Fans must wait until late 2015 to see the new Star Wars film, Episode VII, but one has been filling their time by remaking the original 1977 movie, using Minecraft.
The creator of Minecraft – Star Wars – A New Hope recently released a new trailer (above) for their film, which is also due to be finished in 2015.
The project has involved painstakingly recreating sets from the first Star Wars film (retitled as Episode IV following the prequels released between 1999 and 2005) within Minecraft, then filming scenes.
So far, 70 minutes of footage are in the can after three years of work, with another 40 to produce. Creator Paradise Decay appears to be shooting for the Star Wars Celebration convention in April 2015 as the film's debut.
When finished, the film will be free to watch, although its creator is taking PayPal donations on the website to fund future plans to turn their work into a Minecraft server "featuring all the sets for you to roam around in".
The film will be silent, so viewers will have to play a copy of the original film simultaneously to provide the soundtrack.
The inspiration for the project came in 2003 when the creator's then three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour. "They didn't think she would survive past Boxing Day! She is now 16 and loves playing Minecraft," he explains on the site.
"Not only is this project fun to do for my daughter Sarah, but it takes her mind off her daily ‘on-going’ problems and health issues. Her tumor can never be removed and she has to live with all the side-effects this terrible disease brings."
Minecraft – Star Wars – A New Hope is just the latest grand project of its kind to be created using Minecraft, the game that has sold more than 54m copies so far across computers, consoles, tablets and smartphones.
One group of fans is creating a scale reproduction of Hayao Miyazaki's famous animated film Spirited Away using Minecraft, while mapping authority Ordnance Survey has constructed a map of Britain, and the Danish ministry of the environment has recreated Denmark.
