A Minecraft Movie sequel gets title, Kirsten Dunst joins cast

Warner Bros. and Legendary have put a sharper commercial shape on their Minecraft follow-up, naming it A Minecraft Movie Squared and adding Kirsten Dunst as Alex, the game’s female character option. Matt Berry, who voiced Nitwit in the first film, is also set for a larger role this time, while Jared Hess returns to direct and co-write the screenplay with Chris Galletta. The movie is scheduled for theatrical release on July 23, 2027.

The move makes clear how aggressively the studios are trying to convert one breakout hit into a franchise with broader reach. The first A Minecraft Movie opened with $162.8 million domestically and $313.2 million worldwide in its first weekend, a performance that helped carry it to about $960.4 million globally against a $150 million budget. Those numbers made the property one of the clearest examples in recent years of a game adaptation crossing from niche awareness into mass-market event status.

Casting Dunst as Alex extends that logic. Alex is the counterpart to Steve, the character associated with the blockbuster’s broad, family-friendly appeal, and the choice of a well-known Oscar-winning actor gives the sequel another layer of mainstream recognition beyond the game’s core audience. Berry’s expanded role points in the same direction: the studios are not only leaning on recognizable Minecraft iconography, but also building a supporting ensemble that can keep the franchise flexible for future installments.

The sequel was first set in motion in October 2025, when Warner Bros. announced the follow-up and staked out the 2027 release date. By March 2026, Dunst had officially joined the cast, and by mid-May production had begun, showing how quickly the project moved once the first film’s box office confirmed the audience was there.

The title reveal was tied to a creator build challenge announced during a Minecraft Live presentation livestreamed from TwitchCon on May 30, 2026. The winner will get a build featured in the movie or in the end credits and will also attend a private screening with friends, a promotional tie-in that doubles as a marketing play aimed at the game’s creator community. For Warner Bros. and Legendary, the sequencing is telling: a massive hit, a fast-tracked sequel, and a title designed to push Minecraft from one-off phenomenon toward durable family franchise.