With ‘A Minecraft Movie’s box office total currently standing at a huge $957 million, Warner Bros. has announced that a sequel to the wildly success game adaptation is already in the works.
Yes, the movie that helped kick start a revival in WB’s box office fortunes is going the sequel route as soon as humanly possible, in this case, taking aim at a 2027 release slot.
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Jared Hess, who co-wrote and directed the first movie, is back to oversee the sequel, and while the screenplay list was a bundle of people who had worked on it through its long development, the new one will come from just Hess and collaborator Chris Galletta (‘The Kings of Summer’).
Right now, there’s no official detail on storyline or if stars Jack Black and Jason Momoa will return, but we can practically hear the dump trucks of money backing up to their houses.
Honestly, the most surprising part of all this is that it took them this long to confirm a follow-up was moving forward.
If you’re not in the game’s target audience, allow us to brief you on the basics… The game, from Swedish developer Mojang AB, allows you to create and shape an entire world, and by 2014 had sold more than 35 million copies across PCs, the Xbox 360, and mobile platforms.
Much like with Lego, the only stories here are those created by users, who can choose whether to explore, create or fight with each other.
There are also nocturnal monsters stalking the place, which you must deal with. It reached 100 million users just a few years after launch and helping spark Microsoft to acquire Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014.
Since then, it hasn’t been quite as much in the pop cultural zeitgeist (the likes of ‘Fortnite’ have tended to dominate), but it’s recognizable intellectual property.
Black and Momoa star in the movie, which follows a group of misfits who are pulled through a portal into a cubic world and guided by an expert crafter named Steve (played by Black).
There are laughs. Weird characters. Chicken Jockeys (if you know, you know).
When will ‘A Minecraft Movie 2’ be in theaters?
As confirmed by its social post below, Warners has scheduled the follow-up for July 23rd, 2027.
2016’s ‘The Angry Birds Movie’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Preview:
Paramount has snatched up the ‘Angry Birds’ movie franchise from Sony.
Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad and Danny McBride are back to lend their voices.
‘The Angry Birds Movie 3’ will be out on January 29th, 2027.
After flinging two movies at theaters in 2016 and 2019, it appears that Sony is ready to let go of the ‘Angry Birds’ franchise.
While it has made more than half a billion dollars so far with ‘The Angry Birds Movie’ and ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2,’ the company is no longer in charge of the franchise, which adapts the popular Rovio video game titles.
It’s an interesting gamble, since ‘Angry Birds’ as a game doesn’t have quite the same cultural cachet as other titles –– its younger audience has moved on to others such as ‘Minecraft’ and ‘Fortnite.’
But as ‘Minecraft’ has just proved, video game movies can still do big business at the box office, and Paramount is clearly hoping that ‘Angry Birds’ will spawn the same sort of success as enjoyed by its own ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ franchise.
Just in case you’re not sure what we’re talking about…
What is the ‘Angry Birds’ franchise?
2016’s ‘The Angry Birds Movie’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Jaakko Iisalo created the original game for Rovio Entertainment in 2009, which focuses on the titular flock of colorful angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs.
Players look to take down the pigs and their structures by flinging the birds –– who have different destructive capabilities –– at the pigs via slingshots. Physics and comedy are intertwined in the games, which have grown into a series.
The original title also spawned a huge multimedia franchise of products and cartoons and SEGA acquired Rovio in 2023 (which might point to why Paramount is now involved, since SEGA also makes the ‘Sonic’ games and co-produces the movies).
The film is focused on Red (Sudeikis), an outcast in an island of anthropomorphic flightless birds, as he suspects a newly arrived crew of pigs led by Leonard (Hader) of plotting an evil plan, and attempts to put a stop to them with the help of his newfound friends Chuck (Gad) and Bomb (McBride).
Plot details have not been released, but we can guess it’ll feature more conflict between our feathered friends and either the pigs or some new threat.
The new movie will come from director John Rice (who worked on ‘The Angry Birds Movie’) and writer Thurop Van Orman, who contributed to the script for ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2.’
And composer Heitor Pereiram, who scored the last two movies, is also back for the new one.
2016’s ‘The Angry Birds Movie’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
As with any big release for a franchise film, especially with new owners, there was of course the statements of excitement from the producers and studio.
