Minecraft: The Movie an existential horror about a civilisation forced to constantly mine

Further details have emerged about the forthcoming Minecraft: The Movie.

Based on the hugely popular computer game, Minecraft: The Movie will tell the story of a civilisation compelled to constantly mine for things, spending ever longer periods of time underground until all they know is all an all-encompassing blackness and the hellish clanking cacophony of thousands of axes hitting rock.

“With Minecraft: The Movie, we initially set out to make a charming adventure for all the family,” explained director Peter Sollett.

“But then we thought, you know, what do kids really want out of their entertainment these days? And the only really answer to that question is existential horror about the nature of man and work.”

The plot will focus on one man who was once called Steve who slowly begins to question his seemingly irresistible compulsion to dig ever deeper and create ever larger piles of dirt.

He attempts to resist the compulsion, but ultimately realises that it is only mining that gives his life any meaning and without it he is nothing.

The film ends with Steve entering the mine for another day of digging, the horror in his eyes reflecting the knowledge that he will spend the rest of his days mining ever deeper into the ground with no respite and that his fate is actually is greatest desire.

Should Minecraft: The Movie prove successful, it could see the beginning of a whole new approach to computer game movies, with a Super Mario Brothers reboot telling the story of a peaceful tribe of goombas who are brutally stomped to death and Pac-man a horrific tale of supernatural cannibalism.