n] According to former Times journalist Billie Jean Sweeney, a push for writers to challenge “every aspect of being trans”, ranging from gender-inclusive language to access to medical care, came from the top in 2022 after leadership was handed over to A. G. Sulzberger, Joe Kahn, and Carolyn Ryan; as part of an effort to win good will with the Trump campaign without incurring backlash from the general populace. The Times has continually denied any bias in its reporting, insisting that its coverage of “fiercely contested medical and legal debates” is fair and balanced, and that it would not tolerate journalists protesting its transgender coverage. Notes References Further reading External links |
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Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Game_Studios] | [TOKENS: 4459] |
Contents Xbox Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, other desktop operating systems, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, web-based portals, and other game consoles. Xbox Game Studios, alongside ZeniMax Media and Activision Blizzard, are part of the Microsoft Gaming division led by Phil Spencer, who is chief executive officer of the division. History Early in the history of Microsoft the software company published video games like Olympic Decathlon, but Steve Ballmer reportedly persuaded Bill Gates to deemphasize them to professionalize the company's image. By the early 1990s, Microsoft published subLOGIC's Microsoft Flight Simulator and several Microsoft Entertainment Pack compilations of minigames, but was best known for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. In 1992, the company began increasing its focus on games. It announced Microsoft Golf for Windows, based on Access Software's Links, and expanded the games division from two to six people with the intention of commissioning more products from other developers. Microsoft acquired FASA Interactive in 1999 for its MechWarrior game series, Access Software, and Aces Game Studio, which worked on Flight Simulator. The Games Group had also established long-term publishing deals with developers like Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires, Age of Mythology), and Digital Anvil (Starlancer). Under Microsoft, FASA Interactive was renamed FASA Studio, and Access Software became Salt Lake Games Studio. Microsoft transitioned the Games Group into a wholly separate division named Microsoft Games around March 2000, along with other consolidation of games-related projects within Microsoft. This came alongside the public announcement of the first Xbox console, with Microsoft Games to serve as a developer and publisher of titles for both Xbox and Windows. Robbie Bach, who held executive positions in Microsoft's entertainment divisions, was named senior vice-president while Ed Fries, a member of the former Games Group and instrumental for some of its acquisitions, was named as vice-president of the new division. Shane Kim served as the division's general manager. In 2001, the division was renamed Microsoft Game Studios (MGS). FASA Studio and Salt Lake Games Studio remained with Microsoft Game Studios. Digital Anvil and Ensemble Studios were acquired by Microsoft in 2000 and 2001, respectively. One of the first major studio acquisitions following the division's formation was Bungie in June 2000, in the midst of its development of Halo: Combat Evolved. With the acquisition, Halo, which had been planned for release on personal computers, became a Microsoft-published title as well as a launch title for the Xbox on its release in 2001. Turn 10 Studios was established in 2001 for work on the Forza series of racing games. In September 2002, Microsoft Game Studios acquired Rare, who had previously extensively developed for Nintendo platforms. In 2003, Microsoft recognized that the EA Sports label was in a far stronger position to develop sports games for the Xbox console, and among realignment steps, laid off about 78 employees within Microsoft Game Studios that were developing sports games in-house, and sold Salt Lake Games Studio, now named Indie Games to Take-Two Interactive in 2004, where it became Indie Built. Peter Moore was named in 2003 as vice-president of Microsoft's Home and Entertainment Division, which included MGS, the Xbox division, and Microsoft's home hardware market, reporting to Bach. In addition to pulling big publishers like Electronic Arts to the Xbox platform, Moore tried to push the Xbox in Japan by courting Japanese developers with support from MGS publishing. Such games included Phantom Dust and Blinx: The Time Sweeper. Around 2004, MGS established Carbonated Games as an internal studio for the development of casual games for Microsoft's web games portal MSN Games, on the chat client MSN Messenger, and on the Xbox Live platform. Kim and Fries were instrumental for securing MGS' publishing deal with Lionhead Studios for their 2004 game Fable, which would serve as the first major role-playing game on the Xbox platform. Subsequently, in 2006, MGS acquired Lionhead Studios along with the Fable properties, as it sought to secure a Fable sequel for the upcoming Xbox 360. MGS folded the staff of Digital Anvil into the larger studio in 2005, following the release of 2003's Brute Force, and closed down the studio entirely in 2006. FASA Studio was closed three-and-a-half months after the May 2007 release of their last game, Shadowrun. In 2007, MGS announced the opening of a European office in Reading, England, headed by general manager Phil Spencer. Moore opted to leave Microsoft in July 2007, so to move back to the San Francisco Bay area with his family and to rejoin Electronic Arts. Don Mattrick was named as his replacement as the new vice-president of the Xbox and Games Business, which included MGS. Later in 2007, Bungie amicably split from MGS to become a privately held independent company, with MGS retaining the rights to the Halo property. Bungie continued to develop two additional Halo games for MGS, Halo 3: ODST (2009) and Halo: Reach (2010). Simultaneously, MGS founded 343 Industries as an internal studio to develop future Halo games without Bungie. In 2008, MGS