A Minecraft Movie

A Minecraft Movie is a 2025 fantasy adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft developed and published by Mojang Studios. Directed by Jared Hess, from a screenplay Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta, based on a story by Allison Schroeder, Bowman, and Palmer, the film stars Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Sebastian Hansen, and Jennifer Coolidge. It follows four misfits from the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho, who are pulled through a portal into a cubic world, and must embark on a quest back to the real world with the help of a "crafter" named Steve.

Plans for a Minecraft film adaptation originated in 2014, when game creator Markus Persson revealed that Mojang Studios was in talks with Warner Bros. to develop the project. Throughout development, the film shifted between several directors, producers, and story drafts. By 2022, Legendary Entertainment became involved, and Hess was hired as director with Momoa in talks to star. Further casting took place from May 2023 to January 2024. Principal photography began later that month in New Zealand and concluded in April 2024. Mark Mothersbaugh composed the score, and Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wētā FX, and Digital Domain provided the film's visual effects.

A Minecraft Movie premiered in London on March 30, 2025, and was released in the United States and Sweden on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a box-office success, grossing $961 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing video game film of all time. The film has also been hailed as a Gen Z phenomenon. A sequel is scheduled for release on July 23, 2027.

Plot

Struggling doorknob salesman Steve breaks into a mine to fulfill a childhood dream, where he discovers the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal. When combined, they create a portal that transports him to the Overworld, a world where the terrain is made of easily manipulated cubes. He builds his own paradise and later stumbles across a portal to a hellish world called the Nether. He is imprisoned by Malgosha, the gold-obsessed piglin ruler of the Nether who gravely discourages creativity. Because the Orb would allow her to control the Overworld, Steve has his dog Dennis escape with the Orb and Crystal and hide them under his bed in the real world.

Sometime later, 1980s video game champion Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison owns a failing video game store in Chuglass, Idaho. He heads to a storage auction to acquire items to sell for cash, ultimately winning the contents of Steve's old house. While searching through the items, particularly hoping to find an Atari Cosmos, he instead finds Steve's old belongings including the Orb and Crystal.

Siblings Henry and Natalie move to Chuglass following their mother's death. The two meet Dawn, their real estate agent, who also runs a mobile petting zoo. On Henry's first day of school, he gets in trouble when his experimental jetpack is sabotaged and damages the potato chip factory's mascot Chuggy. To avoid expulsion from Vice Principal Marlene, he pays Garrett to play his uncle and takes him to the video game store. There, Henry discovers the Orb and Crystal and combines them, leading the two to Steve's mine.

Natalie finds Henry missing and calls Dawn who tracks down Henry's location via Natalie's phone. As the four reunite, they are sucked into the portal and arrive in the Overworld. Malgosha learns that the Orb has returned and releases Steve from his imprisonment in the Nether to reclaim it, saying that she has Dennis as a hostage.

While fighting off monsters at night, Henry learns to manipulate blocks and builds a wooden fortress. The Earth Crystal is destroyed in the commotion. Steve appears at dawn and defeats the monsters as he tells the group that a replacement Crystal will be needed from the Woodland Mansion and joins them. To prepare for this quest, he leads them to a nearby village and demonstrates how to craft. Piglins seeking the Orb of Dominance launch an attack on the village. Steve, Garrett, and Henry narrowly escape while Natalie and Dawn are separated from them and befriend Dennis. Malgosha responds by sending out the Great Hog, a massive Piglin.

When Steve mentions that he has a hoard of diamonds, Garrett becomes interested and demands access as an added condition to handing over the Orb. They make a detour and find the hoard, but Henry is angered by their disregard for Natalie's safety. When the Great Hog arrives, they escape using minecarts and the Hog is blown up by creepers. Arriving at the mansion, Steve and Garrett attempt to distract the guards while Henry acquires both the Earth Crystal and an Ender Pearl which can facilitate one's teleportation. Malgosha returns and destroys the bridge to the mansion. Steve and Henry lose the Orb to her, but escape as Garrett seemingly sacrifices himself in the blast. The two awaken with Dawn, Natalie, and Dennis in a mushroom house.

Malgosha uses the Orb to superpower the Nether portal, blotting out the sun and declaring war on the Overworld. The party crafts an arsenal of weaponry and an army of iron golems to fight the piglin invasion, while Steve fights Malgosha. Henry uses the Ender Pearl to obtain the Orb, restoring the sunlight and causing Malgosha and her army to zombify.

The party, including Garrett who survived the explosion, returns to Chuglass, where they develop the successful video game Block City Battle Buddies. Dawn opens her zoo with Dennis as an attraction, Natalie opens a dojo, Henry completes his jetpack, and Garrett revitalizes the game store with Steve.

Cast

• Jason Momoa as Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison, a struggling video game store owner and former game champion
  • Moana Williams as young Garrett Garrison
• Jack Black as Steve, a former doorknob salesman who has spent years living in the Overworld
  • Bram-Scott Breheny as young Steve
• Emma Myers as Natalie, a caring girl in her early 20s who becomes her brother's legal guardian following their mother's death
• Danielle Brooks as Dawn, a real estate agent who runs a mobile petting zoo
• Sebastian Hansen as Henry, a creative boy and younger brother of Natalie
  • Benjamin Carter serves as Henry's photo double
• Jennifer Coolidge as Marlene, the vice principal of Chuglass High School who has a history of accidentally driving her 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee into others
• Rachel House as the voice of Malgosha, the piglin ruler of the Nether
  • Allan Henry serves as the motion-capture performer of Malgosha.
• Jemaine Clement as:
  • Daryl, an auctioneer who runs Steve's storage auction
  • The voice of Bruce, a piglin who taunts Malgosha in a flashback
• Jared Hess as the voice of General Chungus, a high-ranking piglin in Malgosha's army
• Matt Berry as the voice of Nitwit, a villager who ends up transported to Earth and becomes Marlene's eventual romantic partner
  • Bret McKenzie serves as the motion-capture performer of Nitwit
• Hiram Garcia as Mr. Gunchie, an art teacher/gym teacher at Chuglass High School who is revealed to be one of Marlene's ex-husbands in a mid-credits scene
• Tommy Broadmore as Trevor, a student who bullies Henry and sabotages his jetpack prototype
• Frankie Creagh-Leslie as the unnamed friend of Trevor

Amanda Billing portrays Natalie and Henry's mother in a photograph. Mark Wright portrays an HR person at Chuglass High School. YouTubers DanTDM, Aphmau, Mumbo Jumbo, and LDShadowLady make cameos as auction attendees. Jens Bergensten, who is one of the lead designers for Minecraft, makes a cameo appearance as a waiter who tends to Marlene and Nitwit. A pig wearing a crown appears as a tribute to YouTuber Technoblade, who died in 2022. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited vocal cameo in a post-credits scene as Alex, a woman living in Steve's house, with Alice May Connolly physically portraying Alex.

Production

Background

Following a series of offers from Hollywood producers to create a Minecraft-related television series and a crowdfunding campaign for a fan film that was shut down by Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, Persson revealed that Mojang Studios was in talks with Warner Bros. to develop an official Minecraft film in February 2014. Later in October, Mojang CCO Vu Bui stated that the movie was early in development, and would be a "large-budget" production. He also said that the film might not be released until at least 2018. Originally, Roy Lee and Jill Messick were set to produce the project. That same month, Warner Bros. hired Shawn Levy to direct the film, though he and writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney, who were developing the film together, left the project by December.