A Minecraft Movie Brings The Fun (and Dollars) Back To Theaters

A record-breaking opening weekend at the box office for A Minecraft Movie proves fun, and community, still sells.

The box office is back in a big way! A Minecraft Movie blew away expectations this weekend, grossing over $163 million domestically and $150 million overseas for a massive $313 million global opening. After a horrible start to 2025 with an extremely slow and underperforming first quarter, this was a much-needed jolt of energy for movie theaters.

Although early estimates had this coming in much lower, I have to say I’m not surprised. The Minecraft fan base is massive and spans generations. It appeals to everyone from ages 5 or 6 all the way up to older Gen Z and younger millennials. And when you have a movie like this geared toward kids, you obviously get the parents buying tickets too, even if they’ve never touched the game.

I've heard from so many of my followers this weekend about how much fun they had seeing it with their kids. People were genuinely excited to share the theater experience, talking about the energy in the crowd, the cheering, the laughter. Even the parents who didn’t understand the game said it was a blast just seeing how much fun their kids were having.

And that’s what’s so exciting here: seeing a younger generation form a connection with theaters. These are core memories being made. They’re associating the theater with joy, community, and fun. I had those same kinds of experiences as a kid, like when Pokémon: The First Movie came out and it felt like the whole world was watching it together. That movie might’ve had a 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, but to me, it was life-changing. The toys, the promo cards, the Burger King gold slabs - these were cultural moments that built my love for movies and shaped my childhood. Minecraft is doing that for a new generation, and I love it.

And just like Pokemon, A Minecraft Movie is getting rough reviews. But of course it is. It wasn’t made for critics. It has a 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, and I’d say who cares? Movies like this are made for a community. And clearly, they nailed it. That makes it a success in my book.

I know that I have been critical of too many IP-driven movies, especially when studios chase brand recognition without understanding the audience. But when it’s done right, this is what it looks like. Just like Barbie, this movie took an IP and built something new and meaningful around it. There’s heart and purpose behind it. Compare that to something like the Pop-Tarts or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos movies. Who are those for? Are there Pop-Tart superfans out there desperate for origin stories? Is anyone really cheering in the theater when someone frosts the first pastry? Give me Super Mario Bros. or A Minecraft Movie any day. They feel like the games. They feel like events. They feel fun.

There’s also a clear parallel here to Five Nights at Freddy’s, which is why I am not surprised by the response. FNAF is another movie that wasn’t really for me. I didn’t play the games. I didn’t think the movie was great. But I completely get why fans loved it. It was a $300 million box office hit on a $20 million budget. That’s a win. And it proves that when studios respect the IP and speak directly to the fan base, those fans show up.

Video game movies have been underrepresented in my opinion when it comes to IP, but when they land, they really land. Pokémon had that magic. Doom did not. Sonic has been a surprise success. Borderlands... probably not. The difference is fan service and authenticity.

There’s a new live-action Zelda movie coming, and honestly, I’m nervous. That’s a property that deserves animation. It should feel like the game’s unique and legendary animation, not some gritty, live-action reimagining. You can draw a clear line between the weird, live-action Super Mario Bros. from the ’90s, which eventually got cult status as a so-bad-it’s-good oddity, and the 2023 animated Mario movie, which captured audiences and raked in $1.36 billion worldwide. That felt like the Mario we all grew up with. Now Minecraft just broke its opening weekend record. It’s probably going to hit a billion too, so we will be seeing more of Minecraft in the theaters. I just hope they can keep up the fun.

Ultimately, there is a bigger point here outside of Minecraft. Let’s bring fun back to theaters. Let’s make movies that create events for fans, for families, for communities. Barbie did it. Mario did it. Minecraft and Freddy’s are doing it for totally different audiences, but they’re still bringing people together. And that’s the magic.

Not everything for kids has to be heavy or overly adult. I love Pixar, but those movies can get deep. Sometimes too deep for kids, feeling like something made for adults. Meanwhile, something like Despicable Me or Minions might seem silly, but they’re fun. They speak to kids, and they get them excited to go to the movies. That matters.

So to the film bros and the critics who are too afraid to have fun: relax. Minecraft isn’t trying to win Oscars. It’s here to entertain, to celebrate the fandom, and to offer a joyful theater experience. And that’s good for the business. That’s good for movie theaters. That’s good for culture. Hell, I’ve played maybe two hours of Minecraft in my life and I’m tempted to go check this out just to feel that excitement in a packed auditorium. If my kids were older and into it, you know I’d be there already.

So props to the team behind this movie for treating the source material with care, for giving the fans what they wanted, and for simply having fun. When theaters feel fun, more people want to go. For a business that’s been struggling to find its footing in this decade post-COVID, that’s a big win.