disbanded Carbonated Games and announced the formation of internal studio Xbox Live Productions to develop "high-quality digital content" for Xbox Live Arcade. Microsoft as a whole announced layoffs of up to 5,000 jobs across all divisions in January 2009 due to slowing sales of personal computers as a result of the Great Recession. Within MGS, the studio had already planned to disband Ensemble Studios after the completion of Halo Wars in early 2009, while the new layoffs led MGS to also disband Aces Game Studio. Microsoft acquired Vancouver-based BigPark in May 2009, using the studio to develop some of the first games for the upcoming Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360. Later in 2009, Phil Spencer was promoted to corporate vice-president of MGS, in order to replace the retiring Shane Kim. In 2010, MGS formed a mobile gaming studio, MGS Mobile Gaming, focused on developing gaming and entertainment multimedia for Windows Phone devices. It also expanded Rare with a second studio in Digbeth, Birmingham. By the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 in June 2011, Microsoft Game Studios was quietly renamed to Microsoft Studios. Later in 2011, Microsoft Studios acquired Twisted Pixel Games. In early December 2011, Microsoft Studios created Microsoft Casual Games, a division to revamp its past casual games for Windows (like Windows Solitaire and MSN Games) using more up-to-date software delivery platforms. In 2012, Phil Harrison, the former Sony worldwide studios head, joined Microsoft as head of Microsoft Studios Europe and IEB. Microsoft Studios acquired developer Press Play, known for developing Tentacles and Max & the Magic Marker. They also announced a new development studio in London, England. Later in 2012, Microsoft downsized Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver due to the cancellation of the Kinect family title Project Columbia and announced that the ongoing development of free-to-play title Microsoft Flight had been ceased due to portfolio evaluation. The reduced Vancouver studios were renamed to Black Tusk Studios and tasked with making similar franchise-building title as Halo. In 2013, Microsoft established European studio Lift London, a studio that would create cloud-based games for tablets, mobiles and TVs. Later, they created a new "Deep Tech" team inside its Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE) unit; the new team is charged with working with top developers outside the company to build next-generation applications on top of Microsoft platforms. While Mattrick had overseen much of the development of Microsoft's next console, the Xbox One, he left in July 2013, prior to its release, to take over as CEO of Zynga. Mattrick was succeeded by Julie Larson-Green, who was named the president of the Devices and Studios Engineering Group, following a realignment of Microsoft's divisions, overseeing both the Xbox hardware divisions and Microsoft Studios. Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in February 2014. At this time, Microsoft was facing strong competition in the consumer market, and within the gaming sector, the Xbox One (released in 2013) was more expensive than competitors and had too much focus on non-gaming functions. Under Nadella's direction, Phil Spencer was named the new head of Microsoft Studios to replace Jason Holtman, who had only been its lead for the prior six months. Spencer began looking for ways to expand Microsoft Studios to make it a profitable division for Microsoft, and began negotiations for the acquititions of Mojang, the developers behind Minecraft, in late 2014. Microsoft spent US$2.5 billion to acquire the studio, and upon the deal's completion in November, the studio's key founding personnel, Markus Persson, Jakob Porsér and Carl Manneh, departed Mojang. As a result, Persson became valued around US$1.3 billion. Microsoft Studios committed to keeping Minecraft available across multiple platforms, including rival PlayStation consoles. Matt Booty, the studio's corporate vice-president in 2020, said the acquisition of Mojang served as the template for later acquisitions, as Mojang was left to run as an "unplugged studio" with limited integration into the Microsoft corporation, minimizing the disruption of Mojang's normal day-to-day business matters nor impeding on the studio's freedom. Additional intellectual property (IP) acquisitions by Microsoft Studios in 2014 included a publishing contract with Undead Labs for their game State of Decay, the rights to the Gears of War series from Epic Games, and the Rise of IP (Rise of Nations and Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends) from Big Huge Games. Microsoft Studios assigned Gears of War to Black Tusk Studios, which was later rebranded in 2015 as The Coalition. In July 2014, it was announced that Xbox Entertainment Studios would be closed in the following months; the closure was completed by October 29. On March 4, 2015, Microsoft announced that they were merging UK-based studios, Lift London and Soho Productions for further games development, with the amalgam continuing to operate under the Lift London name. On March 7, Microsoft announced at the Game Developers Conference that HoloLens games were coming to Xbox One. On March 9, Microsoft announced that Kudo Tsunoda's role was expanding and that he would be the new studio team leader for studios such as Press Play, Lift London and a new internal studio called Decisive Games. Decisive Games was previously mentioned in job postings, saying that they were hiring for work on a "beloved strategy game" for Xbox One and PC, but this is the first public acknowledgement of the team's existence as a first-party studio. Twisted Pixel and Microsoft Studios agreed to split in September 2015. Kudo Tsunoda left the Xbox division in November 2015 for the development of HoloLens and Microsoft Edge, and other projects that could improve means of human interaction, including voice and gesture. Tsunoda's role was filled by Hanno Lemke and Shannon Loftis. In 2016, Microsoft was perceived as "unifying PC and Xbox One" platforms. In March 2016, Microsoft canceled development of two major projects: