Minecraft Movie Could Be Directed By Night at the Museum Veteran

Though the Minecraft movie is still years away, we now may know who is directing it. According to a report from Hollywood news site Deadline, Warner Bros. is in talks with Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy to direct the feature film adaptation of Mojang's sandbox hit.

In addition to the Night at the Museum franchise, Levy has directed a number of other family-friendly films, such as Cheaper by the Dozen and Real Steel.

It is unclear how far along Levy is in talks with Warner Bros. about directing the Minecraft movie, or what other directors have been considered for the job.

Warner Bros. acquired the movie rights to Minecraft in February, tapping The Lego Movie producer Roy Lee to produce it. The film is described as "large-budget," though it remains unclear if it will be live-action or animated. Mojang stresses that the film is still very much in its early days, and might not even be released until 2017 or 2018.

Plot and casting details for the Minecraft movie have not been announced. However, just like the game, whatever narrative is decided on for the film will represent just one possibility, Mojang said previously. After all, part of Minecraft's success is the way it doesn't push gamers into one avenue or another. This freedom will be reflected in the movie, according to Mojang COO Vu Bui.

In September, Xbox company Microsoft acquired Mojang and the Minecraft franchise in a deal worth $2.5 billion. Mojang's three founders, including Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, will leave the Swedish studio when the deal closes, which is expected to happen by the end of 2014.

The Minecraft film is one of many video game movies currently in development. Ubisoft has a total ofsix films in the pipeline, including movies based on Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell. Meanwhile, Sony is making a Last of Us movie, Konami is moving forward on a film based on Metal Gear Solid, Blizzard Entertainment has its Warcraft movie, and an Angry Birds film is scheduled for 2016. On top of those, new movies based on Capcom franchises Resident Evil and Dead Rising are in the works.