Summary
- A Minecraft Movie is breaking records, soon surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 2's lifetime gross in just 6 days.
- The film's colossal opening weekend has set numerous records and is on track to reach a billion dollars.
- The success of A Minecraft Movie signals a shift in the video game-to-film adaptation genre, with plans for a sequel already in discussion.
Warner Bros.’s A Minecraft Movie is just six days old, but it’s about to gobble up the entire lifetime gross of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in the United States.
A Minecraft Movie is the latest in line of video game-to-film adaptations, and the second this year after Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Minecraft, the game upon which the movie is based, launched 16 years ago (in May 2009) and grew to become the best-selling video game of all time, drawing roughly 170 million players monthly. The road to A Minecraft Movie has been anything but smooth. A decade in production hell meant that Warner Bros.’s dream only morphed into reality in April 2025. Directed by Jared Hess, the 2025 movie sees Garrett (Jason Momoa), Natalie (Emma Myers), Dawn (Danielle Brooks), and Henry (Sebastian Hansen) find themselves in the Overworld and need Steve’s (Jack Black) help. To escape the zombie and skeleton-infested realm, they have to find a MacGuffin.
A Minecraft Movie: 10 Things You May Have Missed
The Minecraft Movie included a number of references and details you might have missed in your first viewing.
A Minecraft Movie's Box Office Is a Big Win for Video Game-To-Film Adaptations
It’s Already on a Smooth Path to a Billion Dollars
A Minecraft Movie’s insane theatrical run is about to rake in another record. According to box office analyst Luiz Fernando on X and corroborated by data from Box Office Mojo, A Minecraft Movie earned an additional $12.8 million on Tuesday, bringing its domestic cume to $191 million plus in just six days. These numbers dwarf the entire domestic lifetime gross of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($185.4 million), unseating the latter as the third-highest-grossing movie ever in the United States and Canada. By the end of business on Wednesday, it would have crossed the $200 million mark — the first film of the year to do so.
It follows A Minecraft Movie’s colossal $168.2 million domestic opening weekend, which set a slew of records: the biggest among video game adaptations, beating The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s $146.2 million; the biggest post-Covid and third-largest overall opening for Warner Bros’, surpassing Barbie; the 21st biggest opening of all time in the United States. Its $313 million worldwide launch also ranks the highest among video game adaptations and is only second to The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s $377 million in the entire animation genre.
For fans of the blue blur, this is another bit of news that they mightn’t be so eager to hear, especially considering that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 lost its box office battle with Mufasa: The Lion King. But Sonic’s loss is the entire gaming community’s win. What was once considered a risky bet by studios a decade ago is now challenging the comic book genre’s dominance. Another video game-to-film adaptation, Death Stranding, recently moved forward by onboarding Michael Sarnoski as writer-director.
It’s already safe at this point to refer to A Minecraft Movie as a “billion-dollar baby.” Rarely does a film open with such numbers and not hit the coveted threshold — that’s unless you’re Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which lost steam at $874 million. A Minecraft Movie doesn't have positive critic reviews, but what it has is word-of-mouth to sustain its legs. Already, reports are that a sequel is being discussed — an unsurprising development for a sequel-happy Hollywood.
A Minecraft Movie is currently showing in theaters worldwide.
- Release Date
- April 4, 2025
- Runtime
- 101 minutes
- Director
- Jared Hess
- Writers
- Chris Galletta, Gavin James, Chris Bowman, Neil Widener, Hubbel Palmer
- Producers
- Jason Momoa, Jill Messick, Mary Parent, Roy Lee, Cale Boyter, Jon Berg, Vu Bui
Cast
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Jason MomoaGarrett -
Jack BlackSteve
WHERE TO WATCH
Source: Box Office Mojo, Luiz Fernando/X