Lionhead's Fable Legends and Press Play's Project Knoxville, shuttering both studios in the following months. Around the same time, changes to Microsoft Studios' website indicated that further studios—BigPark, Good Science Studio, Leap Experience Pioneers (LXP), Function Studios and State of the Art (SOTA)—had been closed, Microsoft Studios clarified that all of them had been consolidated into other Microsoft Studios teams over the past several years. In September 2017, Spencer was promoted to the senior leadership team, gaining the title of "executive vice-president of gaming". At this point, Microsoft Studios directly reported to Nadella. In January 2018, Matt Booty was promoted from leader in the Minecraft games business to corporate vice-president of Microsoft Studios. On June 10, 2018, during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018, Microsoft announced the acquisitions of Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Undead Labs and Compulsion Games, as well as the opening of a new studio in Santa Monica, California, entitled The Initiative, which would be led by the former Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher. In November, Microsoft Studios announced further acquisitions with Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment. The studio rebranded itself on February 5, 2019, as Xbox Game Studios, as to reflect Microsoft's intent to use the Xbox brand to support gaming across all the devices it supports. At E3 2019, Xbox Game Studios announced it had acquired Double Fine, and established a new internal studio dedicated to Age of Empires headed by Shannon Loftis, bringing their total studio count to fifteen. This studio, later named World's Edge, does not directly develop any games, but oversees efforts from external studios, such as Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires and Tantalus Media, to assure the series is being developed in the right direction, according to creative director Adam Isgreen. Booty has stated that with studios like Obsidian, Ninja Theory, and Double Fine, which have traditionally supported multiplatform games, they will determine if it makes sense for their future products to be treated as Microsoft-exclusive content for Xbox and Windows computers, or to allow these to be published across multiple platforms. That decision will be based on a "network effect", whether having these games on other platforms will better support the franchise and thus worthwhile for Microsoft to help dedicate resources towards it, such as they had with Minecraft. Xbox Game Studios has allowed some of the content developed by its studios or that was previously published exclusively for the Xbox and Windows systems to be released on Nintendo systems, notably the Nintendo Switch versions of Cuphead from Studio MDHR and Ori and the Blind Forest from Moon Studios, and allowing for the titular characters from Rare's Banjo-Kazooie into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, the division stated that these releases were generally "existing commitments to other platforms" that they allowed studios to honor, but they otherwise have "no plans to further expand our exclusive first party games to other consoles." Near the end of 2019, with the combined fifteen studios now under Xbox Game Studios, Booty stated that they now had more games than ever to handle, and were likely not going to acquire any additional studios in the near future, stating "we've been shifting our focus inside Xbox Game Studios from acquisition and growth, to a phase of execution and delivery". Additionally, as Microsoft started promotion of its fourth-generation of Xbox, including the Xbox Series X, Booty stated that titles developed by Xbox Game Studios in year or two following its release will not be exclusively for the new generation of consoles, but instead will support both Xbox One and the new console, with some games receiving enhanced performance when played on the new console lineup. Booty said that with the large number of studios they had recently acquired, as well as ongoing external partnerships and their Xbox Game Pass service, the Studios are able to support a "breadth of offerings in the portfolio" designed to attract a large number of players. Further, in an interview in November 2020, Phil Spencer said during an interview regarding the future of the Xbox brand that he intends to put more focus on outputting RPGs, which had to that point been underserved. Microsoft and ZeniMax Media announced on September 21, 2020, that Microsoft planned to acquire ZeniMax and its family of studios, which include Bethesda Game Studios, Arkane Studios, id Software, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, and ZeniMax Online Studios, for over US$7.5 billion in cash. According to Spencer, the ZeniMax acquisition was intended to give Microsoft a large library of games known around the world, and to expand the library of Xbox Game Pass and XCloud. However, during 2023 hearings regarding the Federal Trade Commission's concern over the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, Spencer said that Sony Interactive Entertainment had made sways at Bethesda to keep Starfield as a PlayStation-exclusive, further prompting Microsoft to purchase Zenimax. Both U.S. and European Union regulatory agencies approved the acquisition by early March 2021, and the acquisition was formally completed by March 9, 2021. The total price of the deal was $8.1 billion Bethesda Softworks, the primarily publisher for all of ZeniMax's games, remained as an operational unit under Microsoft with the acquisition and retained all its current leadership. With the acquisition, future games from the studios will be exclusive to Xbox consoles, but existing commitments to other platforms (such as Arkane Studios' Deathloop and Tango Gameworks' Ghostwire: Tokyo, which are contractually exclusive to PlayStation 5 for a period of 12 months before their release on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S) will still be honored. Spencer stated that Game Pass was also fundamental driver for the acquisition. A preliminary injunction to block the acquisition had been sought