'It's Always Sunny' Creator Tipped To Direct Live-Action 'Minecraft' Movie

22 July 2015 | 4:37 pm | Staff Writer

(One Of) The Gang Goes To Hollywood

In an unexpected but avidly welcomed slice of video-game news, Minecraft developers Mojang have announced that they have at long last chosen a director for their keenly awaited live-action film adaptation of their first-person construction simulator — and it's none other than It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia creator, co-developer and star (and evident Minecraft buff) Rob McElhenney.

The company made the announcement in a fairly low-key manner on their website overnight, heralding the announcement with a picture of McElhenney at London's recent MineCon event. Mojang chief operating officer Vu Bui and brand director Lydia Winters also broke the news on their Twitter accounts, leading McElhenney to post his first (and, it must be said, encouraging) tweet since early this month.

As any fan of the comedian's hit show - which he developed alongside co-star Glenn Howerton and on which he acts as executive producer with Howerton and fellow cast member Charlie Day - would know, McElhenney is no slouch when it comes to all things strange and wonderful, having practically embodied those words for the past decade as his hapless publican and perpetual child Ronald "Mac" MacDonald, so we can expect some real magic to be drawn from the nebulous narrative well of the source material.

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Not terribly much else is known about the impending 3D live-action adaptation of Mojang's crazy-popular cult-like game; although an IMDb page exists for the title, and includes a loose synopsis ("A young man is left alone [in] the world of Minecraft. he must get to the end to slay a dragon and take his world back"), we wouldn't be reading too much into it at this stage.

Minecraft: The Movie is slated for release in 2018. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia returns for its 11th season this year.