Jack Black taking the lead of a popular video-game live-action movie adaptation for a property like Minecraft feels like a no-brainer, but sounds like Black is taking a pretty heady approach to getting into character for the film.
Black spoke with GamesRadar+ about his process in preparing for his role as everyman Steve in the adaptation, whose plot is being kept tightly under wraps thus far.
Black had already admitted in a previous interview that he enjoys playing Xbox to unwind, so GamesRadar+ naturally followed up wondering if Minecraft was one of the games he's been firing up.
“Oh, you know I'm playing Minecraft all the time,” said Black. “Whenever I'm not filming I'm playing Minecraft because an actor prepares.”
“I like to be in that Minecraft headspace,” Black explained. “I like to know the rules, and I like to get little, like, things like, ‘Oh, in the game you pickaxe like this. You hit stuff like that,' then I do that in the movie.”
He joked, “I think the members of the Academy will appreciate my research later. I don't want to jinx it, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting an Oscar for this one…”
As the article notes, Minecraft — which was created by the video game company Mojang — is sometimes described by gamers as “online Lego.” Not much is known about the plot for the big-screen adaptation because the game doesn't have much in the way of a plot — gameplay centers on players exploring different terrains and using 3D blocks to make things and construct dwellings. There is also a battle aspect to the game in one setting, and hunting as well, but the screenwriter of this one might still have to take a page from Minecraft and build something from nothing.
Although similar concerns were levied at The Lego Movie before it premiered in 2014 and that turned out to be a critically acclaimed box office sensation that continues to spawn sequels, spinoffs, lego sets and theme park rides.
The creative heavyweights involved in the Minecraft movie also raise expectations — with veteran comedy director Jared Hess, who collaborated with Black on their film Nacho Libre, at the helm. The movie will star Kate McKinnon from Barbie, Flight of the Conchords' Jermaine Clement, Emma Myers from Wednesday, The Color Purple's Danielle Brooks, What We Do in the Shadows' Matt Berry, and Jennifer Coolidge in addition to Black.
There is also the hope that coming off of his viral hit musical number Peaches from The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Black might potentially sing in this video game adaptation as well.
Fellow singer Danielle Brooks addressed this possibility in an interview last month with IGN. “I'm hopefully going to be singing in it,” Brooks said. “You can't do a movie with Danielle Brooks and Jack Black and not have us do something. I'm having a good time.”
Hopefully Minecraft will be a good time for audiences as well. It's scheduled for release on April 4, 2025. In the meantime, Jack Black fans can get their fix of the comedian as the voice of Po in the recently released Kung Fu Panda 4.
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