We've known for half a year that WB is trying to get a MINECRAFT movie going with LEGO MOVIE producer Roy Lee at the same time Lee's got NINJAGO, LEGO BATMAN, and LEGO MOVIE 2 already in development. Obviously they can't crib Chris McKay from those films, and getting Lord and Miller probably isn't going to happen, so who does the studio want to helm another builder-centric franchise where absolutely anything within the mind's imagination can be manifested??
That's as far as I'm going to go with snark, because I actually like some of Shawn Levy's work. I found the one-two of DATE NIGHT and REAL STEEL to show a strong handling of strictly commercial material, and they're both genuine audience pleasers that gave me my $12 worth. Plus, a lot of kids adore the NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM series, and they've made everybody involved a healthy chunk of change, so it's hard to fault him for those.
It's just…you want someone on the level of Lord and Miller, you know? Not in terms of self-referential humor or kinetic energy or anything like that, just a sense of bravery in terms of structure and imagery that utilizes the premise that ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. In MINECRAFT, if you can dream it, you can do it, and of course I'd ideally want someone like Gilliam or the Wachowskis to paint their dreams using the tools of this property.
But I get it. I understand that big bucks, not creative expression, is the name of the game here, and Levy's proven himself adept at getting both asses in seats and kids' imaginations going with the MUSEUM movies, so it's seeming likely that his MINECRAFT is ultimately going to be the MINECRAFT movie that we're going to get.
Any MINECRAFT junkies pleased/dismayed at this development?
