Summary
Warner Bros.’sAMinecraft Movieis just six days old, but it’s about to gobble up the entire lifetime gross ofSonic the Hedgehog 2in the United States.
A Minecraft Movieis the latest in line of video game-to-film adaptations, and the second this year after Paramount’sSonic the Hedgehog 3.Minecraft, the game upon which the movie is based, launched 16 years ago (in May 2009) and grew to become thebest-selling video game of all time, drawing roughly 170 million players monthly. The road toA Minecraft Moviehas been anything but smooth. A decade in production hell meant that Warner Bros.’s dream only morphed into reality in April 2025. Directed by Jared Hess, the 2025 movie sees Garrett (Jason Momoa), Natalie (Emma Myers), Dawn (Danielle Brooks), and Henry (Sebastian Hansen) find themselves in the Overworld and need Steve’s (Jack Black) help. To escape the zombie and skeleton-infested realm, they have to find a MacGuffin.
A Minecraft Movie’s Box Office Is a Big Win for Video Game-To-Film Adaptations
It’s Already on a Smooth Path to a Billion Dollars
A Minecraft Movie’s insane theatrical run is about to rake in another record. According to box office analystLuiz Fernando on Xand corroborated by data fromBox Office Mojo,A Minecraft Movieearned an additional $12.8 million on Tuesday, bringing its domestic cume to $191 million plus in just six days. These numbers dwarf the entire domestic lifetime gross ofSonic the Hedgehog 2($185.4 million), unseating the latter as the third-highest-grossing movie ever in the United States and Canada. By the end of business on Wednesday, it would have crossed the $200 million mark — the first film of the year to do so.
It followsA Minecraft Movie’s colossal $168.2 million domestic openingweekend, which set a slew of records: the biggest among video game adaptations, beatingThe Super Mario Bros. Movie’s $146.2 million; the biggest post-Covid and third-largest overall opening for Warner Bros’, surpassingBarbie; the 21st biggest opening of all time in the United States. Its $313 million worldwide launch also ranks the highest among video game adaptations and is only second toThe SuperMario Bros. Movie’s $377 million in the entire animation genre.
For fans of the blue blur, this is another bit of news that they mightn’t be so eager to hear, especially considering thatSonic the Hedgehog 3lost its box office battle withMufasa: The Lion King. But Sonic’s loss is the entire gaming community’s win. What was once considered a risky bet by studios a decade ago is now challenging the comic book genre’s dominance. Another video game-to-film adaptation,Death Stranding,recently moved forward by onboarding Michael Sarnoskias writer-director.
It’s already safe at this point to refer toA Minecraft Movieas a “billion-dollar baby.” Rarely does a film open with such numbers and not hit the coveted threshold — that’s unless you’reBatman v Superman:Dawn of Justice,which lost steam at $874 million.A Minecraft Moviedoesn’t have positive critic reviews, but what it has is word-of-mouth to sustain its legs. Already, reports are that a sequel is being discussed — an unsurprising development for a sequel-happy Hollywood.
