A Minecraft Movie has shattered expectations at the box office, proving the strength of the IP created by Mojang and owned by Microsoft. Whereas estimates assumed it could earn around $150 million globally, the videogame adaptation actually opened up to $157 million earned in the United States and $144 in the rest of the world, for a grand total of $301 million throughout the whole weekend.
This set a new record, improving upon Nintendo's and Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which earned $146.4 million across the United States in its first three days in theaters. Of course, The Super Mario Bros. Movie continued its run to earn over $500 million in its first week and $1.36 billion at the end of its box office run. We'll have to wait and see if A Minecraft Movie has the same legs, but so far, the indications are very positive.
The movie was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and the company's chiefs, Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, wasted no time expressing their elation at the news:
We’re absolutely overjoyed A Minecraft Movie has been so warmly received by audiences around the world. 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.
The film was directed by Jared Hess and features Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Coolidge, Rachel House, and Jemaine Clement. Jack Black plays Steve, who is the default player character skin in the game.
The success of A Minecraft Movie will likely spur even more videogame adaptations across film and TV. That said, it's worth remembering that Minecraft is the best-selling game ever, with over 350 million copies sold to date. As such, this adaptation's successful release is not necessarily indicative of other intellectual properties.