“We’re very excited to be partnering with Paramount Pictures and extremely proud of our incredible cast. Not only do we have Jason, Josh, Rachel and Danny returning to voice their fantastic characters, but they’re surrounded by an all-star ensemble of comedic talent. These are some of the funniest people out there today, and we’re so thrilled to have them all on board.”
And this was the statement from Paramount president of worldwide marketing and distribution Marc Weinstock:
“Angry Birds transcends mediums and has been embraced and celebrated the world over. We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with SEGA/Rovio and these other great partners to bring this latest instalment, featuring an incredible voice cast, to big screens everywhere.”
This came from Flywheel Media boss Don McGregor:
“We’re thrilled to announce that our first theatrical distribution partnership is with Paramount Pictures. As a film production company focused on bringing the best family movies to global audiences, we couldn’t have a better start than ‘The Angry Birds Movie 3.’ ”
Finally, here’s Rovio’s Alex Pelletier-Normand:
“The Angry Birds brand has demonstrated remarkable versatility, evolving from a global mobile gaming phenomenon to licensed products, animation, and a thriving cinematic franchise. It has been a deeply collaborative effort to create a film that will resonate with the millions who interact with our catalog of games and products every day. We are confident that with this talented team at the helm, ‘The Angry Birds Movie 3’ will delight longtime fans and create new fans in those discovering our flock for the first time.”
When will ‘The Angry Birds Movie 3’ be in theaters?
Paramount’s announcement includes word that the new movie will be on screens on January 29th, 2027.
2016’s ‘The Angry Birds Movie’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
‘A Minecraft Movie’ is a big hit at the box office.
Jack Black and Jason Momoa star.
The movie was directed by Jared Hess.
Just when it looked like big screen video game adaptations had left their recent golden age in terms of box office (witness ‘Borderlands’ face plant last year), along comes a giant hit we’re not sure anyone truly expected.
‘A Minecraft Movie,’ which opened on Friday, has soared to number one at the box office, launching with $163 million domestically, $150.7 million overseas and that mammoth $313.7 million worldwide total.
With its blend of basic quest narrative and plenty of references to iconic game elements such as “chicken jockey” and others, it appealed to young gamers and the meme crowd equally. Reports flooded social media of the audiences reacting to appearances from certain characters like Marvel fans to moments in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’
Here’s what Jesse Ehrman, Warner Bros. president of production and development, said about getting it right:
“We had a lot of trial and error along the way. It took a while to tell the right story with the right team. There’s something special about the way people connect with the game. We knew if we could harness the same love and humor and creativity in a cinematic experience, the potential would be limitless.”
Among the records that the new movie has broken include becoming the biggest opening of 2025 so far (besting ‘Captain America: Brave New World,’ whose total gross it should surpass in due time), the record opening for a movie based on a video game (outplaying ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie,’ which launched in 2023 with $146.3 million,) and the biggest domestic opening figure for both Black and Momoa.
And that’s not all! It also raked in Warner Bros. largest three-day total in April (really reaching here) and the biggest Sunday of All Time (besting ‘Barbie’).
Finally, a true stretch: it’s the only film in box office history to open to over $50 million and see no drop Saturday — instead, rising by 4%, making it the only film ever to achieve this.
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ dropped 0% from Friday to Saturday last year but only opened to $41 million.
‘A Minecraft Movie’s Success: the Executives Speak
In 1942, Italian diplomat Count Caleazzo Ciano said, “success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan,” and that can be particularly true of Hollywood blockbusters.
With the movie doing huge business at the box office, co-heads of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who have been beset recently by some flops and are reportedly in fear for their jobs, were quick to capitalize on the success.
Here’s their statement:
“ ‘A Minecraft Movie’ represents the largest domestic opening weekend of 2025, the biggest since July, and Warner Bros.’ largest opening weekend since 2023. This is truly a world-class achievement! This is what happens when we believe in the power of our creativity, each other, and the strength of great storytelling.”
If you’re not in the game’s target audience, allow us to brief you on the basics… The game, from Swedish developer Mojang AB, allows you to create and shape an entire world, and by 2014 had sold more than 35 million copies across PCs, the Xbox 360, and mobile platforms.
