Fans whose excitement has been building for the upcoming "Minecraft" movie will have to wait a while longer for the flick: Studio Warner Bros. and game developer Mojang revealed on Monday that the film won't be hitting theaters until 2019.

In an announcement posted on the Mojang website, company COO Vu Bui said that the movie would make its debut on May 24, 2019.

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

There's been no word yet on just what the plot of the flick will be (and Mojang's announcement coyly blocked out the screenwriter's name on a photo of the script, seen above), though it's secured a quirky director: Rob McElhenney, the co-creator and star of long-running FX sitcom "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." McElhenney has already promised that the film will be "strange and wonderful," a combination that should be familiar to "It's Always Sunny" fans.

The "Minecraft" movie is being modeled on the success of "The LEGO Movie," another kid-friendly property that had no previous narrative structure, but found box office success -- and critical love -- anyway. There are already a bunch of "LEGO" spinoff and sequel projects in the works, and the folks behind "Minecraft"'s foray onto the big screen no doubt hope their massively popular game translates into a similarly popular movie franchise, too.

We'll have to wait until 2019 to find out if their plan pans out. Stay tuned for more intel about the film as it becomes available.

[via: Mojang]

Photo credit: Mojang