The beginning of April is marked by the massive success of Minecraft in theaters. The adaptation of the eponymous video game broke this record, something no one expected, and continues to climb at the global box office. Warner Bros. confirms that the film's sequel should soon be officially announced. News that will please fans, but confirms our fears...
Minecraft, a surprise hit in theaters
Minecraft is an unexpected phenomenon, the latest repercussion of which is none other than a silly TikTok trend, which is forcing the police to intervene in cinemas to restore order. As of this writing, the film has grossed over $350 million at the global box office, less than ten days after its theatrical release. A great success for a film that was otherwise rather poorly rated by critics (46% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes), but generally appreciated by viewers (88% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes) despite some less than glorious feedback on social networks.
Well really
— Lumi (@Lumi2Ex) April 8, 2025
The Minecraft movie is truly one of the worst movies I've ever seen
The press describes the video game adaptation as "a film about celebrating creativity, offering a colorful sandbox to Jack Black and Jason Momoa for fun". Even in France, the film is a hit, with some 800,000 admissions.The story of Minecraft follows Garrett, Henry, Natalie and Dawn, propelled through a mysterious portal to a cubic world, the Overworld. There, imagination prevails. They meet Steve, a manufacturing expert and emblematic figure of this world, with whom they embark on a wild adventure.
The success of Minecraft boosts video game sales... And encourages Warner Bros. to validate a sequel
The success of the Minecraft movie is spilling over from theaters and is being felt in our homes, including PCs, home consoles, and Nintendo Switches. Indeed, the number of players increased by 9% the day after the film's release. The following weekend, there was a further increase of 17%, according to the website Thegamebusiness. As a reminder, the game already had 170 million monthly active users. This isn't the first time that the success of an adaptation has boosted sales of the associated video game, as proven by the Prime Video series Fallout and the Sonic franchise. Given this enthusiasm, Warner Bros. is expected to soon approve a sequel. Indeed, according to our colleagues at Deadline, it's only a matter of time before the studios officially announce a sequel: "The ink on the contracts may not be dry yet, but it will be soon."
Good news for fans, bad news for the authors
In February 2024, Warner Bros. asserted itself as the "only pure storytelling company," making them one of the only studios to support writers. However, with the successive failures of Furiosa, one of the worst flops of the summer with only $170 million in revenue, Joker: Madness and the avalanche of negative reviews received from critics and audiences (resulting in a dismal $200 million box office) and more recently Mickey Mouse 17 ($127 million), the studio now seems to be changing its strategy. Rather than focusing on the continuation of the Mad Max saga, Warner Bros. prefers to offer a sequel to a film deemed mediocre by many critics and viewers, but which did a little better than the others. A choice that is certainly 100% understandable from a financial perspective, but which contrasts with the decision to support creation and authors.
0 Comments