in an ongoing class-action lawsuit that ZeniMax faced over Fallout 4, with the plaintiffs in the case arguing that Microsoft could shield ZeniMax's assets from damages should they be found liable after the acquisition. The ZeniMax Board of Directors was dissolved following the Microsoft purchase. On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in an all-cash deal valued at $68.7 billion. Microsoft stated that this acquisition would make it the third-largest gaming company by revenue, following Tencent and Sony. With the announcement, Microsoft also announced a major change to its corporate structure, with Phil Spencer becoming CEO of the new division Microsoft Gaming, with Matt Booty leading Xbox Game Studios under it. Once approved, Activision Blizzard would then become a subdivision of Microsoft Gaming. The deal was cleared by various national regulators by October 13, 2023, with Microsoft closing the deal the same day. During litigation on the merger with the United States Federal Trade Commission, internal documents from Microsoft c. 2020 show strong interest in re-acquiring Bungie, or acquiring Sega's game development companies, Supergiant Games, Niantic, Inc., Thunderful Group, Zynga, IO Interactive, Scopely, or Playrix as part of Xbox Game Studios, as well as publisher Square Enix to help bolster its Asian presence and mobile market share. In January 2023, Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees, which represented about 5% of its global workforce. Included in those layoffs were many employees from 343 Industries, The Coalition, and Bethesda Game Studios. On October 26, 2023, Microsoft announced the promotion of several employees in the company, including Sarah Bond being promoted to president of Xbox, overseeing all Xbox platform, business, and hardware work, and Matt Booty promoted from president of Xbox to president of Game Content and Studios, including the new responsibility of overseeing ZeniMax and Bethesda, with Jamie Leder still running Zenimax as a limited integration entity, but now reporting to Matt. In the wake of Matt Booty's promotion, Alan Hartman, then the head of Turn 10, was subsequently promoted to head of Xbox Game Studios. On October 6, 2024, 343 Industries officially announced their rebranding as Halo Studios, additionally confirming that multiple Halo games were in development and that said projects would now use Unreal Engine 5 as opposed to the proprietary Slipspace Engine that powered Halo Infinite. On October 14, Rare creative lead Craig Duncan was announced to be succeeding Alan Hartman as head of Xbox Game Studios beginning in November 2024, with Hartman retiring after a three-decade tenure at Microsoft. In July 2025, Microsoft Gaming performed a business restructuring ahead of the new financial year, which resulted in layoffs at Xbox Game Studios Rare, Compulsion Games, Undead Labs and Turn 10 Studios. The latter, who conceived and developed the Forza Motorsport series, was reported to have lost almost half of its workforce and was anticipated to be restructured as a support studio for Motorsport's sister series Forza Horizon and developments for the ForzaTech engine, according to former content coordinator Fred Russell. In addition, Rare's action-adventure game Everwild ceased production, while Microsoft also canceled the Perfect Dark reboot and closed its developer The Initiative simultaneously. Alongside Everwild's cancelation, Rare veteran and designer Gregg Mayles also departed the company after 35 years, alongside producer Louise O'Connor. Over 2024 and 2025, a series of video games published by Microsoft Gaming divisions, most notably Xbox Game Studios' titles, were released on PlayStation and Nintendo consoles under an initiative to pivot focus from the Xbox series of consoles and eventually cease to produce exclusive titles for the consoles like Sega. Xbox Game Studios had also released Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo 64 video games on the Nintendo Switch Online service in 2024, all of whom were developed by Rare and in some cases, formerly published by Nintendo. Studios Games published References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Minecraft_Movie#cite_ref-:19_173-1] | [TOKENS: 6034] |
Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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Contents Template talk:Minecraft wonder quest someone add Wonder Quest (web series) to this. im not tryna waste my time editing it in. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Yall are smart (talk • contribs) 22:11, 1 May 2020 (UTC)[reply] Revised Template It seems like the best compromise would be to revert to my last edit, then remove the Minecraft clones section. The developers section can then refer to the freelancers, allowing us to include them, Dissident93. Squid45 (talk) 09:55, 31 March 2021 (UTC)[reply] Add an "Alex" page? I know the page for all the 1.19+ characters are not needed, but Alex is still great part of the game's default character history Libresoldier79 (talk) 21:17, 5 December 2024 (UTC)[reply] |
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Contents A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. 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, who 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. to develop the project. Throughout 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 premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release in 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 Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex. Production 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. 