“A Minecraft Movie” Just Speedran the Box Office and Even Beat “Barbie”

Chicken jockey? 🐔

Let’s be honest: A Minecraft Movie was never going to be considered a success by movie critics around the world.

The Independent gave it two out of five stars. The Guardian gave it a three. And Kotaku said it was “a boring, bad, and annoying experience.”

Despite this, A Minecraft Movie has been absolutely killing it at the box office and has surpassed everyone’s expectations…except maybe us young people.

Spoiler: it’s breaking the box office.

In Australia the film earned $13.7million and made it the biggest opening for a film since Deadpool & Wolverine. It also became the highest-grossing opening for a video game film in Aus and overtook The Super Mario Bros (fun fact: Jack Black is in both movies).

It’s even managed to beat Barbie and become Warner Brothers’ best opening weekend, post-pandemic.

Been living under a rock? Here’s what the film is about.

The movie was inspired by the extremely popular 2011 sandbox game; Minecraft. In the movie four misfits are pulled through a portal to the Overworld: the place where all players start in Minecraft.

Some of the best of Hollywood stars are in the film like Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks and Jennifer Coolidge.

Why has it performed so well?

If we had to guess why the film has performed so well and defied expectations it’s this: the Minecraft game has always been a staple for Gen Z, Gen Alpha and even Millennials.

For a lot of young people, it’s their first memory of gaming.

But it’s not just nostalgic. It also gives people what they want. The idea of a live-action Minecraft movie toes the line between slightly unhinged, and overwhelming genius.

The movie is also full of surprisingly viral moments and memes which appeal to the audience. See below the chicken jockey meme. And while this is a funny meme, Student Edge does not condone making a mess or causing disturbances in cinemas.

So why is everyone so obsessed with this ridiculous film? We love participating in internet social trends and this film makes it really easy for us to do that.

Plus, with the rise of streaming services it’s often pretty rare that we see people get together and share this much love for a movie in person. Movies are soo back.

And if you’ve got massive FOMO and wanna catch this film, don’t forget to cash in on your cheap student tix at HOYTS!

Header Image: Warner Bros. Pictures