I have a lot of questions about A Minecraft Movie, a film which, even if it’s not “for me,” has raised all sorts of red flags in its pre-release trailers and marketing. But one thing that doesn’t appear to be in question is star Jack Black’s commitment to the bit. He plays the crafting game’s iconic blue-shirted normie Steve, and apparently spent lots of time actually playing Minecraft in his trailer during filming.
“This is not my Steve or your Steve—this is Jack Black’s Steve,” Mojang senior director of original content Torfi Frans Ólafsson recently told Variety. “A lot of fans responded when they saw the first teasers and trailers, like, ‘Hey, wait a minute—this is just Jack Black. This isn’t Jack Black being someone else.’ And maybe it is, because this is literally him interpreting this character and what it means to him.”
Ólafsson said he installed Xboxes in each of the cast members’ trailers and set up a private server for them to play together on. What I would give to see Jason Momoa’s Minecraft gameplay recorded in-between takes. But it was Black who was the “most passionate” convert by far, according to the Mojang director. He eventually racked up over 100 hours of playtime in the pixelated 3D survival sim. The result was a Blackian obsession with one particular crafting material.
“He was just completely manic, hoarding stuff in the mines, searching for lapis lazuli because he liked the way it sounds,” Ólafsson told Variety. “He kept saying it: ‘Can I talk about lapis lazuli in the movie?’” I now have two reasons to see A Minecraft Movie. The first was because I have two small children obsessed with the game. The second is to hear him say the line.
A hero pack tie-in for the film was already added to Minecraft last week, and pixelated Jack Black’s Steve actually fits right into the low-res world. More unnerving is the Jack Black action figure based on A Minecraft Movie. Any parent who shows up to a birthday party with that is actually giving you a gift-wrapped plea for help. A Minecraft Movie releases in theaters on April 4, with a major visual overhaul and new flying mounts due out in the game later this year.
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