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 (through its executive Mary Parent), 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 (2016), 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 [Abdy] and Mike [De Luca] started that they reignited the project and it got made." Hess' involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing with Legendary never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. He later stated that he enjoyed trying to "adapt something that doesn't have a story – it's an open sandbox game", and hoped to find an opportunity for a "fun, ridiculous movie". The film's final writing credits went to Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, who wrote the film from a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer. Off-screen Additional Literary Material credit was given to Hess, McElhenney, Fuchs, Megan Amram, Kevin Biegel, John Francis Daley, Dana Fox, Hannah Friedman, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Augusta Jackson, Lauryn Kahn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Zak Penn, Simon Rich, Peter Sollett, Laura Steinel, Jon Spaihts, Oren Uziel, and Ben Wexler. While adapting Minecraft into a film, the production crew aimed to make sure that the objects present in the film were faithful to the game, made up only of cubes. This included everything from trees to fruit.: 2:00–2:29 Several YouTubers and members of the Minecraft community were present during the production of the film, with YouTuber Mumbo Jumbo contributing towards designing some of the props.: 2:00–2:29 When writing and directing the film, the team opted to make a story based on Minecraft, rather than making an official canon story, which they viewed as in-line with Minecraft's nature as a sandbox game that lets players create their own stories. As such, the film was titled A Minecraft Movie, rather than The Minecraft Movie. This concept is also applied to the film's depiction of one of Minecraft's characters, Steve, which the production crew described Jack Black's version as one of many Steves not meant to represent the "Steve" present in Minecraft. James Thomas served as the film's editor. While A Minecraft Movie is predominantly a live action film, it uses a heavy amount of CGI to simulate the terrain, animals, monsters, and other objects. Green-screens and in-studio lighting were also used extensively. 3D models were imported into Unreal Engine to create virtual environments of various sets, which were used throughout the production of the film. Visual effects for the film were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain, with Dan Lemmon serving as visual effects supervisor. Around the same time that Hess was announced to direct the film, it was also stated that Momoa would star in the film. In May 2023, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast, while Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast in November, and Emma Myers joined the cast in December. Jack Black, who previously collaborated with Hess on Nacho Libre in 2006, joined the cast in January 2024, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. Originally, Berry was supposed to play Steve while Black was set to only appear as a cameo in the form of a talking pig, but due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Berry had to vacate the role, with Black taking over the role of Steve. According to producer Torfi Frans Olafsson, Black's depiction of Steve was "specific to him". At the same time as Black's casting, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement were also cast in then-undisclosed roles. YouTuber Valkyrae was originally set to appear in the film, but was removed after she openly accused Momoa of mistreating the cast and production crew. Principal photography for the film began in January 2024 near Auckland, and concluded by April of that year. A majority of the scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho were filmed in Huntly, with additional production taking place at Helensville, Auckland Film Studios, and Settlers Country Manor. Originally, filming was going to begin in August 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Grant Major served as the production designer, and Enrique Chediak served as the cinematographer. Music Mark Mothersbaugh composed the original score, while Gabe Hilfer and Karyn Rachtman serve as music supervisors. Mothersbaugh incorporated "nods" to the music of the game by C418, and said that the score was meant to balance the "charm" of the characters with the action, while retaining a "depth and emotional resonance". From the Minecraft soundtrack, C418's title track plays during the opening credits, and his song "Dragon Fish" plays during a scene with pandas; Lena Raine's track "Pigstep" features during the "Nether's Got Talent" sequence. The film includes several original songs performed by Black, including "I Feel Alive". It was written by Black, and features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Mark Ronson on both rhythm guitar and bass. Brooks also provides backup vocals. The song was released as a single prior to the release of the film on March 20, 2025. Mothersbaugh's score, along with original songs by Benee, Dayglow, and Dirty Honey, was released digitally on March 28. The film also features an instrumental rendition of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" performed by Jamieson Shaw. Another song in the film, "Steve's Lava Chicken", went viral online after the film's release and charted in several territories. The song became the shortest song to reach the Top 40 of the UK singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer, set to the Beatles's "Magical Mystery Tour", was released on September 4, 2024. Audience reactions to the teaser were noted as "divided" or "generally negative", with criticism for the CGI, design, and live-action nature of the film. Andrew Webster of The Verge said that besides its "unsettling imagery", it "looks like some silly family fun". Tom Power of TechRadar could not decide whether it was "drop-dead gorgeous or the stuff of nightmares". Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, praised the trailer on Twitter, saying "Ok i'm in Wow this is a weird feeling." Various clips and images from the trailer, such as the designs of a bleating pink sheep and a white llama, and Jack Black saying "I... am Steve", were ridiculed by online commenters. A second trailer, set to MGMT's "Time to Pretend", was released on November 19, to a more positive response from many viewers. A final trailer for the film was released on February 27, and a final teaser for the film was released on March 27. A few days before the film's release, a workprint version featuring incomplete visual effects and CGI, missing credits, and significant chroma key masking errors was leaked onto various piracy websites and spread on social media platforms such as Twitter. Release A Minecraft Movie had its official premiere at the Leicester Square in London, England, on March 30, 2025, and was released theatrically in IMAX in the United States and Sweden by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4.