Jason Momoa is in talks to star in the Minecraft film

(Image credit: David Livingston (Getty))

Jason Momoa: He's Aquaman. He's Duncan Idaho. He's Khal Drogo! And it looks like soon, he may be, uh, Steve. According to the Hollywood Reporter (via The Ankler), the hulky superstar with the spectacular hair is "in final negotiations" to star in the long-overdue Minecraft film, which is apparently still in production.

There's a new director on the film, too. Shawn Levy was originally tapped to direct but stepped down in 2014, not long after the Minecraft film was announced. Rob McElhenny of It's Always Sunny and Mythic Quest fame stepped in, but that fell apart and Peter Sollett took over in early 2019, at which point the movie—which was originally slated for release in 2019—was pushed to 2022. Now, according to the report, Sollett is also out, and Jared Hess, whose previous films include Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, is going to take a crack at it.

Somehow, eight years after the Minecraft movie was announced, we still know virtually nothing else about the film. The IMDB entry, which right now still lists Sollett as director, contains an extremely generic one-line plot summary—"The malevolent Ender Dragon sets out on a path of destruction, prompting a young girl and her group of unlikely adventurers to set out to save the Overworld"—but that's been there since 2019. The only other actor reported to be involved with the project was Steve Carell, but he apparently stepped away from talks over scheduling issues. And that's really the extent of it.

I would guess that the Minecraft film has been delayed again because we're approaching the halfway point of 2022 with yet another new director and no signed star, but a new release date wasn't included with the report. For now, Minecraft fans can at least be assured that it's still happening. I've reached out to Warner for comment and will update if I receive a reply.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.