Much like with Lego, the only stories here are those created by users, who can choose whether to explore, create or fight with each other.
There are also nocturnal monsters stalking the place, which you must deal with. It reached 100 million users just a few years after launch and helping spark Microsoft to acquire Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014.
Since then, it hasn’t been quite as much in the pop cultural zeitgeist (the likes of ‘Fortnite’ have tended to dominate), but it’s recognizable intellectual property.
What has Happened with the Development of the Movie Adaptation So Far?
Around the time of the Microsoft purchase, Warners entered talks with prolific producer and director Shawn Levy, but his packed scheduled and slow development on the movie meant he never ended up in the director’s chair.
After Levy came ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ co-creator and self-avowed ‘Minecraft’ fan Rob McElhenney was next in line as director when the movie was still being planned as an animated release. He, like Levy, appears to have been the victim of scheduling, and has focused his video game-loving energies on co-creating and starring in Apple TV+’s ‘Mythic Quest’ series.
With ‘Wonder Woman’s Jason Fuchs sticking around for script work, the movie then targeted Steve Carell as a potential star but… well… you can guess what happened.
The most recent time before now that ‘Minecraft’ news showed up, it was with ‘Raising Victor Vargas’ Peter Sollett writing and directing.
With Jared Hess on board, it finally got in gear. And the rest is box office history.
Will there be a ‘Minecraft’ sequel?
At this point, we’d predict several. And probably a TV show. And maybe a video ga… wait a minute!
In theaters on April 4th, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ adapts the wildly popular (at least, a few years ago, before the likes of ‘Fortnite’ and ‘Roblox’ took over) video game where players can craft whatever they want in the blocky universe known as the “Overworld.”
While some recent game adaptations have triumphed through finding a unique way into the story, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ has only occasional nods towards that, preferring instead to appeal to its young-skewing audience via bombastic action and comedy.
Video game adaptations were tarred for years with a lack of success, and to be clearer, a lack of understanding what really needs to happen with you convert something from one medium to another. Then, the likes of ‘Detective Pikachu,’ Netflix’s ‘Arcane,’ the burgeoning ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ franchise and even ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ proved that it could work –– though that last one is more box office behemoth than true creative challenge.
Along the same lines; albeit product rather than game, is ‘The LEGO Movie,’ which showed that it you find the right creators, who hit upon a great idea, you can end up with something really special, particularly if it’s people who don’t treat the source material like gospel to be taken fully successfully.
It’s that last entry to which we might best compare ‘A Minecraft Movie’, though put up against the sheer lunatic invention of ‘LEGO,’ the new offering certainly falls a lot shorter, with fewer points with which to recommend it.
It’s normal for a project that has been in development for as long as the ‘Minecraft’ outing to boast contributions from a laundry list of writers –– let’s be honest, even the successful ones usually come to screens with a host of uncredited input by funny/professional people. Yet with five people listed on the screenplay: Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James and Chris Galletta, you might expect ‘A Minecraft Movie’ to have come through with a few more original ideas.
Yet for all the concepts drawn from within the game (build anything you can imagine from the blocky source fodder of the “Overworld” and the various creatures/characters who populate the game), this still falls back on some awfully familiar structures, including Hunt for the Object, the Villain who Hates Everything the Heroes Care About and Seeks to Destroy it and the Coming of Age/Believe in Yourself storylines.
What we have here is essentially a remix of those, and while, yes, a lot of films of this genre go for that, it’s how you use them. ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ while sometimes poking fun at the ideas, goes the fairly basic route. Some of the gags land (largely sold by the performers, more on that below), but the whole is less than the sum of its parts. And some of the parts feel awfully second-hand.
As a director, Jared Hess has put out fiercely original, goofy takes on life such as his breakout ‘Napoleon Dynamite,’ and he does manage to bring some of his offbeat comic energy to the film. It’s also credit to him and his team that the world comes across as decent, as opposed to the rushed, cloudy CG-scapes that have brought the likes of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ low.
Still, there remains the feeling that ‘Minecraft’ has seen Hess’ voice fed through the studio machine to some degree.
If there’s one element that feels like it drives everything else, it’s the paired zaniness of Jack Black and Jason Momoa.