[c] The release of the film coincided with Mojang's collaboration with various brands to create promotional products for the film, including action figures of the characters, "creeper green" vanilla milk from TruMoo, Wallpaper Themes for Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV, and Samsung Family Hub SpaceMax Smart Fridge Freezer offered by Samsung, and special Happy Meals offered by McDonald's. The unusual nature of these products, such as the "uncanny" appearance of the Jack Black action figure, garnered both attention and some criticism, though the "Nether Flame Sauce" hot dipping sauce from the McDonald's promotion was lauded for its spice and suitability with Chicken McNuggets. A Minecraft Movie was released for digital download on May 13, 2025, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 24. It was released on HBO Max on June 20. Reception A Minecraft Movie grossed $424.1 million in the United States and Canada and $537.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $961.2 million. In the United States and Canada, A Minecraft Movie was released alongside Hell of a Summer, and was initially projected to gross $65–70 million from 4,263 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $80 million. It made an estimated $10.6 million from Thursday night previews, topping Five Nights at Freddy's' $10.3 million for best total by a video game adaptation, and increasing weekend projections to $80–100 million. After making $58 million on its first day (including previews), estimates were again revised to $135–150 million. It ended up debuting with $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie domestically, which also featured Black, as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a video game. The film had the third-highest Warner Bros. opening weekend, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the company's highest April opening weekend, beating out Clash of the Titans. It also beat out Captain America: Brave New World to achieve the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. Additionally, A Minecraft Movie earned the third-highest April opening weekend, trailing Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and was the second-highest for a Legendary production, only behind Jurassic World. Overall, it would score the fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2 and Beauty and the Beast. The movie also marked the highest opening weekend for Jared Hess (surpassing Nacho Libre), Danielle Brooks (surpassing The Angry Birds Movie) and Jennifer Coolidge (surpassing American Pie 2). In its second weekend, A Minecraft Movie grossed $78.5 million. Within its first seven days of release, it became the first film of 2025 to reach the $200 million mark domestically, replacing Captain America: Brave New World as the market's highest-grossing film of the year. It also became the second-highest-grossing movie based on a video game, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its third weekend, A Minecraft Movie, grossing $40.5 million, would drop to second place after Warner Bros.' new release Sinners grossed $48 million, in what was considered to be an upset; it was the first time one studio had two films gross more than $40 million over the same weekend since 2009. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 190 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Ostensibly a film about celebrating creativity, A Minecraft Movie provides a colorful sandbox for Jack Black and Jason Momoa to amusingly romp around in a story curiously constructed from conventional building blocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience reactions to the film were more positive in comparison to critics; filmgoers polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while 67% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film. Kids under the age of 12 gave the film an average rating of five out of five stars, while parents gave an average of four and a half out of five stars. Critics were divided on the film's plot and whether or not A Minecraft Movie was a faithful adaptation of the game, as well as if it made sense to viewers unfamiliar with it. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter and Jesse Hassenger of IGN both believed that the film's plot was confusing. Gyarkye felt that it struggled to maintain a balance between appeasing the Minecraft fandom and writing a film that made sense to a general audience, and Hassenger said that the film was "conceptually muddy" and "confusingly and erratically presented". Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press believed that the film would likely make no sense to a viewer unfamiliar with the source material, but still believed that it was a faithful adaptation. However, he did highlight the film's featuring of concepts not present within the game itself to enable plot progression. Contrarily, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence believed that the plot was fully comprehensible to someone unfamiliar with the game. Stephen Thompson of NPR stated that "turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge, because the film has a lot of character development to catch up on. But, as The Lego Movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right". Some reviewers viewed the fan service present within the film positively, particularly highlighting the tribute to Technoblade. The performances of the cast, particularly Black and Momoa, were praised, with many critics viewing them as helping alleviate or distract from problems present within the film's plot. Miller and Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly both felt that the story was