On the 18th, the original Japanese art for "Minecraft: The Movie" (directed by Jared Hess, to be released on April 25th), the first live-action film adaptation of the world of the popular game "Minecraft", was released. The unique visual features the faces of the Japanese voice actors, including "Meruru" (also Meru Nukumi as Meru Ikumi), Eiko Kano, HIKAKIN, and SEIKIN, lined up as square "Minecraft" characters.
The original Japanese art features the faces of the main characters Garrett (Jason Momoa), Steve (Jack Black), as well as familiar characters from the game such as the alpaca, creeper, pink sheep, villager (Nitwit), and zombie, arranged in a square on the top row, and the bottom row features Ikumi, who voices Natalie (Emma Myers), Kano, who voices Chungus, the general of the Piglin army, HIKAKIN, who voices the villager Nitwit, and SEIKIN, who plays the restaurant waiter voiced by Jens Bergensten, the creator of Minecraft in the English version, sandwiched between the creatures and showing off their exquisite expressions.
In addition, to commemorate the release of the film, various collaborations have been decided with companies such as Uber Eats Japan, Ajinomoto, Toys R Us Japan, and Seven Net Shopping.
In the run up to the film's release on April 25th, Kano commented, "The Minecraft film, which has been a huge hit all over the world, is finally opening in Japan on the 25th of this month! A variety of things have started to be enjoyed before and after watching the film, and the Minecraft phenomenon is spreading all over Japan, so it's really exciting! I think the Minecraft film can be enjoyed by a wide range of people, from children to adults. In particular, adults of my generation will feel like they've been transported back to their childhood, as it's a very passionate, tear-jerking and very funny film, so I hope everyone will come and see it with their friends and family."
"Minecraft" is a game where you can freely create and adventure in a virtual space made up of 3D blocks. In 2023, the number of copies sold worldwide exceeded 300 million. The movie depicts the adventures of Steve (Black), a former top gamer, and Garrett (Momoa), who are transported to a mysterious world called "Minecraft World" where they can create anything they think of after touching a mysterious blue glowing cube.
The film has already started screening in 76 countries and regions around the world ahead of Japan, and its global box office revenue has exceeded $550 million. In the United States, it has continued to perform well since the previous week, when it surpassed the opening record of the movie "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" (2023) and achieved the largest opening revenue in history for a movie based on a video game, maintaining its top position for two consecutive weeks (according to Box Office Mojo).
