BYU alum Jared Hess on creating the new ‘Minecraft’ movie 

Jared Hess didn’t know what to expect when his first feature film, a movie about a lanky, Tater Tot-loving teen, made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

Partway through the first screening of “Napoleon Dynamite,” which was filmed on a $200,000 budget in his hometown of Preston, Idaho, the fledgling filmmaker watched with surprise as festivalgoers cheered and clapped for Napoleon. In that moment, he felt a “wash of relief and excitement,” he previously told the Deseret News.

That warm reception at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, dramatically kickstarted his career. Now, two decades later, it’s led him to “A Minecraft Movie.”

The film reportedly had a $150 million budget and boasts an all-star cast including Jack Black, Jason Momoa and Jennifer Coolidge. Based on the bestselling video game of all time — over 300 million copies sold, per The Verge — the movie has generated tons of buzz worldwide.

But the director seems to carry the spirit of independent film with him — even as he takes on a blockbuster.

The offbeat humor and overall character of “Napoleon Dynamite” that won Sundance over, Hess says, is alive and well in “A Minecraft Movie.”

‘Napoleon Dynamite’ meets Minecraft

Early reactions to “A Minecraft Movie” all say the same thing: It’s clearly a Jared Hess film.

“Hess … combines the spirit of his 2004 hit ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ with the game and thwack, he’s made a solid comedy constructed of his own touchstones,” the Los Angeles Times wrote in a review.

Screen Rant, meanwhile, called it “a video game movie with Napoleon Dynamite DNA.”

That’s in part because, when it’s not set in the Overworld— the universe of “Minecraft” — the film takes place in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho, known as the “potato chip capital of America,” per the Los Angeles Times.

In the town of Chuglass lives a washed up gamer named Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (played by Momoa), who peaked in the ‘80s and is trying to recapture the thrill of his glory days — a character somewhat reminiscent of Uncle Rico in “Napoleon Dynamite,” The Washington Post notes.

The opportunity arises when Garrett, along with a real estate agent named Dawn (Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple”), and Chuglass newcomers Natalie (Emma Myers) and her high school-aged brother, Henry (Sebastian Hansen), are pulled into the alternate dimension of the Overworld through a mysterious portal.

In this block-built universe — where Tater Tots make an appearance more than once, per The New York Times — the Minecraft newbies meet the expert crafter Steve (Jack Black), who helps them navigate their unfamiliar surroundings, unleash their creativity and work their way back to Chuglass.

“Inevitably, I think I just can’t get away from my upbringing in Idaho,” Hess, a BYU grad who now lives in Salt Lake City, told the Deseret News. “A lot of those details are gonna remain in my work no matter what I do. So yes, absolutely, you’re gonna feel some major dorkiness in this film.”

With millions of players, Minecraft is “part of global culture,” Hess said. There’s a definite built-in audience for this film.

But even if some viewers don’t know a thing about Minecraft, Hess says, people will want to log on for the cast — particularly an unexpected bromance between Momoa and Black.

“They’re definitely the duo that nobody knew they needed,” the director said.

I just can’t get away from my upbringing in Idaho. A lot of those details are gonna remain in my work no matter what I do. So yes, absolutely, you’re gonna feel some major dorkiness in this film.

—  Director Jared Hess

The Jack Black, Jason Momoa bromance

Hess considers Black “a dear friend.”

The two go back nearly 20 years, when Black starred in “Nacho Libre,” the director’s follow-up to “Napoleon Dynamite.” Ever since then, they’ve wanted to work on another project together but could never get their schedules to line up.

“It was a miracle that it all came together for this one,” Hess said. “(Black) was a huge fan of the game, and he’s a big gamer himself. He and his two sons, that’s something they do together as a family.”

The director said the “School of Rock” star brought an unmatched level of energy and passion to set every single day — “Jack Black, I would put him in my top five athletes of all time. The dude can do anything. He is totally shredded.”

Hess was also impressed with Black’s ability to remember people’s names — hundreds of people were involved with this film, he said.

“Aside from being a world class comedian, he’s just a world class human being,” Hess said.

Pairing Black’s energy with Momoa, a superhero/action figure known for roles in “Aquaman” and “Game of Thrones,” is ”one of the funniest things I’ve ever done,“ the director said.

“He’s known for being the biggest hunk on planet Earth,” he continued. “And in this movie, he is a total dork, and a vulnerable dude. Beneath all that muscle, he’s a true nerd at heart.”

Aside from being a world class comedian, he’s just a world class human being. You feel his energy in the performance in this film. There’s not a second that he’s on screen where you’re not entertained at like an 11.

—  Director Jared Hess on actor Jack Black

And then there’s the comedy gold of Jennifer Coolidge, who Hess said “can improvise better than anyone on planet Earth.”

“We could’ve made a whole Jennifer Coolidge extended cut with her outtakes,” he said.

For all of the challenges that came with filming “A Minecraft Movie” — Hess signed on to the project at the start of the pandemic and later navigated the actors strike — the main hurdle for the director was more internal in nature.

“I think probably the biggest challenge for me was just not laughing during the take,” he said.

How BYU friends, family contributed to ‘A Minecraft Movie’

By the time Hess signed on to “A Minecraft Movie,” the film had been in development for several years and had gone through a fairly lengthy cycle of potential directors and writers.

He’d also added several years of relevant experience to his resume, primarily through playing the game with his kids.

While creating a film adaptation of a juggernaut like Minecraft — a game with no storyline — may seem daunting to some filmmakers, it was a welcome challenge for Hess.

“It’s an open world, and everybody that plays it brings their own imagination to it, their own narrative to the world that they create. That’s what’s super fun about it, and that’s a theme that we brought to the film,” the director said. “All of our characters have to be creative to survive their adventure.”

That kind of freedom allowed Hess to build a story that honored the spirit and design of the game from the ground up, while inserting his knack for quirky storytelling along the way.

Hess consulted frequently with his kids, calling them a “lifeline” (his two oldest, who started playing the game in elementary school, are now 21 and 19).

His oldest son actually spent some time on location in New Zealand helping with the set design, and gets an acknowledgement in the film’s credits. Two of the director’s children, meanwhile, appear as extras at the end of the film. And Hess himself voices the character of General Chungus because he was “really affordable.”

The filmmaker also recruited a couple of his friends and fellow BYU alums, Hubbel Palmer and Chris Bowman, to help with the storyline. The two previously worked with him on the 2016 crime comedy “Masterminds” and, most recently, the animated short “Ninety-Five Senses“ that netted Hess his first Oscar nomination last year.

The film’s visual effects supervisor, Dan Lemmon, is also a BYU grad whose work includes ”The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “Avatar,” which helped establish the film legacy of New Zealand.

To date, “A Minecraft Movie” is the most extensive production schedule Hess has ever undertaken — he wrapped post-production and returned home from New Zealand just a few weeks ago.

“It’s more of a marathon. That I have the stamina for it was good to know,” he said with a laugh. “That’s the thing about filmmaking; it’s hard and exhausting at times, but if you love it, it’s always going to be fun.”

Compared to “Napoleon Dynamite,” the “Minecraft” production and budget was substantially bigger, and the cast flashier. But at its core, Hess’ approach to both of the films — even 20-plus years apart — essentially remained the same.

“You’re trying to tell a story that has interesting characters,” he said. “People that you care about and are rooting for.”