How Rob McElhenney's Minecraft movie fell apart

Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet — (Image credit: Apple TV+, Lionsgate,)

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney recently opened up about why the animated Minecraft film he was set to direct got spiked.

"I'm comfortable talking about it, because f**k them at this point," McElhenney said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. He went on to state that what attracted him to a potential Minecraft film was the fact that it wasn't attached to a fixed narrative.

"I thought, what an amazing tool, much like Legos except now you're talking about infinite possibilities because it's digital, to give to kids—and not just kids, but any person who feels powerless," McElhenney said. "Kids mostly feel powerless. All day long they're being told what to do, how to dress, do your homework, go to bed. I felt like that could extend to other people."

"Your boss is telling you what to do all day long, or your spouse is. You just feel like you don't have this sense of agency over your own life. The game gave you that, and I thought that's a really profound experience."

After pitching this idea to Warner Bros., McElhenney's Minecraft film was assigned a healthy budget of $150 million. However, personnel changes at the top of the company in 2016 brought stranger tides. Despite having a script and Steve Carell on board, McElhenney was subbed out for Peter Sollett, who will be releasing his take on the Minecraft universe on March 4, 2022.

Since then, McElhenney released Mythic Quest, a faux documentary on the day-to-day goings on of the team behind the world's most popular MMO. You can watch it on Apple TV.