Black, of course, is bringing his usual manic energy to the role of Steve, the crafter who found his way to the Overworld and in it, discovered what he was looking for (alongside a loyal, blocky wolf companion named Dennis).
If you’re not a fan of Black’s particular, enthusiastic and occasionally musical delivery, you’ll probably be turned off by his wild-eyed posturing and his gesticulating. But vibe with him (and a lot of the kid audience already does) and he brings the role to vivid life, managing to be silly and heartfelt in one package.
Jason Momoa, meanwhile, has proved in the past that he can lean into weirdness when called upon, and here his Garrett, a shaggy-haired, pink-tasseled leather jacket-wearing wannabe badass is another solid comic creation for the actor to bring to life. By turns fake-macho and sensitive, he wouldn’t be out of place in the world of video game documentary ‘The King of Kong’ and he’s just on the right side of annoying as to be watchable.
Also on a comic vibe –– though sidelined to such a degree as to almost be completely detached from the narrative at points –– is Jennifer Coolidge, whose kooky energy serves her well as Vice Principal Marlene, who ends up on a dinner date with one of the Minecraft characters who makes it into the real world and chews on her lines almost as much as her meal.
Elsewhere, the other human characters such as Emma Myers‘ Natalie and Sebastian Hansen’s Henry are there to provide the heart, which makes them much blander, though they do get their moments.
And while her specific comedy vibe is mostly wasted, Danielle Brooks also has one or two decent gags.
On the villainous side, we have the always-reliable Rachel House (‘Thor: Ragnarok‘ and many of Taika Waititi’s other movies), who voices piggy witch Malgosha, a creature with a dark, destructive agenda. She might not sound all that threatening, but she sells the character’s comic business, particularly during a climatic showdown with Black’s Steve.
‘A Minecraft Movie’ never hits the heights of ‘The LEGO Movie,’ but it’s certainly more willing to take risks than Illumination’s ‘Mario’ effort.
Definitely aimed more at younger audiences (this is a real case of “parents, ask your kids,” it’s overstuffed and under-considered, but does the job.
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What is the plot of ‘A Minecraft Movie’?
Four misfits—Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers) and Dawn (Danielle Brooks)—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like piglins and zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Jack Black). Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking in person with Oscar nominated actress Danielle Brooks about her work on ‘A Minecraft Movie’, if she was a fan of the game, her first reaction to the screenplay, being on the set, collaborating with director Jared Hess, her character’s relationship with a wolf named Dennis, working with Jack Black and Jason Momoa, and if she could build anything … what would she build?
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Brooks, Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen, and director Jared Hess.
Moviefone: To begin with, how familiar were you with the Minecraft game before making this movie, and what was your first reaction to the screenplay and the way they were going to adapt the game?
Danielle Brooks: Coming into ‘Minecraft’, I knew nothing. I am such a newbie, and was just being introduced to this world. Growing up, we did play a few video games, but I really wasn’t exposed, so I missed out a lot. I’ve learned now. I’ve missed out a lot. But as far as reading the screenplay and going into shooting it, it’s a lot of the same stuff but a lot of things we improved. You know what I mean? A lot of things we were discovering as we went along, especially for Dawn. I think we were still trying to figure out who is she, but I think we came up with some really great stuff, with Jared Hess at the head. I wasn’t writing nothing. Well, I did improv a lot, so maybe I should get a writer’s credit. But we just really were able to figure it out together, and I really love what we came up with.
MF: What was it like being on the set and watching director Jared Hess execute his unique vision for this project?
DB: He was definitely the right guy for the job. I mean, if you’ve seen any of his other films, his humor is there. It’s a little odd, but which makes for a really natural, real thing. Just something that we can look at and relate to, I think. So, working with him was pretty awesome. He’s a super nice guy, and wonderful with kids and adults, so I was excited to get to work with him.
MF: Your character, Dawn, forms a friendship with a wolf named Dennis in the movie. Can you talk about that relationship and what were you working with when you were acting opposite Dennis?
DB: Good question. With Dennis, it was pretty amazing because, first of all, I was working with was a real person. Shout out to the stunt team. There was this guy dressed in all gray with these black and white dots all over his body. Then, he would actually have this square head, that was shaped like Dennis’s head, that he would be in and be in his physical world. So, I was acting alongside him, really using my imagination, really getting to be just a little 10-year-old kid with that. But it was fun. Being able to be the one that was able to give Dennis the bone and have that connection with him was nice. It’s very ironic that my husband’s name is Dennis too, so it just makes sense.
