The intensely popular 3D world building game Minecraft is joining a long list of adaptations, with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator and star Rob McElhenney at the helm.
Movie to game adaptation or vice versa is an increasing trend that seems to have exponential potential.
More recently the interconnectivity has become a seamless two-way development with films being turned into best-selling video games. A notable example is Batman: Arkham Knight which has created a frenzy of sales in the past two months. The prevalence of these developments is growing all the time, and the market is huge with millions of gamers worldwide treating their console worlds like personal missions. The experience of playing through the same challenges the film characters do on-screen, or seeing real characters act out levels from games is too much for gamers to resist. It’s seems that it hasn’t gone unnoticed with dozens of adaptations set for the next five years in a boom that will make some companies very rich indeed.
Minecraft could be the catalyst.
For those uninformed, Minecraft is a video game produced by Swedish developer Mojang, now available on pretty much any platform, which requires players to build and create using blocks of all shapes, sizes, and colours. This may mean building shelter to stay safely tucked away from monsters or more pleasant things like mushroom fields. It’s an avenue for the imagination to run wild which is the reason it’s much loved. Players can join together and even wage battles. To give you an idea how cool this game is, take a look at the picture below.
As of this moment the game has been purchased for Mac/PC by over 20.2 million users. It’s also available on Xbox, Playstation, IOS, Android, and Windows phone.
The film is in the very early stages of development but the basic plot revolves around a young man who gets left alone in the world of Minecraft. Warner Bros. bought the rights to the film in February 2014 and originally hired Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy but they parted ways after disagreements about the basic idea of the movie. Surprisingly, Rob McElhenney was next in line. The comic currently has no film credits to his name and no experience with large scale animation. However, he’s said to be genuinely passionate about the game, he’s young and has ambitious plans for future productions including a family action flick for Legendary Pictures.
A schedule for the film has yet to be released but with such adaptations it’s vital to strike while the iron is hot so expect things to move quickly.