The entertainment industry desperately needed good news this weekemd. Hell, AMERICA desperately needed good news this weekend. Hence the performance of MINECRAFT: THE MOVIE was seen as downright heavensent, as among others THE ASSOCIATED PRESS–because they at least are still invited press members of this industry–reported:
In its first few days in theaters, the movie earned a staggering $157 million in ticket sales from theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. Internationally, it’s looking at an additional $144 million for a global debut of $301 million. And with school spring breaks ongoing, “A Minecraft Movie” is just getting started.
Not only is it the biggest opening of 2025, “A Minecraft Movie” also broke the record for a video game adaptation, a distinction previously held by “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($146 million). Going into the weekend, analysts projected “Minecraft” might hit $80 million. Instead, it nearly doubled that figure.
“We’re just thrilled that audiences are responding and that everyone’s going to the theater,” said Pamela Abdy, the co-chair and CEO of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group. “You can’t underestimate the value of earnest, entertaining, joyous cinema,” said Michael DeLuca, also co-chair and CEO. “People really want an escape, especially when it involves the whole family.”
And MINECRAFT even acted as a virtual olive branch to a part of the world that isn’t all that crazy about America these days, as VARIETY’s Naman Ramachandran noted hits morning:
The China box office welcomed a new leader this past weekend as Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “A Minecraft Movie” debuted in first place with RMB105.5 million ($14.7 million) for the April 4–6 frame, according to Artisan Gateway. The long-awaited live-action adaptation of the popular video game opened across China, scoring a solid start during the Qingming Festival period.
And if ever there were a pair of executives that needed those sorts of shots of adrenaline, it’s DeLuca and Abdy. Because as the week began this is how their names showed up in the news cycle, courtesy of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Hilary Lewis:
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is meeting with potential candidates to replace film bosses Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, according to a report by Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter. The talks, Bloomberg says, are “at an early and informal stage” with a final decision about De Luca and Abdy’s fate at the company having not yet been made.
De Luca and Abdy have faced pressure, and strings of negative headlines, in the wake of several high-profile bombs, such as Joker: Folie à Deux and Mickey 17, though deals for some of those misses were largely in place before they took the reins of the studio in June 2022. Minecraft, considered their first true greenlight from start to finish, arrives Friday and is tracking to do decent business at the box office.
One would like to believe that the above figures would logically qualify as “decent”. But when you’re dealing with the likes of Yosemite Zas, nothing is a given.
For one, it would be more than logical to conclude that a performance like that would already have a sequel in place. SOAP CENTRAL.com’s Yash Singh was characteristically optimistic in his story filed Saturday, using elementary logic as rationale. But a more specialized expert, DEXERTO’s Brad Norton, had previously gone on record last month with some dire news about how the company that actually holds the IP rights feels about second acts:
No, there will not be a Minecraft 2. Mojang has no plans for a proper sequel to the best-selling game of all time, comparing it to there being an “Earth 2.” It’s been 15 years of Minecraft and the game is more popular today than it ever has been. With over 300 million copies sold, it’s far and away the biggest release the medium has ever seen, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Given the game’s original creator, Markus ‘Notch’ Persson recently teased working on a Minecraft follow-up, rumors have been swirling. Putting a stop to it all, however, Mojang has chimed in on the matter, firmly shutting down any notion of a Minecraft 2 ever happening.
Besides, there’s still the small problem that given the degree of failure that Warner Brothers’ 2024 slate saw, even this impressive an opening is only in the eyes of a Zaslav as a small step in the right direction. And as CINEMA BLEND’s Eric Eisenberg reminded this morning, while the odds are in MINECRAFT’s favor, they’re not exactly chalk:
Whether or not A Minecraft Movie will be able to hang as one of the big video game adaptation blockbusters is something we won’t learn until seven days from now. As impressive as the opening weekend numbers were for The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023, what was far more important for the release’s success was the fact that it saw its ticket sales drop only 37 percent weekend-to-weekend. That’s a rare thing to see at this time of year – and I can’t say that I would actually be too surprised to see the new film with Jack Black and Jason Momoa pull it off. The market isn’t seeing the arrival of any new titles aiming to specifically steal its audience…so the only big question will be whether or not kids are already excited to see it again.
The bigger question may be will they want to re-experience the brand by rewatching the movie or by playing the game with a bit more insight and passion than they normally do? It’s a global audience which the AP estimates is 200 million strong. They spend an awful lot of time online doing just that, and with Palm Sunday, Passover and Easter on their way there’s gonna be a lot of down time for those so addicted to sneak away to the basement to avoid a second helping of medicore ham or the futile search for the Afikomen. And Warner Brothers doesn’t share in that revenue or zeitgeist grab. As they also didn’t with BARBIE, as successful a theatrical release out of Burbank as anything this decade. And even with that film’s outsized success it didn’t stop Zaslav from jettisoning hundreds of more jobs in the ensuing months.
Until next time…
So be prepared for an awful lot of reinforced marketing, both viral and paid, as this week unfolds. Maybe an actual greenlight for a sequel might help. If you indeed do want that to happen, you might want to add to the discourse. If you do. I bet I know a couple of nervous executives who will thank you in the holiday prayers.