‘Minecraft’ movie’s $163 million debut is year’s best so far

A Minecraft Movie, a Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. film based on the namesake video game, opened at No. 1 in US and Canadian theaters this weekend, marking the biggest debut this year. 

The picture, co-produced by Legendary Entertainment, delivered weekend sales of $163 million, Warner Bros. said Monday in a statement, storming past industry tracker Box Office Pro’s forecast of $85 million to $100 million. The film took in an additional $150.7 million in theaters internationally.

Estimates for the movie soared last week based on advanced ticket-buying data. The live-action comedy and fantasy picture stars Jack Black and Jason Momoa as misfits pulled into a cubic world based on the game. 

The tally marked the largest opening weekend ever for a film based on a video game and continues a string of recent successes for such movies, including The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The film overcame a 49 per cent critics’ score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

The debut is good news for domestic theaters, which had seen ticket sales slide 11 per cent before the start of the weekend. It’s also a welcome hit for Warner Bros.’ film chiefs, Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who have come under scrutiny over profligate spending on titles with uncertain commercial prospects. Minecraft was developed by their predecessor Toby Emmerich and led by Warner Bros. production chief Jesse Ehrman as well the creative team at Legendary.

“When we got to the studio, it was kind of languishing in second gear, and we recognized that it should be fast-tracked and something that could be a big hit,” De Luca said in a joint interview with Abdy on Sunday. Abdy said she’d received TikTok clips of children and parents dancing to the movie’s scenes in cinemas. The film “is really joyful, and in a world rife with anxiety, it’s something you can share with people of all ages,” De Luca said.

Legendary, which has a distribution deal with Warner Bros. on select titles, also produced Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which became the highest-grossing Warner Bros. releases of 2024 with a combined $1.29 billion worldwide. 

“When Toby and Jesse at Warner Bros. sent this to Legendary in 2019, we knew this was huge IP that needed to be explained and made accessible,” Legendary Chief Executive Officer Josh Grode said in a statement. Ehrman and Legendary’s head of production Mary Parent “developed a movie that honors the fans while still being accessible for the general audience,” Grode said.

The next release from Warner Bros. is the period vampire picture Sinners from Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther and Creed. The film, which opens in cinemas on April 18, is one of the key bets on original titles associated with De Luca and Abdy, alongside Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.