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Minecraft Movie Loses Its Director
The future of Warner Bros.' film based on the popular blocky open-world sandbox is now in peril, as Night At The Museum director Shawn Levy has abandoned the project.
Levy discussed his decision to leave the project with The Wall Street Journal, saying that he had pitched Mojang on a Goonies-style adventure movie, but that the developer wasn't sold on his vision. "It was not a comedy. It had a bit of a Goonies flair...it was an adventure movie, and I thought it could have been a lot of fun and fulfilled a lot of the qualities that people love about the game."
Levy was chosen as the director of the movie in October by Warner Bros., but says that he will now instead focus on four other projects that he currently has in the works. However, Levy doesn't sound upset with Mojang for passing on his idea. "But it's not my game; they know what they're doing. The truth is, there is a long history of trying to make great movies out of games, and they're rarely done well. Mojang is still figuring out what they want. We gave it a shot and it wasn't the right fit, so, these things happen."
[Source: The Wall Street Journal via Gamespot]
Our Take
Making a movie based
on Minecraft sounds like a disaster, but Levy had me when he referenced The
Goonies as the style of film he was aiming
for. It's disappointing that he won't
be working on the project – although I'm not the biggest fan of Levy's movies,
I trust the accomplished Hollywood director with nearly 20 years of directing experience
to know what makes a good film more than an indie game developer. Here's hoping
Warner Bros. can figure out a direction that appeases both Mojang and filmgoers alike.
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