not the main priority of the film and could be ignored in favor of the performance of the actors, the former believing that the film was mainly made with the intent of having fun. However, some viewed that the characters, despite the performances of their actors, were generally underdeveloped. The sub-plot involving Coolidge's character dating a villager, while viewed as generally unnecessary or relatively thin in terms of character development, was subject to some praise as well. Some reviewers questioned the purpose or value of the film, with some viewing it as nothing more than a product with the intent of promoting Minecraft. Both Kevin Maher of The Times and David Fear of Rolling Stone likened the film to a corporate cash-grab, viewing it as existing with the sole purpose of promoting the Minecraft brand and offering nothing else of value. Maher further viewed the film as lacking a level of versatility present in other video game adaptations, while Fear believed that the film was intentionally confusing so that it would stay in the minds of people longer, and therefore encourage them to purchase merchandise. While Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent believed that the idea behind a live-action Minecraft adaptation was fundamentally flawed and destroyed the spirit of the source material, she felt that the film had "genuine intent" and was not like other adaptations that she viewed as existing solely for the sake of profit. The film has sparked boisterous reactions and disorderly conduct from viewers, particularly Generation Z American and British adolescent boys, with some partaking in a viral Internet phenomenon on TikTok, alongside other social media platforms. Participants would often react enthusiastically to moments in the film that have been the subject of Internet memes, such as spontaneously erupting into loud cheers, jumping in excitement, dancing, or throwing popcorn when Steve exclaims "Chicken jockey!" Other viral lines include "Flint and steel!" and "I… am Steve", though neither approached the frenzy surrounding "Chicken jockey!" In one screening, viral videos emerged documenting audience members hoisting a live chicken after the quote and promptly ejected from the theater at Provo Towne Centre in Provo, Utah; another involved a group setting off fire extinguishers and smoke bombs, suffocating fellow theatergoers; while another led to a violent altercation in the parking lot outside the theater after adults asked four teenagers to quiet down. The trend has also spread to other Gen Z teenage boys from Australia and South Africa. Reactions to the phenomenon have been mixed. Some audience members frowned upon the misconduct as "annoying and disruptive", while several theater chains posted warnings against unruly behavior. Police have also reportedly been called to restore order and eject offenders, including an instance where an employee was physically harmed, although no charges were filed. Hess defended some of these antics as harmless and amusing, further explaining that he and Black had conceived the scene because they "thought it would be funny if Steve announced everything that happens to him, stating the obvious with extreme intensity". Black made a surprise appearance at a screening and warned fans not to throw popcorn. Writing for The Observer, Kate Maltby opined that audiences had crossed the line, pointing to the mess left for janitors to clean up. Many observers noted that the trend was evolving into a distinct cultural phenomenon, particularly emphasizing the immersive and communal nature of the theater experience. Research psychologist Rachel Kowert commented, "While being quiet is generally the norm in traditional theater settings, it's important to recognize that different fan cultures come with their own expectations for how to engage." She added, "In this case, the energy surrounding the Minecraft movie reflects a deeply engaged fandom—one that is enthusiastic about sharing the experience in a communal setting." Others argued that the trend reflected youth culture rather than incivility, akin to concerts or sporting events. Warner Bros. released a special "Block Party Edition" of the film on May 2, 2025, in which fans were encouraged to "sing-along and meme-along" viral moments in the film; in the United Kingdom, the cinema chain Cineworld hosted a similar event dubbed "Chicken jockey screenings" in which fans were encouraged to cosplay and make noises, a move praised for its ingenuity by Vulture's Nicholas Quah. The phenomenon has been compared to audience participation at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003), as well as the earlier "Gentleminions" TikTok trend surrounding Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) that similarly involved adolescent boys engaging in outlandish behavior. It has been cited as one of the factors for the film's box-office success. Sequel Talks for a potential sequel to the film began a few days after the film's release. Hess has expressed interest in making a sequel, noting the world's use of infinite mods, characters, and biomes, outlining how Minecraft is virtually endless. He later stated that there were many ideas they had for the film that they were unable to use, but would likely be included as part of a sequel. On April 11, 2025, it was reported that a sequel is in early development. At the end of a behind the scenes interview, the VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack and the animation supervisor Kevin Estey both refer to the film's sequel as Another Minecraft Movie. On October 9, a sequel was announced with a release date of July 23, 2027, with Hess returning to direct and Galletta returning to co-write the screenplay. Legendary Pictures will return to produce and provide funding. See also Notes References External links |
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[SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft_Legends] | [TOKENS: 1262] |
