A Minecraft Movie storms box office despite lukewarm reviews

A Minecraft Movie has proven to be a box office success, bringing in an estimated $300m (£233m) globally during its opening weekend.

The film, based on the wildly popular video game, was heavily delayed but finally hit the big screen on Friday.

It boasts a star-studded cast including Jason Momoa, Jack Black and Jennifer Coolidge.

The estimates place the film’s earnings well above its reported production budget of $150m.

Around half of the film’s global takings came from North America, according to EntTelligence.

The box office numbers come despite reviews for the film being mostly underwhelming.

The Telegraph awarded it two stars, saying the charm of the video game was “nowhere to be found”, while the Guardian gave it just one star, saying it has “a cobbled-together feel”.

It does not appear to have stopped families showing up in force to see it.

“It has definitely overperformed all industry projections,” said Steve Buck, chief strategy officer at EntTelligence, which said the film had enjoyed a late ticket surge.

He said the film “hit with all audiences”, with around a quarter of those going to see it being under the age of 13, and more than half being male.

“When dads like a family film, that’s a good thing,” he told BBC News.

“It’s the largest domestic opening of 2025, and the largest for Warner Bros since 2023,” he added.

Minecraft is one of the world’s best selling video games (more than 300 million copies and counting, according to Statista).

The film tells the story of four misfits who are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld – the place where all players start in Minecraft.

There has been a long history of game-to-film flops. But others, such as Sonic and The Super Mario Bros Movie, were massive hits.

In press notes circulated ahead of the film’s release, Black, 55, acknowledged there was a lot of pressure to deliver for fans of the blocky world.

“This game has been loved by millions and millions all over the world for years now, and I think this movie is a big deal for a lot of people, because now it’s generational,” he said.