MF: What are Jack Black and Jason Momoa like to work with and have as scene partners in this movie?
DB: They were horrible because they tried to steal the show from me every time. The thing about me is you cannot take my shot. I am the star! I don’t care what it says on the call sheet. I’m the star! No, I’m joking. They were wonderful. They really set a beautiful tone on set, and I’m really grateful for that. Jack is one of one, and Jason was so lovely because he let his inner kid go, which gave us permission to do the same. I really hope to get to work with those guys again. I really do. It was no egos on set. It was just good people wanting to put a good project together.
MF: Finally, if you could build anything, what would you build and why?
DB: I would build my own Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. That’s what I would want. I really do. I want all of the candies to make you blow up, like Violet Beauregarde, I think it that was her name. I want all of the things. I want the gobstopper, Chocolate fountains and stuff. And Oompa-Loompas. Why not?
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What is the plot of ‘A Minecraft Movie’?
Four misfits—Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers) and Dawn (Danielle Brooks)—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like piglins and zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Jack Black). Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.
Jennifer Coolidge in HBO’s ‘The White Lotus.’ Photograph by Fabio Lovino/HBO.
Preview:
Jennifer Coolidge in the latest addition to the ‘Minecraft’ movie.
Jason Momoa is starring in the film.
Jared Hess is directing the movie now in New Zealand.
Having walked on stage at the recent Emmy Awards to collect the trophy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role in ‘The White Lotus’, Jennifer Coolidge has now landed a gig in a big upcoming film.
The comedy veteran will be bringing her particular style to ‘Minecraft’, which has been bulking up its laugh-grabbing side of late, with Jack Black the most recent addition.
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What is ‘Minecraft’?
Minecraft game from Mojang Studios.
If you’re not in the game’s target audience, allow us to brief you on the basics… The game, from Swedish developer Mojang AB, allows you to create and shape an entire world, and by 2014 had sold more than 35 million copies across PCs, the Xbox 360, and mobile platforms. Much like with Lego, the only stories here are those created by users, who can choose whether to explore, create or fight with each other. There are also nocturnal monsters stalking the place, which you must deal with. It reached 100 million users just a few years after launch and helping spark Microsoft to acquire Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014.
Since then, it hasn’t been quite as much in the pop cultural zeitgeist (the likes of ‘Fortnite’ have tended to dominate), but it’s recognizable intellectual property.
What has happened with the development of the movie adaptation so far?
Shawn Levy attends ‘The Adam Project’ World Premiere at Alice Tully Hall on February 28, 2022 in New York City. Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Netflix.
Around the time of the Microsoft purchase, Warners entered talks with prolific producer and director Shawn Levy, but his packed scheduled and slow development on the movie meant he never ended up in the director’s chair.
After Levy came ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ co-creator and self-avowed ‘Minecraft’ fan Rob McElhenney was next in line as director when the movie was still being planned as an animated release. He, like Levy, appears to have been the victim of scheduling, and has focused his video game-loving energies on co-creating and starring in Apple TV+’s ‘Mythic Quest’ series.
With ‘Wonder Woman’s Jason Fuchs sticking around for script work, the movie then targeted Steve Carell as a potential star but… well… that didn’t pan out
The most recent time that ‘Minecraft’ news showed up, it was with ‘Raising Victor Vargas’ Peter Sollett writing and directing. But with Jared Hess in charge, it has finally gotten in gear, with filming under way in New Zealand.
Who else is in ‘Minecraft’?
Jason Momoa as Dante in ‘Fast X’, directed by Louis Leterrier.
Now showing on Netflix, ‘Wednesday’ represents the latest attempt to bring ‘The Addams Family’ to screens, and one that succeeds partly because of its star.
The Addams Family, which originated with Charles Addams’ single-panel cartoons and strips in the 1930s and 1940s, have long since been adapted in different formats, including TV series, a successful pair of movies and animated films.
Now comes ‘Wednesday’, which, rather than featuring the entire family (though they’re there at the start and in a key episode midway through), focuses instead on their eldest child.
