‘Minecraft’ Movie Coming Soon? ‘Lego Movie’ Producer Involved In Warner’s Next Blockbuster Film

There’s exciting news for Minecraft fans on the horizon. The popular video game may be turned into a full-length movie, one that will be produced by Night at the Museum film director Shawn Levy. Deadline reports that the film is still in the early stages of development, but producer Roy Lee, who produced The Lego Movie, is said to be “overseeing the project” through his company, Vertigo Entertainment.

Because the movie is in the planning stages, there is no information about the storyline, which should prove to be interesting since the game revolves around breaking and placing blocks. Then again, the Lego Movie did very well at the box office after its release in February.

“There’s no word yet on what the movie will actually be like or how many hours of it will involve watching someone hit cubes with a pickaxe.”

All jokes about blocks and pickaxes aside, director Shawn Levy tells The Studio Exec that he’s honored to be working on the Minecraft movie, and the film will be “faithful to the novel.”

“When they asked me to sign on for the ‘Minecraft’ movie I was honored. At last a gritty piece of genuine art I can put my teeth into. I first read the novel in college and I was taken by it. Emile Zola has been a guiding light for me and to think I will be bringing his work to the screen is beyond words.”

The IB Times reports that in February, Warner Bros. was given rights to the Minecraft movie, and the studio hopes to turn the popular game into a money-making movie franchise. The building game was initially released in 2009 and was an instant success, so it’s likely the movie would be just as well-received by fans of the game.

The game has been quite a success story since it was first released in 2009. As of June 2014, nearly 54 million copies of Minecraft have been sold across all platforms, including 15 million copies of the PC version. In 2012, the game was released on Xbox 360, and less than a year later it made its debut on PlayStation 3. This year it launched on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

In September, Microsoft announced that it would be purchasing the game’s developer, Mojang, and would have complete ownership of the game’s intellectual property. Time reports that the “all-cash” Minecraft deal is worth $2.5 billion, and will be signed by the end of the 2014.

In addition to a movie that is in the works, IB Times reports that a Minecraft: Pocket Edition game will be coming to Windows phones at some point in the future. Both the movie and the pocket game have no definite release date, but it’s something for fans of the game to look forward to.

[Image: Kotaku]