In what is perhaps the most random video game adaptation casting since Chris Pratt as Mario, Aquaman‘s Jason Momoa has been tapped to star in the live-action Minecraft movie.
If that wasn’t odd enough, Napoleon Dynamite filmmaker Jared Hess will direct. The film, which will draw from Microsoft’s massively popular Minecraft video game, is being produced by Warner Bros.
Interestingly, The Ankler reports that Momoa won’t star as Minecraft mascot Steve. Instead, he’ll voice Gabriel the Warrior, one of the antagonists from Telltale’s spin-off game, Minecraft: Story Mode. Gabriel was originally voiced by Dave Fennoy, best known for playing Lee Everett in Telltale’s The Walking Dead.
Otherwise, no details on the adaptation have been revealed. Given that the film is set to be live-action, it’s possible that it will feature human actors alongside CGI characters à la Pokémon: Detective Pikachu or Sonic the Hedgehog.
In any event, it makes sense that Microsoft would be interested in a Minecraft adaptation, as the sandbox building title is the best-selling game in history. The company has slowly been expanding into adaptations of its franchises, with Halo, a TV series starring Canada’s Pablo Schreiber, premiering on Paramount+ last month.
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