Minecraft is, perhaps, the ultimate sandbox game. Infinite space, multiple game modes, and seemingly endless updates: The game’s limitless possibilities have helped it sell more than 350 million copies since it launched in 2011 (only Tetris has sold more games, and it had a 27-year lead). In 2014, Microsoft acquired Minecraft developer Mojang for $2.5 billion. That same year, Mojang Studios began trying to figure out how to turn an open-ended game into a narrative film for Warner Bros.

By 2022, the adaptation coalesced around Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess, featuring Jason Momoa as Garrett Garrison, a human trapped in-game, and Hess’s Nacho Libre star Jack Black as the game’s default avatar, Steve.…