The Minecraft movie lost its director and its 2019 release date

The Minecraft movie lost its director and its 2019 release date

A planned film adaptation of Minecraft won’t come out as planned. The film was scheduled for release next May, with director Rob McElhenney (known for playing Mac on the FXX comedy Always Sunny in Philadelphia) at the helm. But according to TheWrap (via Polygon), McElhenney has left the project.

This isn’t the first time an adaptation of Minecraft has had trouble. Word broke that Warner Bros. first began work adapting the game in 2014, with Shawn Levy (Night in the Museum, Stranger Things) in talks to direct. McElhenney later boarded the project in July 2015, with Wonder Woman screenwriter Jason Fuchs brought in to write the script, after Microsoft acquired game developer Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2016.

In light of the change, the film won’t hit its May 24th, 2019 release date, and Warner Bros. has brought on writers Aaron and Adam Nee (who wrote and directed the 2015 film Band of Robbers, and who are attached to direct the upcoming adaptation of Masters of the Universe) to re-write the script.

ABC In Talks For Another Marvel Series, Network’s Boss Talks About Life Without Shonda Rhimes In the Fold – TCA

ABC In Talks For Another Marvel Series, Network’s Boss Talks About Life Without Shonda Rhimes In the Fold – TCA

ABC kicked off the current Marvel Television’ live-action series ramp-up with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is heading into its sixth season, to air next summer. With Agent Carter and Inhumans gone, there will be no Marvel series on ABC during the 2018-19 broadcast season schedule for the first time since the launch of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. While ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey made it clear in May that she does not necessarily envision the upcoming sixth season of S.H.I.E.L.D. as its last, she would like to launch another Marvel series on the broadcast network.

“In terms of Marvel, we have some things that we are in discussions with them right now that we are in development,” Dungey said. In typical Marvel fashion, she would not reveal any details beyond the fact that “I’m very excited about it.”

As for Star Wars, Lucasfilms’ TV series efforts are currently focused on the Disney’s direct-to-consumer platform and there is no ABC play, with Marvel also developing projects for the service.
Elzer PR

Dungey also spoke about ABC without Shonda Rhimes in the company fold. Rhimes’ Shondaland left ABC Studios last August for a big overall deal at Netflix and recently unveiled her first slate there of eight series.

“We still have 4 Shondaland shows on the air, so I don’t feel the absence of Shonda at this point,” Dungey said. “I’m excited for her, we talked after her new slate at Netflix was announced. I’m excited, I think she is going to get to explore some ideas and themes that might have been trickier for her to tackle on ABC so it’s all good. The relationship, and the shows we are doing are still as strong as ever.”

As for another top producer who recently left ABC Studios, black-ish creator Kenya Barris, also believed to be going to Netflix, “It’s unclear” whether the ABC pilot he had pushed this past season would go forward, Dungey said.

That project, that started as a straight-to-series order and then became a pilot that eventually was put on hold, was one of the factors that allegedly played a role in Barris’ decision to exit his four-year studio deal just over an year into it.

At the upfronts in May, Dungey spoke in detail about an another incident that was considered the tipping point, the episode of black-ish that was pulled shortly before it was to air. It is said to have touched on a number of hot-button issues, including the debate over athletes who kneel during the national anthem at football games.

“With this particular episode, there were a number of different elements to the episode that we had a hard time coming to terms on,” she said back then. “Much has been made about the kneeling part of it, which was not even really the issue, but I don’t want to get into that. At the end of the day, this was a mutual decision between Kenya and the network to not put the episode out.”

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Minecraft movie is delayed as it loses It’s Always Sunny’s Rob McElhenney as director

Minecraft movie is delayed as it loses It’s Always Sunny’s Rob McElhenney as director

Next year's planned cinematic adaptation of Minecraft has been pushed back.

The gaming sensation was being brought to the big screen by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenney and co-writer Jason Fuchs. However, it's come to light that both have moved on from the project.

McElhenney confirmed to The Wrap: “No, that is not happening,” which means Warner Bros has found replacements in the form of writing/directing duo Aaron and Adam Nee.

The pair made their names with 2015's indie flick Band of Robbers, which took inspiration from the literary works of Mark Twain.
Adam Nee and Aaron Nee pictured in 2015

© Getty Images

Minecraft's originally planned release date (May 24, 2019) will no doubt be changed in the months to come, but that shouldn't dishearten fans – at least the new team isn't rushing to meet deadlines.

Remember when director Ron Howard took the reins on Solo: A Star Wars Story, following Chris Miller and Phil Lord's exit during filming? His stress levels must have been through the roof…
Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson & Danny DeVito in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia S09E10

© FX Patrick McElhenney

Meanwhile, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will potentially last for another three seasons, according to actor Charlie Day.

He shared: “You definitely get season 13, which we're making right now, and season 14, which we're contracted to do, and then beyond that, it'll be up to FX.

“But I think 15 is the record for a comedy, so I imagine we'll all want to hold the record for the longest-running comedy in America. Fifteen would be the record for the longest live-action comedy, so we'll probably try and break that record if we can.”

Ninth ‘Hearthstone’ Expansion ‘The Boomsday Project’ Out Now

Ninth ‘Hearthstone’ Expansion ‘The Boomsday Project’ Out Now

“The Boomsday Project” is the latest expansion for Blizzard Entertainment’s popular digital card game “Hearthstone“, and it’s available right now. Players can download the ninth expansion of the long-running title today, which adds 135 new cards to the game, ranging from fun minions to ridiculous cards with explosive effects.

