Minecraft Movie Gets A Director

It’s official - Rob McElhenney has signed up to direct the upcoming Minecraft movie.

The 38-year-old actor and filmmaker – best known for starring as ‘Mac’ in the FX comedy series ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’ – was revealed by Mojang as their final choice to helm the upcoming videogame adaptation.

“Some of you may have seen this guy hanging around MINECON in London a couple weeks ago,” revealed Mojang COO Vu Bui. “He’s Rob McElhenney, and he’s going to be directing the upcoming Minecraft movie.”

- Working Tron Lightcycle Goes To Auction
- 10 Hunger Games In-Jokes To Blow Your Mind
- Mel Gibson At Mad Max: Fury Road Premiere

The upcoming ‘Minecraft’ movie is currently in development at Warner Bros… and while little has been heard from the ambitious project, it looks as though they may finally be ready to move into production.

‘Minecraft’ will be based on the hugely successful video game of the same name, which allows players to build and explore through procedurally generated worlds. The expansive nature of the game itself has seen numerous accolades head its way… and since its release in 2009, has become one of the best-selling PC games of all time.

But does this mean that ‘Minecraft’ will make a good movie?

It’s no secret that video game adaptations have proved a rather difficult medium to crack. Whether it’s ‘Super Mario Bros’ or ‘Street Fighter’, video game movies have become almost notorious for their lacklustre quality… even if several more recent attempts have seen a lot more commercial success – ‘Resident Evil’ and ‘Tomb Raider’ for example.

But ‘Minecraft’ has its own set of problems…

As a completely open-world game, it begs the question – what will the movie be about?

McElhenney’s film is expected to be shot in live action… though quite what that means remains to be seen. After all, I can’t help thinking there’s going to be a lot of visual effects involved in order to get the feel of the video game – a world which is fundamentally created with nothing but 1 meter x 1 meter blocks.

Will ‘Minecraft’ feature a similar visual style, or will it go in its own direction? For now, we’ll have to wait and see.

The ‘Minecraft’ movie heads to cinemas in 2017.

- Star Wars References Toned Down In Star Wars 7
- Mark Ruffalo Really Wants A Part In Star Wars
- The Surprising Origins Of Iconic Film Alien Designs

Picture Credit: Mojang