- Title: Jack Black, Jason Momoa square off in 'Minecraft' video game adaptation
- Date: 1st April 2025
- Summary: WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (RECENT - MARCH 18, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTORS, JACK BLACK AND JASON MOMOA, SAYING: JACK BLACK: "I had kids that were obsessed with 'Minecraft' years before I heard about this movie. So I learned how to play the game because I love games. And I was like, I got to speak of the language. And it really was like learn
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: A Minecraft Movie Adapation Danielle Brooks Jack Black Jason Momoa Video Game
- Location: WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: US
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Film,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA002161425032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: New Warner Bros film 'A Minecraft Movie' may have the most built-in audience of all time.
The film is based on the 2011 Swedish video game 'Minecraft', which is the best selling game of all time and despite its age, has around 200 million active players every month.
The game, known for its blocky imagery, is about creating almost anything imaginable using farmed resources.
The film, which was developed by the game's Mojang Studios, sees Jack Black as Steve, a man who has spent most of his life trapped in the alternate blocky dimension Overworld.
However, four different characters, Garrett (Jason Momoa), Dawn (Danielle Brooks) and brother and sister, Natalie (Emma Myers) and Henry (Sebastian Hansen) stumble across Steve's belongings in the real world, and a magic cube sends them through a portal to Overworld, where they must learn its secrets to survive.
Jack Black was well versed in the game before shooting. He told Reuters "I had kids that were obsessed with 'Minecraft' years before I heard about this movie. So I learned how to play the game because I love games."
Jason Momoa, on the other hand, still hasn't played the game, he admitted.
The pair, who were wearing matching outfits for the press day, bonded during the production over their love of rock, comedy and food.
They also had to film a scene where the duo have to perform a 'man sandwich' and get as close to each other as possible to fit through a hole while sharing a flying device.
Black said "The man sandwich was a bonding experience and it was a comedy gold. When I read it in the script, I was like, holy cannoli, are we really going to go there? We're going to go all the way? And I was like, is it even doable? How are we going to do that? A complex system of weights and pullies? We're flying through the air, and I'm riding him like a like a llama. And by God, we did it."
The film sees the characters often running for their lives against the various fiends in Overworld, so much so, Danielle Brooks, who was nominated for an Oscar for 'The Color Purple', said she got a good workout from all the action.
Brooks said "I like to be doing stuff. So to get to, like, have the sword and run around and kick, you know, tables and, you know, be harnessed up in the air. That's exciting for me. I love this stuff."
In order to make the film authentic for gamers, everything had to be squared off, but not all the way.
Director Jared Hess ('Napoleon Dynamite') said "You don't want it to look like it's just digital blocks of stuff. It's like you want it to have real world textures and everything on it. And, you know, so many of the sets, like the Midport Village, the interior of the Woodland Mansion, all of those things, anything that was within proximity of our actors, like, we built it."
'A Minecraft Movie', which goes on release in U.S. cinemas on April 4, will not give gamers a complete 'Minecraft' experience, according to Black.
He said, "This is 'A Minecraft' story. It doesn't get every nook and cranny of the game, but it gets lots of, lots of great, great things that the real gamers that love 'Minecraft' will be stoked about. They will be thrilled to see the creepers, the zombies, the villagers. And we've got like a big chunk of that universe."
(Production: Rollo Ross) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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