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From the gamepad in your hands to a TV remote, the ever-growing indie game is making its
to the big screen.
The announcement was pretty abrupt, trying to halt an apparent leaker, the infamous Notch
tweeted out confirming a Minecraft Movie. And no, not another documentary that actually
has some point to it, but a full blown movie set to come to cinemas and who has the rights?
Warner Brothers.
This shouldn't be anything new if you've been following the recent turmoil.
But let's just take it a step back. In most cases making a movie based on a game isn't
the best of ideas. Of course iconic images can feature in the movie, but there is a gaping
hole between motion picture and a computer generated polygon controlled by you. Movies
are forced to cut down on the game's plot with the eventual outcome concluding with
a rushed and stripped-down product barely representing what the game was initially about.
Of course this is even worse when there is no plot present at all. Cue the legendary
blocky name going by the name of Minecraft.
Warner Bros. of course wants to break the chain of inevitable failure with movie tie-ins.
The sudden idea of bringing games to the big screen is spreading pretty rapidly, Naughty
Dog's The Last Of Us is seemingly set for its very own project.
Admittedly The Lego Movie has already broken the chain, with it proving a success. Roy
Lee, responsible for the recent Lego Movie, has already been said to be brought onto the
ambitious project set to bring Steve to the big screen. Of course you could just bring
your computer to a cinema and hook that up, but you catch my drift. So one and 0 to Warner
Bros. Could Roy Lee really make the upcoming movie a hit?
That said, we don't actually know if Minecraft will genuinely make it to the live-action
motion picture it has been said to be. There have been numerous game to movie projects
slowly drowning in the lava of development. World Of Warcraft's own movie was announced
back in 2006, but sank in its own paperwork - Seven years on and its set for a 2016 release
date with apparent production having started just a month or two ago.
Supposing Warner Bros. get's past the startup issues and the movie itself get's the dedicated
time it requires, where will it be headed? We've heard the talks of a live-action movie,
but that could rapidly change in the upcoming development.
Now let's suppose Warner Bros. get's past that question too. The biggest flaw is that
there is no plot to Minecraft, users are free to do what they like. Mine, build, kill, grind,
harvest, grow, swim, fly, walk, run, Minecraft is turning to really be limitless with the
recent major update to command blocks. So with no plot, how does a movie even have a
chance? But maybe it's the freedom that will make
the movie a success? The Lego universe doesn't have a set plot or theme, you could buy a
set where you're a construction builder at one point and in the next moment you're a
top class wizard from Harry Potter. Of course, that's down to a child's imagination. But
it certainly didn't stop the Lego Movie from being a success.
The hundreds, if not thousands, of cinematics, each set to their own story, show great success
already on YouTube and various other platforms on the internet. So, the ultimate statement:
is it a cash in? It's easy for me to bash Warner and claim yes, but should we care if
it's actually decent?
By no means can I judge whether or not the Minecraft Movie will fail or not, it is far
too early for any first impressions, heck the plan itself may not even make it to cinemas.
But would you be interested in a live-action full length movie depicting not much more
but a real actor in a virtual block world punching some wood?
In the end we may just get grief from Warner.