The Controversial Minecraft Live-Action Movie Trailer Looks Much Better Animated

"Minecraft" is, without exaggeration, the best-selling game in the history of video games. It is so wildly popular that it was an inevitability that Hollywood would one day come calling. That day has finally come: "A Minecraft Movie" is hitting theaters in 2025. We recently got a look at the first trailer for the film, which is a live-action interpretation of the wildly popular sandbox game, and to say that the internet was vocal in sharing thoughts on the trailer would be an understatement. Well, now someone has taken it upon themselves to show us what could have been, by giving that trailer the animated treatment.

Twitter user Alumio recently uploaded an animated version of the very same trailer that Warner Bros. released last week. Same voices. Same shots. Same everything else, only animated instead of live-action. As of this writing, the animated version of the trailer has 10.7 million viewers and nearly 300,000 likes. Resoundingly, the internet seems to enjoy this take on "Minecraft" more than the live-action version we're getting. See for yourself.

what if it was animated https://t.co/ZSCCIRWWx0 pic.twitter.com/5tflziDatS

— Alumio (@Alumio_) September 8, 2024

In a short burst, it certainly seems like animation better suits the world of "Minecraft." For what it's worth, this project has gone through several stages of development hell, with Rob McElhenney just one of the many filmmakers who tried to make a different version of the film. His version fell apart and we're left with the live-action version that, in a small dose, the vocal people online seem to not like very much. (That's the nice way to put it.) Granted, those who are willing to comment about something on the internet don't represent the masses, but it's something to consider.

Let's consider for a moment the original design for the "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie. The internet hated it so much that the studio spent millions to redesign Sonic and, in the end, that panned out quite well. Unfortunately, in this case, even if Warner Bros. and/or Legendary are having doubts, they can't completely redo a live-action movie and make it animated now, even if they wanted to. They are sort of stuck, for better or worse.

What we know is that the film has a stacked cast led by Jason Momoa ("Aquaman"), Jack Black ("Borderlands"), Emma Myers ("Wednesday"), Danielle Brooks ("The Color Purple"), and Sebastian Eugene Hansen ("Just Mercy," "Lisey's Story"). Jared Hess ("Nacho Libre") is in the director's chair. We also know that we've only seen a tiny sliver of what the movie has to offer, and it's almost always best to reserve judgment until seeing something in its entirety (or at least more than just a teaser). As for what's in store, more specifically? The synopsis for the film reads as follows:

Four misfits – Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison (Momoa), Henry (Hansen), Natalie (Myers) and Dawn (Brooks) – find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: the bizarre, blocky wonderland that we know and mine extensively love. To get back home, they'll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like piglins and zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Black). Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative...the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.

It is admittedly a little difficult to understand a live-action adaptation of this property. Yes, the "Sonic" movies have done very well, but last year's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" made more than $1.3 billion worldwide and is literally one of the biggest movies of all time. With the popularity of "Minecraft," if the movie turns out good, the sky truly is the limit. Of course, this version was well underway by the time "Mario" came out. One imagines the powers that be might have reconsidered their approach to making this film in light of how much money that made, but we'll see how it shakes out next year.

"A Minecraft Movie" is set to hit theaters on April 4, 2025.