Jenna Ortega stars as Wednesday, here presented in traditionally dark clothing and darker moods, more likely to be found studying autopsies that on social media like her classmates.
(L to R) Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams, and Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams in Netflix’s ‘Wednesday.’
As the show opens, she’s been kicked out of her latest school for punishing the water polo bullies who picked on her brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) by releasing piranhas in their pool.
Despairing of finding a place where she might actually fit in, her parents––stylish, vampy Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and squat, smooth Gomez (Luis Guzmán)––sign her up for Nevermore Academy, where they studied.
It’s seemingly perfect for her: a place for outcasts, creatures (such as werewolves and sirens) and those who society considers unusual to flourish with their peers. Yet even here, Wednesday feels like an outsider, initially unwilling to engage with the usual school activities outside of attending class.
Her roommate, Enid (Emma Myers), a werewolf with her own family issues, is perky and friendly, and at first gets on Wednesday’s last nerve. Then there’s Principal Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie), a former classmate of Morticia and Gomez, who still bears a grudge against them for some mysterious reason (it won’t surprise you that this gets explored during the season).
As she tries to make the best of it, slowly forming an unexpected social circle that shifts and warps in relatively traditional young adult fictional ways, Wednesday copes with the help of family aide Thing, a disembodied hand (played, with an effects assist, by Victor Dorobantu) bursting with personality who can say more with the flick of a finger than some can with a monologue.
And Nevermore has its own challenges beyond the usual cliques and classes––there’s a strange creature lurking around and pupils are disappearing and a dark history to the local town that Wednesday’s burgeoning psychic powers will unlock.
Created for TV by ‘Smallville’ veterans Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, this show also boasts the talents of Tim Burton, who would seem to be a natural fit for the ‘Addams’ style (he was actually offered the first movie but passed). And so it proves.
With sparky, entertaining scripts and suitably gothic production design, ‘Wednesday’ proves to be a winner, full of imagination and ideas that put it ahead of the game for its genre.
Though Burton is usually found putting his unique stamp on projects, here he resists that urge––it’s not missing entirely, but it’s certainly toned down. Call it just enough to help the show have a specific look.
Yet perhaps the main reason this succeeds the way it does is Ortega, who brings a dark vitality to the role. She completely owns the character, finding new layers (aided by the scripts and the show’s push to explore why she is who she is) to someone that we’ve seen before.
That’s no easy task considering that the cast also boasts Christina Ricci, whose Wednesday in 1991’s ‘The Addams Family’ and 1993’s ‘Addams Family Values’ is still considered the gold standard. Ortega never feels like she’s channelling Ricci, but their Wednesdays are complementary, springing from the same source.
Delivering certain lines as though they’re dripping with poison, and yet finding the humanity too, Ortega’s is an awards-worthy performance and more proof that she’s a rising star to watch.
Outside of Ortega, ‘Game of Thrones’ Christie puts in a solid performance as Weems, who is none too happy to have another Addams at the school. As for the family themselves, Zeta-Jones and Guzmán (whose Gomez is actually closer in design to the original cartoon strips than the movies’) do a lot with the little they’re given––because, after all, the show isn’t called ‘The Addams Family’. It’s fun to see them on screen, and the parents do pop in the episode focused on their past with Nevermore.
Myers’ Enid plays well off of Ortega, bringing extra joy to the screen whenever she graces it, while enthusiastic early friend Eugene (Moosa Mostafa) is also a fun addition.
Plus, while the character is usually a throwaway gag in scenes, Thing here has more of a part to play, serving as a confidante for Wednesday, while also sending intel back to the family. He’s brought to life in such a way as to totally seem real––he’s practically a magic trick, which makes sense since hand-actor Dorobantu is a magician in real life.
And, while he shows up later in the show, Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) is also entertaining, though sometimes perhaps too much of Armisen creeps through at times.
The male contingent of the school makes less of an impact, blandly filling their part of the story and the show does sometimes fall into the pitfalls of the YA genre, with less-than-thrilling romantic subplots and a few stock characters. But thanks to Ortega and her castmates’ commitment, ‘Wednesday’ still works.
The show has been a big hit for Netflix––both in terms of viewers and viral content––and it’s not hard to see why. Season 2 would be a welcome surprise, as there’s plenty of story left to be told.