Contents Minecraft Legends Minecraft Legends is a 2023 real-time action-strategy video game developed by Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive and published by Xbox Game Studios. A spin-off of the 2011 sandbox game Minecraft, it was released on Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on April 18, 2023. The game would later cease development on January 10, 2024. The goal of the game is to defend the Overworld from an invasion of piglins, pig-like humanoid creatures from the Nether dimension, while the player gradually strengthens their structures and troops with resources harvested. The game received mixed reviews from critics, with its gameplay being both praised for its execution and criticized for its repetitive nature. Gameplay Minecraft Legends is set in the Minecraft Overworld, an earth-like dimension filled with various biomes and natural resources that is currently under attack from the piglin hordes from the Nether dimension. The Overworld contains friendly villages, hostile piglin outposts, and the Well of Fate (the player spawnpoint and fast-travel hub). Similarly to Minecraft, the Overworld is procedurally generated, resulting in a unique world for each playthrough of the game. Players collect resources to construct defenses, upgrade buildings, and summon troops. Players collect basic resources such as wood and stone by assigning friendly Allays to harvest them from deposits found in the Overworld. Other resources, such as redstone and lapis lazuli are used to build advanced structures and summon stronger troops but are locked behind Well of Fate upgrades. Prismarine, which is needed to construct some buildings, can only be collected by defeating piglin structures. The player can use resources they've collected to construct buildings and upgrade the Well of Fate. Defensive fortifications such as walls and turrets protect friendly villages and player outposts. Spawners summon friendly troops the players can recruit into their army. Offensive structures such as the redstone cannon, hurl explosive shells at targets from long range. Upgrading the Well of Fate unlocks more advanced buildings and troops. The primary goal of combat is to destroy piglin outposts and defend friendly villages from periodic piglin raids. Players use their summoned troops to assault and destroy piglin outposts. Players travel around the Overworld on their mount, from which they can issue various orders command their army on the battlefield. These commands include orders to rally, halt, and charge. Players can also use their sword to attack enemies directly. Players build their army by constructing spawner buildings that summon troops or recruiting troops from camps found throughout the Overworld. Minecraft Legends incorporates the same Minecoins currency as Minecraft Bedrock Edition. This currency is used to purchase additional skins and mounts within the game. The game is sold with an optional "Deluxe Skin Pack", which contains six additional in-game skins: one hero skin and five mount skins. Plot The game begins with the player mining in a cave when they are greeted by three beings: Action, Knowledge, and Foresight. These beings are called Hosts, caretakers of the Overworld. These three persuade the player to help them save their world, where a war has broken out between the Nether and the Overworld. The player is then transported to that world. After completing a tutorial, the player must save a few villages from being invaded by piglins from the Nether. Then, the player destroys three nether outposts that are preparing to invade villages. Subsequently, the player destroys nine Nether portals from three different world areas. In each of these three areas, the player has to defeat a piglin boss: "the Devourer," "the Beast," and "the Unbreakable". Once the player destroys all of the portals and defeats all of the bosses, the player fights the final boss: "the Great Hog." Just as the player defeats the Great Hog, it makes a last attempt at destroying the Well of Fate. This backfires and its army is swallowed by a portal that sends them back to the Nether. Then, the Great Hog finally dies. After the battle, there is a grand celebration in the Overworld of their win over the piglins. Not all is well, however. The warrior villagers, who fought alongside the hero, resent the pacifistic villagers who did not, which causes a rift between the two groups. In addition to this, the Hosts have left the world to the Hero's responsibility and moved on. Development Minecraft Legends began development in 2018. The game was announced during the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase on June 12, 2022. After the show, a trailer on the Minecraft YouTube channel confirmed additional platforms. It is developed by series creators Mojang Studios in collaboration with Blackbird Interactive, a team founded by former Relic Entertainment employees, who are best known for developing the real-time strategy video game series Homeworld. After the success of Minecraft Dungeons, another spin-off of Minecraft, Minecraft Legends was released on April 18, 2023. It was made available to play on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam, Windows 11|10, PC Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. On January 10, 2024, Mojang announced that no more updates will be released for Minecraft Legends. Reception Reception of the game was generally mixed. According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Minecraft Legends received "mixed or average" reviews. Critics viewed the game as a solid addition to the Minecraft franchise but offered differing opinions on its execution. Destructoid writer Timothy Monbleau expressed newfound appreciation for both Minecraft and the strategy genre after playing the game, while Sarah Thwaites of Game Informer described the game as feeling "caught between the expected complexity of strategy games and the franchise’s approachable brand." Critics generally found the gameplay fun but repetitive and lacking in depth. They praised the game for its Minecraft-themed art style, resource gathering mechanics, and base-building gameplay. Critics also liked the multiplayer co-op and PvP modes. Some reviewers criticized the game's lack of strategic depth, poor AI, and tedious gameplay. References External links |
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