A Minecraft Movie shattered box office records in its opening weekend as it ended up grossing $157 million for its domestic debut and $301 million in its worldwide total. It currently has the biggest opening of any movie this year so far.
There was a lot of anticipation for the movie since it is based on a popular video game property and could potentially attract a lot of family audiences. Fortunately, the film surpassed all expectations, and it's already breaking records in its debut alone.
Here are the five reasons why A Minecraft Movie is a massive box office success.
Popularity of Minecraft Video Game Franchise
Whether you have played it or not, you'll know that Minecraft is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time and still has hundreds of millions of active players to this day.
With the kind of world-building that it has, it was a no-brainer for Minecraft to get a film adaptation, and it's not shocking to hear now that its video game success has also translated to its big screen venture, as it attracted a lot of younger audiences to watch it in a theater.
The Movie is Led by Popular Stars
Jason Momoa and Jack Black's star power also contributed to the massive success of A Minecraft Movie, as they've both starred in films in the past that were box office hits, as well as being recognizable to the worldwide audience.
The presence of the two movie stars was also helpful to make the non-gamer audiences interested in seeing the film, as they are both charismatic leading actors who have good track records to prove that their works are worth watching.
Chicken Jockey
Several social media posts about the audience's experiences watching A Minecraft Movie in the theater have become viral as they shared that the younger crowd was clapping and hollering throughout the screening, similar to the MCU movies.
One particular scene that has drawn a massive enthusiastic response from the crowd is the "Chicken Jockey" moment, as audiences were also reciting the line and cheering as it happened.
Regardless of what you may think of the film, there is no doubt that it has provided a great experience for the crowd in the theater, especially for long-time gamers.
Global Marketing Campaign
Warner Bros. crafted a global marketing campaign for A Minecraft Movie to promote the film and make sure that it will reach as many audiences as possible.
They partnered with several brands, such as McDonald's, which offered Happy Meal toys and adult toys based on the movie and limited edition meals, and NYX, which has beauty products themed around the movie.
The Rise of Video Game Adaptations
A Minecraft Movie is part of the rise of video game adaptations that are slowly dominating both the film and TV space in Hollywood.
We've seen that The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Five Nights at Freddy's, and the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy are major box office successes, while The Last of Us and Fallout have also become successful and acclaimed shows on television.
This just shows that tapping into the video game territory is indeed what Hollywood needs to push further as they search for new franchises to explore and not just revive the old IPs.
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