Apparently director Shawn Levy (This is Where I Leave You) grew tired of punching trees, as he has walked away from directing the film based on hit video game Minecraft, as first reported by Variety. The director was originally tapped to helm the video game adaptation that was originally announced on Twitter by the game’s creator Markus “Notch” Persson.
Warner Bros. acquired the rights for the video game adaptation after the studio’s success with The Lego Movie. The studio brought on producers Jill Messick and Roy Lee (The Lego Movie) to give the source material the same treatment. Like Legos, the game centers on players harvesting blocks to build elaborate structures and contraptions. It’s unclear if Microsoft purchasing the game’s developer Mojang is affecting the project’s development. Given that the company hasn’t removed the game form non-Microsoft platforms makes this an unlikely factor in Levy’s decision to leave the project.
This departure gives Levy more time to work on the number of other projects to which he’s attached. Among these are “re-imaginings” of a number of franchises including The Three Misfortunes of Geppetto, The Hardy Men, and 40 Thieves.