Minecraft Gives Mario A Box Office Beating With Record-Breaking Opening

We’re not entirely certain if you’re all aware, but the highly anticipated film known as A Minecraft Movie premiered over the weekend (the creator’s children absolutely enjoyed it!), and it is already creating quite a stir in the global box office landscape.

Indeed, the reviews might not be overly positive, but that certainly isn’t hindering Mojang’s multimedia giant from making waves in the film industry’s statistics like a sequel to Jumanji.

The latest Minecraft movie, featuring stars such as Jack Sunless, Jason Momoa, and the spectacular Jennifer Coolidge, has already amassed a record-breaking $157 million in the US and Canada, marking the highest-grossing opening weekend for a video game movie adaptation in history, not to mention it holds the record for the biggest domestic opening in the US this year thus far. Combining international earnings brings the overall total to $301 million and counting. Take that, non-gamers.

All of this comes after the remarkable success of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which also shattered records upon release – indeed, Minecraft has overtaken the plumber’s $146 million opening weekend. It seems that video game films are surging ahead right now, particularly when they involve franchises that have existed long enough that many parents also have a nostalgic connection. Apologies, Borderlands.

Interestingly, none of this seems to concern Epic’s Tim Sweeney, it appears. When notable film-industry insider Daniel Richtman shared a (now-deleted) tweet indicating that a Fortnite movie was on the horizon, Sweeney quickly interjected with a terse “False” in reply.

It’s not as though we would have been informed about anything at this moment anyway, most likely, but it does appear that Sweeney’s abrupt reaction douses the idea, at least for now. It’s difficult to understand why Epic would outright decide against making it, considering the significant profit potential here. Regardless of whether the film receives favorable reviews, it seems the audience is eagerly awaiting. Whether Epic wishes to…