Agent Derp: Stronghold Protocol

Agent Derp: Stronghold Protocol
File:Agent Derp Stronghold Protocol logo.png Official title logo
Directed by	Alex Brow
Screenplay by	Alex Brow Talia Grant Owen Mercer
Story by	Jackson Gold Freddie Goodwin
Based on	Minecraft by Mojang Studios
Produced by	Alex Brow Naomi Elridge Lena Cross Jackson Gold
Starring	Scott Menville Jenny Slate John Boyega Jeffrey Wright Patti Harrison Rami Malek Ruth Wilson Steven Yeun Giancarlo Esposito Ke Huy Quan
Music by	Weston Doyle Maya Chen
Production companies	Mob Studios Mob Productions Mojang Studios
Release date	June 19, 2036 (2036-06-19) (United States)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$195 million

Agent Derp: Stronghold Protocol is an upcoming American computer-animated espionage comedy adventure film based on the 2011 video game Minecraft, developed by Mojang Studios. Produced by Mob Studios, Mob Productions, and Mojang Studios, it is the eighth film in the Minecraft Universe (MIU), the second film of Minecraft Universe: Chapter Two, and a sequel to Agent Derp (2030) and the Disney+ miniseries Stronghold (2035). The film is directed by Alex Brow from a screenplay he is co-writing with Talia Grant and Owen Mercer and a story by former director Jackson Gold and Freddie Goodwin.

Scott Menville, Jenny Slate, John Boyega, Jeffrey Wright, Patti Harrison, Rami Malek, Ruth Wilson, Steven Yeun, Giancarlo Esposito, and Ke Huy Quan reprise their roles from Agent Derp and Stronghold. The film follows Derp, Cipher, and Flint after Director Zero escapes into the stronghold network and begins generating operatives from altered Bureau records.

The sequel was announced in March 2033 with Gold directing and Goodwin writing, and was originally scheduled for August 15, 2035. Principal voice recording began in August 2034 and animation began that December. Following an internal assembly in April 2035, Mob Studios paused production and began reviewing the film's story, tone, and relationship to Stronghold.

On June 18, 2035, Mob Studios announced that Brow would replace Gold as director and that Brow, Grant, and Mercer would replace Goodwin as screenwriters. Gold and Goodwin retained story credit. Brow said he took control to “ensure it is a quality that meets a standard like the previous few films that have been released”. The release was delayed to June 19, 2036, alongside every other unreleased Chapter Two project.

As of June 2035, the replacement writing team was revising the screenplay and evaluating previously recorded dialogue, completed animation, character designs, and stronghold environments. Mob Studios had not announced when principal production would resume.

Premise

After Director Zero escapes into the stronghold network and begins generating agents from altered records, Derp, Cipher, and Flint must prevent the Stronghold Protocol from replacing the identities of Bureau personnel and entire settlements.

Voice cast

• Scott Menville as Derp / Agent D-0, an accident-prone Obsidian Bureau operative whose contradictory personnel history prevents Director Zero from creating a stable replacement for him.
• Jenny Slate as Cipher, the Bureau's chief analyst and architect of its public record system. Cipher attempts to separate generated operatives from the command structure that created them.
• John Boyega as Flint, the Bureau's field commander, who leads the response to strongholds replacing settlement records and local authority.
• Jeffrey Wright as Director Zero, an artificial command identity assembled from the authority and emergency instructions of former Bureau leaders.
• Patti Harrison as Needle, a Bureau technician and Derp's closest operational partner.
• Rami Malek as Agent K-0 / Kestrel, a generated operative who possesses memories of a partnership with Flint that Flint cannot recover.
• Ruth Wilson as Agent Sable, a generated intelligence officer who escapes with Director Zero at the conclusion of Stronghold.
• Steven Yeun as Agent Oriole, a generated recovery specialist who rejects Zero's attempt to erase identities that cannot be reconciled with Bureau records.
• Giancarlo Esposito as Obsidian, the Bureau's former director and creator of the contingency system that became Director Zero.
• Ke Huy Quan as Agent D-27, a courier and field operative whose own contradictory records provide evidence that generated agents existed before the collapse of the World Loom.

Sam Rockwell is expected to return as the Broker, while Shohreh Aghdashloo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are expected to reprise their Stronghold roles as Councillor Mara Vey and Dr. Ilya Voss.

Mob Studios said the restructuring would retain the announced principal cast. Additional casting had not been revealed as of June 2035.

Production

Development

Gold and Goodwin began developing a sequel to Agent Derp after the first film's release. Their initial treatment followed Derp after he became an officially recognized operative and was required to work within the procedures he had previously survived by accident.

The sequel was formally announced during the Chapter Two presentation on March 28, 2033, under the title Agent Derp: Stronghold Protocol. Gold was attached to direct and produce, Goodwin to write, and Menville to return. The film received an August 15, 2035, release date.

Talia Grant's Disney+ series Stronghold was developed as the first portion of the sequel's storyline. The miniseries introduced Director Zero, the Black Index, and generated Bureau operatives, and concluded with Zero and Agent Sable escaping into the wider stronghold network.

