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A Minecraft movie is the first attempt to adapt the Blockbuster video game Minecraft

for the big screen.

The film stars Jack Black and Jason Momoa in a goofy and

sprawling adventure full of blocky animals and magical McGuffins. I'm Stephen Thompson. Joining

me today on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour is Regina Barber. She's a host and reporter for NPR's

science podcast. Shortwave. Hey, Regina. Hey, Stephen, this is awesome. It's great to have you.

Also with us is James Mastro Marino. He is a producer for NPR's here and now and leads NPR's

gaming coverage. Hey, James. Hey, Stephen. I am thrilled to have you both here. Minecraft is the

biggest selling video game of all time, so it's only natural that it would spawn a film

franchise. It's true. Even ET the extraterrestrial for Atari 2600. But the Minecraft

universe in the games isn't really built on characters with discrete personalities. It's more of a

sandbox-style world-building game where you construct elaborate shelters that help

protect you from marauding pig warriors and zombies.

Turning Minecraft into a movie presents a challenge because the film has a lot of character

development to catch up on.

But as the Lego movie and Barbie have demonstrated, it's possible to get it spectacularly right. I'm not saying this one does.

A Minecraft movie stars Jack Black as Steve. He's the default blank slate character in the

Minecraft games. Here he is an extremely eager adventurer who lives for the mines and is trying

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