A Minecraft Movie, directed by Jared Hess, is set to release on April 4 in theatres across the United States. The movie is based on the game Minecraft, an extremely popular video game created by Mojang Studios, having sold over 300 million copies as of 2023.

With such a large fanbase, news of such a film immediately became widespread after a trailer for the film was released on Sept. 4, 2024. The video teases the story of a group of four outsiders who are thrown into a mysterious portal, relying on the help of the iconic “Steve” character,played by Jack Black, from the original game to help them navigate and survive in a new, intimidating world, with the hopes of returning home. The plotline seems to be built around the general format of the game, in which a player creates a “new world” that they have the freedom to interact with however they choose, and are given challenges like monsters to defeat at night, including the infamous enderdragon. 

Many fans have hoped to see these features on the big screen for years, with talk of A Minecraft Movie having been around as early as 2014. However, opinions on the upcoming film have been controversial since the release of the trailer. Minecraft is renowned for its unique and interactive world, so high expectations for such a cinematic recreation were to be expected. Unfortunately, a lot of fans are no longer confident in the movie’s ability to live up to those expectations after seeing the teaser, with a fair amount of bad reviews on its animation.

Jaylinn Reyes, a sophomore at TuHS, said, “I think the [A] Minecraft Movie has a lot of potential, but the animation feels kind of disappointing, and I’m worried it could ruin it. The main characters don’t really look like they belong because they are live-action while the rest of the movie looks animated. It just feels like the combination of live-action and animation looks weird.”

Despite its differences from the original game, plenty of fans are still looking forward to A Minecraft Movie. If it’s anything like Minecraft, it is sure to bring about a flurry of emotions with all sorts of action, adventure, suspense and imagination to bring to life. With a game as beloved as Minecraft, a picture version was a long time coming and is sure to be an exciting watch.