Minecraft movie adds Peacemaker’s Danielle Brooks to cast

The Minecraft movie is adding more stars to its lineup. Peacemaker star Danielle Brooks, according to Deadline, has been cast in the live-action adaptation in an unknown role, as well as Sebastian Eugene Hansen.

The Jared Hess-helmed film, which also stars Aquaman’s Jason Momoa, is set to release on April 5, 2024. Filming is underway in New Zealand and is expected to ramp up by the end of the month.

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An adaptation of Minecraft has been in the works for a while, dating back to 2014. Directors like Deadpool 3‘s Shawn Levy and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Rob McElhenney took turns in Creative Mode before quitting. The movie even had Steve Carell attached to star back in 2016, but he left at a later time.

Now, Napoleon Dynamite‘s Jared Hess has taken the reins after several delays. The director has a certain type of awkward comedy that may give Minecraft a little flair. However, we still have to see if the two mix. It does help that, earlier this year, What We Do in the Shadows‘ Matt Berry was in talks to star, so the comedy may actually be funny.

Warner Bros. is producing the adaptation and it seems they took some notes with their two big cast members. Both Jason Momoa (who’s also producing) and Danielle Brooks have roles in the DCEU. Brooks is a more recent addition to the universe, playing secondary protagonist Leota Adebayo in the John Cena-led Peacemaker series (which I enjoyed, to be honest). Momoa, on the other hand, is King of Atlantis himself, Aquaman. He’s set to reprise the superhero in the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, out December 22. Funnily enough, three days later, Danielle Brooks is reprising her Tony-nominated role as Sofia in the musical adaptation of The Color Purple.

The idea of a live-action Minecraft film is a bit bewildering. Personally, an animated film would make more sense since it fits better with the game’s aesthetic. There are no story details regarding the film’s narrative yet. Therefore, we don’t know what route they may be taking, whether it’ll be in the Minecraft world or the real world.

Telltale Games did do a more narrative-driven take with Minecraft: Story Mode, so maybe it’ll be like that. Or perhaps be like Adam Sandler’s Pixels. It’s certainly a scary thought, but I’m hopeful things work out. I mean, the cast is pretty solid and Minecraft is one of the best-selling games of all time. They wouldn’t just make it a cash grab, right? Right? Yeah, maybe I need to know the story first.