Jack Black is back again, as photos from A Minecraft Sequel emerge.
The first movie adaptation of the wildly popular video game Minecraft, titled A Minecraft Movie, was a giant success. Although it didn't quite surpass The Super Mario Bros. Movie's $1.36 billion gross box office worldwide number, it came in a strong second with $960 million. Jack Black starred in both movies, and both of these animated giants have sequels on the way.
With A Minecraft Sequel's official release date of July 23, 2027, new images and video have been released of Jack Black on set. Black is reprising his role as Steve, as seen in new images provided by The Valley Profile and a video shared on TikTok by user2746avgeek. Filming began in Huntly, New Zealand, with these latest images and video showing the second filming location, in Thames, New Zealand.
Black is seen behind the wheel of Steve's Lava Chicken truck in the footage. The vehicle has a giant, blocky chicken mounted on top, and the truck is a direct callback to the first movie, where Steve shows off his creation. It spurred a popular, viral song where Steve sings about what happens when you "mix hot lava and chicken."
Both of the original filming locations, Huntly and Thames, are small towns based on population. Thames has a population size of about 7,000 people, and Huntly has around 8,500. The arrival of this massive Hollywood production is a big deal for the local communities, as a traffic control staff member said, “It’s not every day something like this happens in a small town like Thames.”
While behind the wheel of the new truck, Black responded to excited shouts and applause from fans in the crowd, saying, "I don't know, maybe tomorrow... They got me working really long hours." The truck is striped red and white, with a food window as well as the words the words "Steve's Lava Chicken" on the side.
The arrival of a fully operational food truck is igniting a lot of speculation across Reddit and TikTok, as "Chicken Jockey" in itself became one of the most memorable moments in A Minecraft Movie. In the original Minecraft game, players couldn't drive modern cars, so this adds a new element to the upcoming film. It raises questions about the blocky Overworld and how it will or could overlap with life back on Earth.
Compared to the first film, these videos and images show Steve without his standard blocky, bright blue shirt. He appears in a more casual, grounded, real-world outfit that blends into the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho. The truck further emphasizes that Steve is adapting to his identity on Earth.
A Minecraft Movie is available to stream on HBO, and A Minecraft Sequel is set to be released on July 23, 2027.
