Jared Hess’ video game fantasy film “A Minecraft Movie” is sure to be a massive box office hit. The 2011 video game “Minecraft,” put out by Mojang Studios, has remained part of the popular zeitgeist for 13 years, played enthusiastically by multiple generations of kids. As of this writing, it is the single highest-selling video game in history, surpassing even old standbys like “Super Mario Bros.” and “Tetris.” If you’re under 30, you likely have intimate knowledge of “Minecraft.”
Which is why it was so galling when the Twitter/X account DiscussingFilm tweeted out some concept art for “A Minecraft Movie” … that was canonically incorrect. “A Minecraft Movie,” as seen in its previews, follows several human characters from Earth (Jack Black plays the universal “Mincraft” protagonist Steve) as they step through a portal into the “Minecraft” game. The world is make of blocks and the characters suddenly have access to the game’s magical accouterments, including Ender Pearls, Crafting Tables, and right-angle-constructed pets. They also have to fight off various mobs, including Creepers, Piglin Brutes, and Skeletons.
As all good Crafters know, Skeletons attack using bows and arrows. The Skeleton revealed in the “Minecraft Movie” concept art, however, is shown holding a sword. This raised some concern from “Minecraft” purists that the filmmakers didn’t understand the strict rules of the game.
Luckily, a new trailer (see above) offers another glimpse of the “Minecraft Movie” Skeletons, and, lo, they are indeed using bows and arrows. It seems that Hess and the film’s designers were careful to arm the Skeletons correctly. “Minecraft” fans can rest easy.
Yes, the Skeletons in A Minecraft Movie will use bows and arrows
The scene is only glimpsed briefly in the new “A Minecraft Movie” trailer, but one can see Skeletons clearly firing arrows. Jason Momoa plays Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, a former video game champion who is completely comfortable inhabiting a world dictated by video game physics. In a cute side-view cutaway, Momoa is seen desperately digging a tunnel away from a mob of Skeletons as they attack him from above. This is a scenario a player might actually encounter in “Minecraft.”
Why was there a sword in the hand of a Skeleton in the film’s Tweeted concept art? For no other reason, one might presume, than it was an early draft, letting the film’s many artists envision what they will eventually animate on screen. Concept art is, as the name indicates, conceptual. It’s not the final draft. Early concept art can reveal elements of a film’s brainstorming process, showing that filmmakers were indeed trying out several fun ideas before settling on the final version.
Of course, if the Skeletons did use swords in “A Minecraft Movie,” it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. Excessive attention to a game’s continuity when adapting it to film is very limiting to a creative filmmaker, who likely wants to tell a new, more interesting — and more film-appropriate — story. As with all adaptations, super-fans typically demand the exact same flavor they had before, merely shunted over to a different medium. Yes, such direct shuntings will likely please some folks but it also won’t necessarily make for an interesting film.
New takes can provide entirely fresh ideas into a franchise that fans will ultimately love (see: “Batman Begins”) or they may stray into wild new territory that may not be loyal to the source material, but is grand and fascinating in its own right. For my money, the 1993 “Super Mario Bros.” movie is way more interesting than the 2023 “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
“A Minecraft Movie” will reach theaters on April 4, 2025.
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