The box office blues have been banished in historic fashion.
Warner Bros.’ A Minecraft Movie, made with help from Legendary Pictures, struck gold with a record-shattering $157 million opening domestically and $144 million overseas for a global start of $301 million.
The film came in tens of millions ahead of expectations to score the top start ever for a video game adaptation, besting the $146.4 million three-day launch of Universal Pictures’ The Super Mario Bros. Movie over Easter weekend in 2023. (Opening on a Wednesday, Mario Bros. earned $204 million through Easter Sunday.)
A Minecraft Movie easily boasts the top start of 2025 to date and, just as noteworthy, is the biggest domestic launch since Deadpool & Wolverine in July 2024 ($211 million). Saturday’s gross of $60 million is the biggest in the history of Warners, not adjusted for inflation. Legendary put up 25 percent of the $150 million production budget (that doesn’t include marketing costs).
The star-studded, high-wattage ensemble pic couldn’t have come at a better time. The 2025 box office has seen its fortunes fall off dramatically in recent weeks. Minecraft is just the shot of confidence Hollywood studios and cinema owners needed after pics including Disney’s Snow White bit the poisoned apple.
It’s also a needed victory for embattled Warner Bros. movie studio chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, and for the studio overall. Ditto for Legendary, whose movie chief Mary Parent — known for her deft handling of big IP — is a credited producer and is given major props for suggesting that Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) be hired to direct the pic.
“We’re absolutely overjoyed A Minecraft Movie has been so warmly received by audiences around the world,” Abdy and De Luca said in statement thanking all involved, from Hess to the cast to Legendary and Vertigo, another producing partner. They also thanked their marketing and distribution teams. “A Minecraft Movie’s decade long journey to the screen was overseen with great care by WBP’s Jesse Ehrman and his team, and we are thrilled their efforts have resulted in such a tremendous response.”
Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge and Danielle Brooks star in the PG-rated film, as well as Emma Myers and Sebastian Eugene Hansen. The movie, based on the Mojang Studios video game of the same name, centers around four misfits who are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they must master their new reality’s quirks while embarking on a quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, as Black steps into the shoes of the iconic character Steve.
Warners global distribution chief Jeff Goldstein said the film worked everywhere, from small towns to the biggest cities. And, reached in London, Parent said the opening is a both a reflection of the mandate to celebrate the world of Minecraft in a joyful way, and the singular experience that only theatrical can offer. “This game is a global phenomenon,” she said.
Minecraft is the the best-selling video game of all time, with over 300 million copies sold an an estimated 174 million active monthly players in 2024 (Microsoft bought Mojang in 2014).
On Saturday morning, based on Friday’s huge haul of $58 million, insiders at Warner Bros. projected a $135 million domestic start. Some rival studios thought it had a shot at as much as $150 million, but massive walk-up business saw the final tally come in even higher.
Not even so-so reviews or a B+ CinemaScore dinged A Minecraft Movie (moviegoers under 18 gave it a perfect A).
Exit polls from PostTrak did the best job at explaining the movie’s out-of-this world start: Teens between ages 13 and 17 made up 35 percent of the audience, while the largest quad was between ages 18 and 24, according to those with access to the data. Those are the demos best known for repeat viewing. Families also turned out in force, while males — as expected — dominated at 65 percent to 67 percent of the audience. General audiences and parents/kids gave the movie four out of five stars on PostTrak, while kids delivered five out of five.
Overseas, A Minecraft Movie is even showing promise in China, where it topped the weekend chart with $14.6 million, the best showing of any Hollywood title this year. Legendary East is handling the film in China.
“This was lightning in a bottle,” said Goldstein.
Final numbers will be released Monday, and no one at Warners — or rival studios — will be surprised if grosses end up being higher.
The next-closest film was A Working Man, which came in No. 2 with $7.3 million. Distributed by Amazon MGM Studios in the U.S., the pic has earned $27.8 million in its first 10 days of release. Fathom’s screening of part two of The Chosen: Last Supper followed closely with $7.2 million.
Snow White, now in its third weekend, placed No. 4 with $6.1 million domestically for a tepid global total of $168.4 million.
Numbers will be updated Monday morning.
