No surprise, “A Minecraft Movie” is being panned by critics — 49 on Metacritic and 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. Much like “Super Mario Bros Movie,” that doesn’t seem to matter much to audiences since the tracking on this one has been pretty incredible. We’re about to get the first major blockbuster of the year.
If early tracking of ‘Minecraft’ had it projected to earn a $50M opening weekend, well, things have changed. How about double that? The latest projections have the film earning a whopping $100M domestic opening weekend. Warner Bros must be breathing a huge sigh of relief. This is the major hit they’ve been waiting for.
Who’d a thunk it? One of the most popular games of all time has broad appeal with movie audiences. ‘Minecraft’ is about to breathe new life into theaters. Warner Bros was very strategic in opening this film on practically the same launch date as ‘Super Mario Bros.’
The success of ‘Super Mario Bros’ opened the door for Hollywood to explore an inordinate amount of potential video game movie projects. What ‘Minecraft’ represents is the banking of that promise. Other upcoming video game movie adaptations include “Street Fighter,” “The Legend of Zelda,” “The Sims” and “Death Stranding.”
“A Minecraft Movie” has Jason Momoa entering the world of the popular video game. Joining Momoa in the cast are Jack Black, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Coolidge, Emma Myers, and Sebastian Eugene Hansen. The trailer had racked up hundreds of millions of views — we should have seen this coming.
The film is directed by Jared Hess, best known for “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Nacho Libre.” He’s now on board in what will probably be the biggest film of his career. “A Minecraft Movie” arrives in theaters this coming Friday, April 4, 2025.