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Minecraft Movie Adds Frozen 2 Writer
Oscar-nominated writer Allison Schroeder is set to help pen the script for Warner Bros.' upcoming Minecraft movie. Schroeder's list of credits includes Frozen II, last year's Christopher Robin, and 2016's Hidden Figures, for which she and Theodore Melfi received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Minecraft is an adaptation of the Microsoft-owned best-selling game of the same name. The game is popular for its geometric, block-shaped aesthetics and its world-building, survival-based gameplay in which players can mine resources from the world and craft whatever they want to create with literal building blocks. In 2014, Warner Bros. acquired the rights to adapt the game into a film. Since the project's announcement, it has had numerous shake-ups behind the scenes and gone through many creative changes that caused it to miss its original 2019 release date. Notably, the project began with Shawn Levy attached as director and Jason Fuchs writing the script. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney then took over as director before leaving the project. It is currently in the hands of Peter Sollett, best known for directing 2008's Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Schroeder's involvement with the project. She was brought on to help Warner Bros. and the film's producers, Roy Lee, Jon Berg, and the game's developer Mojang, rework the entire project after its troubled development. At this point, not much is known about the adaptation or how much it is sticking with its original story premise, but bringing Schroeder on board does at least indicate the project is not dead.
The project is still only in the development stage as of now so there could potentially be more staff changes before the final product hits theaters. Luckily for Warner Bros, Minecraft has remained a popular and lucrative brand since its inception. The game recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary and, it still boasts a fan base of over 91 million monthly players. Despite facing slight controversy due its creator, Markus "Notch" Persson, making some inflammatory remarks that led to Microsoft cutting ties with him, Minecraft is one of the most popular games of the decade.
Bringing Schroeder in is a major move for Warner Bros. Not only does it ensure the project is still in active development, it also indicates that the studio wants the film to have a solid creative vision and is willing to bring in a high profile writer to shape that vision. It seems as if the studio wants this to be another hit in the vein of The LEGO Movie. While video game adaptations are not known for being critically acclaimed box office hits, there is a clear hope that Minecraft will be a crossover hit that has the quality and widespread appeal of films like Frozen II and Hidden Figures.
Minecraft is currently scheduled to release on March 4, 2022.
