Prior to today's announcement of the Minecraft movie release date, I'd completely forgotten that a Minecraft movie is being made. And I can assure you with full confidence that I will forget about it again, because that release date is May 24 of the year 2019.

“Yes, that might seem like a long time away, but it just so happens to be the right amount of time to make it completely awesome,” Mojang COO Vu Bui wrote. “And we all want an awesome Minecraft movie, right?”

I'd say it's “yes” on both counts: An awesome Minecraft movie would be nice (if only to demonstrate that not all game-based movies are destined to be crap), and three years does seem like a very long time away, especially since this flick was announced in early 2014.

The Minecraft film will be released in 3D and Imax, and is being directed by Rob McElhenney, also known as Mac on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I don't imagine there's a connection between that series and the movie, but it'd be pretty great if there was.