‘A Minecraft Movie’ Arrives as a Surprise Box Office Smash

There are no bankruptcy formulas in Hollywood, but this approaches:

Take a consolidated but below -Sfrutta (or moldy) cultural property – preferably one that arouses strong feelings of nostalgia among young adults – and add stars that play, great visual effects and an expert marketing campaign that makes the basic fans feel appreciated.

It is difficult to take off, but the legendary entertainment has done so repeatedly. The most recent example came during the weekend with “A Minecraft movie“Which was made in collaboration with Warner Bros. The film was on the right way to sell $ 140 million in the lead in tickets in North America from Friday to Sunday, according to the box office analysts.

Citing the sale of early tickets and surveys that follow the interest of consumers, analysts had projected an internal opening weekend of $ 80 million.

“A Minecraft film”, a comic fantasy classified by PG starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa And on the basis of the 2011 video game, he also scored abroad, where it is expected that he expected further $ 100 million or more, analysts said.

The film cost $ 150 million to be built, excluding global marketing costs. Legendaries, independent owned, covered 25 percent of the budget. Warner Bros. supported the balance. The reviews were mixed.

Hollywood in general, and Warner Bros. in particular, they needed a blow. The revenues of the box office in the United States and Canada decreased by 11 % in the first three months of this year compared to the same period of 2024, in part due to great flops like “Snow White“(Disney) and”Mickey Mouse 17“(Warner Bros.). There were also other submarines, including a couple of low budget shots from the Horror Blumhouse study once invisible.

Warner Bros. found a success in September with “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. “But his performance has been sad since then, with a Gangster film supported by David ZaslavThe CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, Flatlining last month. Many of the company’s next films are seen as risks by the owners of theater and investors of Warner Bros. Discovery, including “Sinnerrs”, an original $ 90 million original Horror thriller set in the 1930s. Arrives on April 18th.

Zaslav informally met the candidates to replace Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca, coprescents of the Warner Bros. film group, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private process. The talks were first shown by Bloomberg.

Mrs. Abby and Mr. De Luca refused to comment. A spokesman by Warner Bros. Discovery said: “The voice of an imminent change of leadership in the studio is not accurate”.

The sale of strong tickets for “A Minecraft movie” could give the leaders of the markets a little breath. Mrs. Abdy and Mr. De Luca pushed the project to production and supervised her completion. Warner Bros. has also organized an important marketing partnership with McDonald’s who generated a widespread conversation on TiktokA platform that has become a crucial tool for filling the seats for studies and theaters.

But much of the merit of “A Minecraft film” belongs to the legendary.

After fighting for years to elaborate the right director, the story, the structure and the tone, Warner Bros. led legendary as a “Minecraft” partner at the end of 2019. In addition to financing, legendary offered the production of skills.

Jared Hess, known to instill films such as “Nacho Libre” and “Napoleon Dynamite” with embarrassing humor, was hired to direct the film. Mr. Momoa (“Aquaman”) and Madcap Mr. Black (“Jumanji: Welcome in the Jungle”) joined the cast.

“A Minecraft Movie” is the third time that the legendary has transformed the material of demanding origin into a large paid dirt. The company revived King Kong in 2017, resulting in a trilogy that collected $ 1.6 billion all over the world. The legendary was also the force behind “Dune: Part One” (2021) and “Dune: Part Two” (2024), which took $ 1.1 billion, a company for the films that are based on complex science fiction traditions. “Dune: Messiah” is scheduled for release next year.

Warner Bros. has published and invested in the films of Kong (who is also playing Godzilla). Ditto the “Dune” franchise.

“A Minecraft Movie” adds a boom in games based on games. Other successes include the “Super Mario Bros.” series Animated of Universal and the “Sonic the Hedgehog” series of Paramount. “Five nights from Freddy’s“From Blumhouse and Universal it was a surprise sensation in 2023.

According to Posttrak, a search service, about 43 percent of ticket buyers for “A Minecraft film” had from 18 to 24 years old. Children aged 13 to 17 were 35 percent.