CinemaCon was this week, and amid all the excitement, it can’t be denied that a certain chill had set in among exhibitors. The fact is, the first quarter of 2025 has been a disaster, with absolutely no hit movies. Sure, Captain America: Brave New World has come close to $200 million stateside, but with the huge budget, it seems on track to lose millions, while Snow White and Mickey 17 were giant flops. There have been some small-scale singles and doubles, like The Monkey, A Working Man and Dog Man, but there have been no blockbusters.
Lo-and-behold, the box office gods have given us the first legitimate hit of the year, and it comes from beleaguered Warner Bros. Deadline is reporting that A Minecraft Movie is far exceeding expectations, with it likely to make over $135 million this weekend. That’s a pretty stunning result (and significantly more than we predicted), with the PG-rated family film perfectly tapping into the cultural zeitgeist (it also helps that stars Jack Black and Jason Momoa have been promoting the heck out of it – including here at JoBlo). Directed by Napoleon Dynamite’s Jared Hess, this is the first movie this year that will make a boatload of money for exhibitors and the studios – and a rare longshot that paid off for WB. If their next big gamble, Sinners, also makes money, it could turn things around for them.
That said, A Minecraft Movie is pretty much the only movie people are going to see this weekend, with the latest batch of episodes from The Chosen – The Last Supper Part 2 – on track for a softer than expected $7 million weekend. Meanwhile, Jason Statham’s A Working Man looks like it will dip a so-so 56% to a $6.8 million weekend.
What do you think of A Minecraft Movie’s success? Let us know in the comments!
