Xbox Wants To Be Hollywood’s Next Big Player

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has made it clear: A Minecraft Movie is just the beginning. Hollywood’s love affair with gaming adaptations is in full swing, and Xbox plans to keep the romance alive.

A Minecraft Movie, set to hit cinemas on 4 April, features Jack Black as Steve (because of course he does) alongside Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers, and Sebastian Eugene Hansen. But don’t expect this to be a one-off. Speaking to Variety, Spencer confirmed that more Xbox games are heading to the big (and small) screen, thanks to what he calls a learning curve that involves a fair bit of trial and error.

“We learned from doing Halo. We learned from doing Fallout. So all of these build on themselves. Obviously, we’ll have a couple that miss. But what I’d say to the Xbox community that likes this work is you’re going to see more, because we’re gaining confidence and we’re learning through this.”

And let’s be honest, there have been some big lessons. The Halo TV series arrived on Paramount+ in 2022, lasted two seasons, and was quietly booted off the battlefield in July 2024. On the flip side, Fallout on Amazon Prime became an instant hit, bagging 17 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series and a nod for Walton Goggins’ delightfully radioactive performance.

As for Minecraft, its journey to the screen has been a saga in itself. First announced in 2015, it’s been passed around Hollywood like an unwanted side quest. At one point, Deadpool and Wolverine director Shawn Levy was attached, then It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Rob McElhenney had a go, before Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) finally got the job.

Now, with Xbox gaining momentum, it’s only a matter of time before more of its beloved franchises get the Hollywood treatment. A Gears of War film? A Fable TV show? Who knows. But one thing’s for sure—Phil Spencer’s not done rolling the dice just yet.