It might sound like something Matt Remick from The Studio rushed out to hit quarterly goals, but A Minecraft Movie shows exactly why Hollywood leans on well-known IP. The Warner Bros. film didn’t just pull in the biggest opening weekend since last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine—it shattered expectations, even surpassing the studio’s own hit, Barbie.
Originally projected to earn around $60 million domestically in its debut, A Minecraft Movie brought in $157 million, later updated to $163 million, edging past Greta Gerwig’s cultural phenomenon.
Barbie, which premiered in 2023 alongside Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, made $162 million in its first three days and went on to earn over $600 million domestically. Globally, it raked in $1.4 billion and kicked off a new franchise for Warner Bros. The studio has struggled at the box office lately, with titles like Joker: Folie à Deux and Mickey 17 underperforming. Even early buzz for Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another hasn’t been great. But A Minecraft Movie arrived just when the studio needed a win.
Advertisement It also surpassed The Super Mario Bros. Movie to claim the title of the biggest opening weekend ever for a video game adaptation. The film set multiple records, including the highest debut for a Warner Bros.-Legendary production—beating Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight—as well as the largest Saturday and Sunday earnings for a Warner Bros. release.
It became the studio’s biggest April opening and marked the top debut weekend for a film starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa. Remarkably, it’s also the only movie in history to open above $50 million without experiencing a Saturday revenue drop.
Made on an estimated $150 million budget, A Minecraft Movie brought in an impressive $313 million globally during its debut. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film soared thanks to strong audience support. It currently holds a “rotten” 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, what really drove the film’s success was the overwhelmingly positive audience reaction. With an 88% audience score on RT, the movie is expected to have a strong run through the summer and may live up to early hopes as a potential savior for theaters.
A Minecraft Movie is now playing in cinemas