The set, which introduces the unstable but ridiculously powerful Omega cards, allow for some intriguing plays. When you add 10 mana crystals into the mix, they suddenly become a force to be reckoned with. When played with the new Magnetic keyword and other powerful Projects, they can beef up just about any deck build.

There’s also a few new Legendary Spells thrown into the mix for good measure, which should please just about any newcomer or longtime “Hearthstone” players. While the new deck is available now, a new single-player component called The Puzzle Lab will be coming to “The Boomsday Project” as well. It’ll offer a series of challenges that get more difficult over time as players work to impress Dr. Boom himself by completing a series of card-based puzzles.

If you’re interested in playing with a selection of new cards, you can purchase individual card bundles now or via discounted bundles from the “Hearthstone” shop in addition to crafting cards via Arcane Dust and earning packs in-game. There’s a lot to explore, and plenty of zany ways to utilize each card, if you’re so inclined.

“The Boomsday Project” follows “The Witchwood,” the previous expansion, released earlier this April 2018. It added 135 new collectible cards to the game as well as the new Druid alternate hero Lunara.

The ‘Minecraft’ Movie Suffers A Delay As It Loses Its Director

The ‘Minecraft’ Movie Suffers A Delay As It Loses Its Director

Director and co-writer Rob McElhenney is no longer working on Warner Bros.’s film adaptation of “Minecraft,” according to The Wrap.

The “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star was picked to direct the film in 2015, but now it’s not happening, he recently told The Wrap. Warner reportedly asked the writer/director duo of Adam and Aaron Nee to write a new script. “Wonder Woman” scribe Jason Fuchs wrote the previous draft with McElhenney. The Nee brothers are best known for “The Last Romantic” (2006) and “Band of Robbers” (2015). They’re also directing the upcoming “Masters of the Universe” film.

McElhenney is the second director to leave the project. Originally, “Night at the Museum” director Shawn Levy and writers Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney were brought in to work on the film, but they left in 2014 after reportedly presenting new ideas to the studio that didn’t mesh with what Mojang was looking for. Levy is now supposedly working on the upcoming “Uncharted” film starring Tom Holland as a young Nathan Drake.

The “Minecraft” film’s release date will be pushed back because of the shakeup, The Wrap reports. It was originally scheduled to come out on May 24, 2019.

“Minecraft” is a sandbox building game created by Markus Persson and later developed by Swedish developer Mojang. It launched in 2011 and is now the second best-selling video game of all time behind “Tetris,” with over 144 million copies sold across multiple platforms. Persson sold Mojang and “Minecraft” to Microsoft in 2014 for $2.5 billion.

Steve Carell is expected to star in the movie. Warner Bros. acquired the film rights to the franchise from Mojang. Roy Lee is producing it through his Vertigo Entertainment production company with Jill Messick.

Here’s the true cost of Henry Cavill’s Mission Impossible mustache

Here’s the true cost of Henry Cavill’s Mission Impossible mustache

It would have cost $3 million to allow Cavill to take time off from Mission: Impossible filming to reshoot Justice League cleanly shaven.

Last year, Henry Cavill’s Mission: Impossible moustache hit the headlines after the actor was told to shave it off for Justice League re-shoots whilst he will still filming for Mission: Impossible.

The producers of Mission: Impossible, Paramount Pictures, refused to allow Cavill to shave his moustache for reshoots as a cleanly shaven Superman.

Cavill has played Superman in three DC films to date, 2013’s Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and last year’s Justice League.

Warner Brothers were instead forced to remove Cavill’s moustache via CGI in post-production. However, in the resulting film, Cavill’s upper lip was blurry, with many fans noticing the strange effects.

Now, in an interview with Empire’s Film Podcast, Mission: Impossible – Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie has revealed what exactly happened between Warner Brothers and Paramount over the moustache debacle.

McQuarrie first described what happened when Justice League’s director, Charles Roven, called him. “[He said] we need your help and we need to shave Henry’s moustache. We need him to come back and we need to do these reshoots.”

New Batman film will not be an origin story, says director
His response to Roven was to help initially: “I went and spoke to Jake Myers [Mission: Impossible – Fallout producer] and the suggestion was made through channels that we shave the moustache and Henry could begin to grow the moustache back and that…they would give us the resources to digitally fill in Henry’s moustache.”

McQuarrie reportedly did not want Cavill to use a fake moustache because of the type of camera – 75mm – that the film was shot on. He said: “a fake-moustache in close-up on a 75mm lens is never going to look like anything but a fake moustache.”

Myers went away to calculate the cost of replacing the shots and the figure came in at an eye-watering $3 million.

McQuarrie agreed to accept the $3 million and shut down the production of Mission Impossible to allow Cavill the time needed to regrow the moustache. However, Paramount had other ideas.

“Somebody from Paramount Pictures said: ‘What is going on? What are you people even talking about? There’s no way we’re going to do that,” McQuarrie explained. “We were just like, ‘Okay. That was the best plan we could come up with.”

Earlier this year, Cavill paid tribute to his moustache after it was shaved off via a tongue-in-cheek Instagram clip.

Earlier this month in an interview with NME, Simon Pegg spoke about the drama behind the moustache. You can watch what he said here:
Read more at https://www.nme.com/news/heres-true-cost-henry-cavills-cgi-moustache-2363020#sXAML8mM5dOtFu8y.99

Justice League failed to make significant headway at the Box Office, despite it’s huge $300 million budget.
Read more at https://www.nme.com/news/heres-true-cost-henry-cavills-cgi-moustache-2363020#sXAML8mM5dOtFu8y.99