Remember the Minecraft movie? Three years ago, it was slated for release in May 2019, but with May 2019 just about here and no sign of the movie, you may not be surprised to hear that it has been rescheduled for another three years down the road.
The lengthy delay comes just a few months after Variety reported that Peter Sollett, who previously directed Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist as well as episodes of television shows including The Village, Rise, and The Path, had signed up to direct the film. Sollett replaced It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney, who joined the project in 2015 but left over scheduling issues; Steve Carrell, who was reportedly in talks for a role in the film, is also out for similar reasons.
The Minecraft movie—IMDB lists it as Minecraft: The First Movie, which could be a placeholder but is also kind of a weird and oddly specific deviation from simply “the Minecraft movie”—will follow the adventures of a teenage girl and her pals, who must save the Overworld from the destructive scourge of the Ender Dragon. That’s pretty much it for plot at this point, but three years is plenty of time to pull something together—especially since, based on Mojang’s reaction, the work is really just starting now.
“Since we’re a game developer first, making a movie will be new and very exciting. And while the movie has to be different from the game (otherwise, you’d be in for an infinite movie in very low resolution) one thing will definitely be the same,” it wrote. “We want to make the movie—just as we make the game—for you. We’re inspired by countless things, but none as much as the incredible stuff our community creates in Minecraft every day. So keep it coming!”
The Minecraft movie, whatever it ultimately ends up being called, is now slated for release on March 4, 2022.