A Minecraft Movie has exceeded expectations at the box office, as it’s poised to score the biggest opening weekend of the year so far. According to Deadline, estimates have the video game adaptation pegged to gross $135+ million domestically over its first three days. Some believe A Minecraft Movie could earn somewhere in the range of $145-155 million. If it’s able to go that high, it could break the record for biggest opening for a video game adaptation, topping 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($146.3 million domestic). As it stands right now, A Minecraft Movie is going to clear Captain America: Brave New World‘s debut ($88.8 million) by a considerable margin.
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The rest of this weekend’s top five should be rounded out by A Working Man ($7.2 million), The Chosen: Last Supper Part 2 ($6.9 million), Snow White ($5.9 million), and The Woman in the Yard ($4.3 million).
Heading into its debut, A Minecraft Movie was projected to gross around $65 million in the U.S. and as much as $140 million globally over its opening weekend. While the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score is probably better than what some people expected, A Minecraft Movie did not earn overwhelmingly positive reviews, and there were some mixed reactions to early marketing materials. It was unknown how that could impact the project’s box office prospects.
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Budgeted at $150 million, A Minecraft Movie is a much-needed win for Warner Bros. Several of the studio’s recent high-profile releases bombed at the box office, putting WB in a tough spot as it gears up for the critical summer release of James Gunn’s Superman. Things had gotten so bad at Warners that there were fears the studio could be sold off if it didn’t start to see better luck at the box office.
That A Minecraft Movie easily won the weekend and is a box office hit shouldn’t be too shocking; the film is based on the best-selling video game of all time and was facing virtually no competition for its target demographic of families. There’s a built-in audience that was excited to see the title come to life on the big screen. What is somewhat surprising is just how much it grossed in its opening, potentially becoming a record-breaking release. Back at the start of the year, when the first Minecraft trailer proved polarizing, it wouldn’t have been easy to predict it would out-gross the likes of Captain America: Brave New World and Snow White. But Warner Bros. struck gold with a strange marketing campaign that won viewers over.
It will be interesting to see how high A Minecraft Movie goes over the course of its theatrical run. The film won’t be facing much direct competition for the rest of the month, meaning it essentially has a clear runway before Thunderbolts* arrives in early May. Assuming it has strong legs, it could be well on its way to becoming one of the highest-grossing video game adaptations of all time. As for Warner Bros., Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is also projected to post a strong opening for the studio, so it could be getting back on the right track now.