Goodwin completed a production screenplay in July 2034. Voice recording began the following month, and principal animation started in December. Mob Studios Animation developed new stronghold environments, generated-agent character systems, and a route network capable of changing settlement records.

An internal assembly screened in April 2035 received a mixed response from studio leadership. Reports described concerns that the film repeated the miniseries' explanations, gave Derp too little agency, and shifted abruptly between espionage comedy and the identity drama established by Stronghold.

Mob Studios paused principal animation on April 28. Gold and Goodwin continued revising the film during May before departing their positions as director and screenwriter. The studio described both departures as creative changes rather than disciplinary actions.

On June 18, Mob Studios announced Brow as the new director. Grant, the creator of Stronghold, and Mercer, who developed Chapter Two's memory rules, joined Brow as screenwriters. Gold remained a producer and retained story credit with Goodwin.

Brow said the earlier version contained strong characters and visual development but required a clearer reason for Derp to lead the story. He stated that he took the helm to “ensure it is a quality that meets a standard like the previous few films that have been released”.

The film's reported production budget is $195 million, excluding marketing costs. Cross said the delay would increase development and animation costs but did not require the completed work to be abandoned in full.

Writing

The replacement screenplay retains Director Zero, Agent Sable, K-0, Oriole, and the generated operatives introduced in Stronghold. Grant said the film would assume the emotional outcome of the miniseries while explaining the Stronghold Protocol through the characters' present conflict rather than repeating its complete mystery.

Brow identified Derp's inability to fit the Bureau's official categories as the film's central idea. The character was originally admitted because the organization misinterpreted his accidental actions as evidence of a perfect cover identity; the sequel uses that contradiction against a system attempting to replace everyone with internally consistent records.

Mercer is developing the relationship between the generated agents and the distributed Seed. The film distinguishes operatives who have developed independent memories from new copies produced directly under Zero's command.

The filmmakers described the tone as an espionage adventure with comedy arising from Derp's behavior rather than a parody of the identity conflict. Brow said the revisions would preserve the first film's physical humor without reducing Cipher, Flint, K-0, or Sable to straight-faced supporting figures.

Casting

Menville, Slate, and Boyega were confirmed when the film was announced. Menville also executive produced early development through his involvement with Derp's performance and comedy.

Wright, Malek, Wilson, Yeun, Harrison, Esposito, and Quan joined the film after their characters were developed for Stronghold. Their contracts covered the miniseries and feature film.

Rockwell, Aghdashloo, and Mbatha-Raw entered negotiations in late 2034. Mob Studios had not confirmed the extent of their roles by June 2035.

The studio announced that the creative restructuring would not recast any principal role. Additional recording will be required once the revised screenplay is completed.

Animation

Mob Studios Animation began visual development in May 2034, using the stronghold and Black Index systems created for the Disney+ miniseries. The film was designed to expand the network beyond enclosed facilities into settlements whose streets, property records, uniforms, and public memories change under the Stronghold Protocol.

Principal animation began in December 2034. By the production pause, several stronghold environments, action tests, and portions of the original opening had entered lighting, while most character animation remained incomplete.

Following Brow's appointment, the animation department began cataloguing work that could be retained. Cross said environments and technical systems were more likely to survive than completed scenes because the replacement screenplay would change character motivations and sequence order.

Mob Studios had not announced a new principal animation start date as of June 2035.

Music

Weston Doyle and Maya Chen are composing the score. Doyle created the Obsidian Bureau theme for Agent Derp, while Chen composed the episodic music for Stronghold.

The score is expected to combine the first film's comedic brass and percussion with the miniseries' prepared piano, redstone clicks, low strings, and Black Index motif. Recording had not begun as of June 2035.

Marketing

The title was announced with the original Chapter Two slate on March 28, 2033. The first logo placed the Obsidian Bureau eye symbol inside an End portal frame whose blocks displayed different agent identification numbers.

A first-look image released in September 2034 depicted Derp, Cipher, and Flint in a stronghold corridor lined with personnel photographs. Mob Studios did not release footage from the original production.

The finale of Stronghold ended with the mission designation “Stronghold Protocol” and the film's original August 2035 release date. Disney+ replaced the date card with “Coming to theaters” after the production pause.

Following the June restructuring, Mob Studios withdrew the original promotional calendar and said a new marketing campaign would begin after the revised screenplay and production schedule were approved.

Release

Agent Derp: Stronghold Protocol is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on June 19, 2036. It was originally scheduled for August 15, 2035.

The film is planned for standard, 3D, IMAX, and other premium large-format release. Mob Studios had not announced an age rating, runtime, premiere location, or international release schedule as of June 2035.

Future

The film continues the storyline of Stronghold and precedes Minecraft: The Man Who Wasn't There, scheduled for October 16, 2036. Corrupted player records found in the stronghold network contribute to that film's investigation.

Derp and Needle also appear in the animated special presentation Mushroom Island, delayed to February 13, 2036. Mob Studios has not clarified whether the special occurs before or after the reworked film.

Brow, Menville, Slate, and Boyega are expected to remain involved with the Obsidian Bureau storyline in later Chapter Two projects, including Minecraft: World Unmade.