Back in February, we reported that Warner Bros. had acquired the rights to adapt the ridiculously popular video game Minecraft into a film with Roy Lee (The LEGO Movie) producing alongside Jill Messick (Mean Girls).  The open-world game is from Swedish indie developers Mojang AB, and allows players to create a world with textured cubes.  Different modes have the players either fighting for survival or they can simply build away without any restraints aside from a lack of rounded corners.

I don’t understand Minecraft at all, which makes me feel super-old, but Warner Bros. thinks Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy might have a good take on the material.  Hit the jump for more.

Deadline reports that Levy is in talks to direct Minecraft, a franchise that could be lucrative due to brand-name recognition, and more importantly, the success of The LEGO Movie, which also took blocks and turned them into a fantastical world filled with warmth and humor.  It was also made by Christopher Miller & Phil Lord, a duo that has excelled at spinning brilliant movies out of thin source material.

Levy has never conveyed that kind of skill. His most creative endeavor is Real Steel, which did a terrific job showing a unique and fascinating world, but it was still bogged down by weak characters and storytelling.  His movies are fine at best (Real Steel, Date Night, This Is Where I Leave You) and unwatchable at worst (The Pink Panther, The Internship).  Minecraft is a huge challenge, and nothing in his filmography says he can tackle it.  His decision to make another Night at the Museum sequel (didn’t we say all that needed to be said with no Night at the Museum movies?) doesn’t scream that Levy is eager to tackle unusual source material.

And just because the game has sold over 10 million copies on Xbox alone, that doesn’t mean those people will come to the theater instead of staying at home and building something of their own.