Jason Momoa brings his mother and girlfriend Adria Arjona to 'A Minecraft Movie' world premiere

Record ID: 1986331

  • Title: Jason Momoa brings his mother and girlfriend Adria Arjona to 'A Minecraft Movie' world premiere
  • Date: 30th March 2025
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MARCH 30, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ACTOR JENNIFER COOLIDGE SPEAKING WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, JENNIFER COOLIDGE, SAYING: "Mike White did give me a lot of great things to do in 'White Lotus'. I think that was probably one of the best roles I've ever had. You know, I would have to say that might be, you know, the tops exper
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: A Minecraft Movie Jack Black Jared Hess Jason Momoa Jennifer Coolidge Minecraft movie Minecraft movie London premiere
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Film
  • Reuters ID: LVA007257128032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hollywood star Jason Momoa celebrated the world premiere of "A Minecraft Movie" with his own leading ladies - his mother and girlfriend, actress Adria Arjona, on Sunday (March 30) the day the United Kingdom marked Mother's Day.
    "It's a perfect moment right now, we have Mother's Day, my mum's here, everyone's healthy. Unfortunately, I don't have my kids here right now, they're in school. But, yeah, my lady's here and the sun's out and it's perfect," the actor told Reuters as he walked the artificial grass covered red carpet, which was decorated with cube-shaped flower arrangements.
    "A Minecraft Movie" is based on the 2011 Swedish video game "Minecraft", which is the best selling video game of all time. Known for its blocky imagery, "Minecraft" is about creating almost anything imaginable using farmed resources.
    The film stars Jack Black as Steve, a man who has spent most of his life trapped in the alternate dimension Overworld.
    In the real world, Garett (Momoa), Dawn (Danielle Brooks) and siblings Natalie (Emma Myers) and Henry (Sebastian Hansen) stumble across Steve's belongings, and a portal transfers them to Overworld, where they must learn its secrets to survive.
    Momoa, who also produced the movie, said the pressure was on to serve the game's huge fanbase and create an entertaining experience for audiences.
    "I mean, a lot of responsibility," Momoa said. "This film was brought to me actually by my producer I did 'Dune' with. And he's like 'you have to do a comedy', it's always been a dream to do one. So this is my first comedy," the "Aquaman" actor said.
    The fantasy adventure is directed by "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Nacho Libre" filmmaker Jared Hess and sees the characters often running for their lives and going up against the various fiends in Overworld.
    Black said he went big to bring Steve, who he described as a blank canvas, to life.
    "He doesn't have a voice or any kind of personality to speak of, it's all what you put your imagination into it. So I had fun just putting myself into it and going crazy and going all the way to 11 and letting Jared tone it down as he saw fit in the edit," said Black, known for films including "School of Rock", "Kung Fu Panda" and "The Holiday"
    The "Tenacious D" musician also teamed up with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl for the original song "I Feel Alive" for the film's soundtrack.
    "We go way, way back. He first came in and drummed with my band in the year 2000, so 25 years ago, 25 years of friendship and creative collaborations. And the fact that he jumped on to play drums on this one was extra special," said Black.
    The movie was over a decade in the making. Centring it on a singular experience helped get the project over the finishing line, said Jens Bergensten, the chief creative officer of the game's developer Mojang Studios.
    "I think a part of the explanation is in there in the title, it's a Minecraft movie. And in the Minecraft community, thousands of players have created their own stories. So when we realised we wanted to tell a story in Minecraft, it made it much easier to actually bring this to life. So that's maybe a part of why it took ten years," he said.
    "We're getting to celebrate gamers and people who have found peace in their life, really, because this is escapism," added Brooks, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in "The Color Purple".
    For the film's young cast, sharing scenes with Momoa and Black was both educational and challenging.
    "I was trying really hard, but I did break character quite a bit because they are so funny. All the takes that they have of me in the final edit are the only good ones," said "Family Switch", "Wednesday" and "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" actress Myers
    "I got to learn a lot from them as well, working with them, getting to see how they do their acting and everything like that," added Hansen.
    The movie also stars actress Jennifer Coolidge in the role of Vice Principal Marlene. Coolidge said some of her favourite personal adventures had been the experiences of making "The White Lotus", "American Pie" and "Legally Blonde".
    "A Minecraft Movie" begins its global cinematic rollout on April 2.
    (Production: Gerhard Mey, Hanna Rantala)
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