A Minecraft Movieis already breaking records, but can it actually dethroneThe Super Mario Bros Movieas the highest-grossing video game movie of all time? The 2025 movie has performed far beyond our expectations, and there is no sign of stopping after the astounding domestic opening weekend. AsA Minecraft Moviecontinues its theatrical run, Warner Bros is sure to continue raking in the cash. Since the movie’s opening weekend outperformedThe Super Mario Bros Movie’s domestic opening weekend earnings, it seemsMinecraftis a shoo-in for the Billion-Dollar-Club, but $1.36 billion is still a tall order.
Movies based on video gameshaven’t always performed so well. Paramount’sSonic the Hedgehogmovies were a game changer, but it wasThe Super Mario Bros Moviethat really turned the tide. It made $146 million domestically during its opening weekend and managed a record-setting $1.36 billion globally overall. Now, surprisingly,A Minecraft Moviehas broken that initial domestic opening weekend record. The 2025 movie made $163 million domestically in its first three days—17 million more thanMario. However,Minecraftdidn’t wholly beat its predecessor.
A Minecraft Movie Beat The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s Domestic Box Office Opening, But Not Worldwide
Minecraft Did Better In The US Than Mario (But Not Better Overall)
A Minecraft Moviemaking more thanThe Super Mario Bros Movieat the domestic box office during its opening weekend is undoubtedly impressive. However, this newer video game adaptation is still a long way off from beating its predecessor at the global box office.Mariomade $378 in its worldwide opening weekend, whileMinecraftsat at $301 million. While this seems negligible, especially in terms of overall earnings, the difference between these two nostalgic video game movies' opening weekends hints at a problem forMinecraftgoing forward.
The majority ofThe Super Mario Bros Movie’s $1.36 billion gross came from the international box office ($786 million). The movie performed particularly well in the UK, Japan, and Mexico, which makes sense considering the widespread reach of Nintendo’sMariogames over the last decades.Minecraft, on the other hand, holds a bit less nostalgic space across the globe. It may never get the same international numbers as theMariomovie, but there is still some hope.
Minecraft May Still Be Able To Dethrone Mario
Custom Image by Milica Djordjevic
Minecrafteasily overtookMariodomestically in its opening weekend, and this hints that the 2025 movie will surpass the $575 million that its predecessor made domestically overall. However,beating out that $786 million international figure will be far trickier.Minecraftis unlikely to have the same impact in Japan asMario, but the creativity-based video game has significant popularity in other potentially hard-hitting countries. Brazil, the UK, and Germany make up a considerable portion ofMinecraft’s player base (viaSearchLogistics), so these countries could have a greater turnout for this movie thanMario.
A Minecraft Movie’s Box Office Win Pushes Jack Black Past A Major Career Milestone
A Minecraft Movie enjoyed an impressive opening weekend at the box office, helping lead actor Jack Black surpass a major career milestone.
While it seems unlikely that this would pushMinecraft’s international box office gross higher thanThe Super Mario Bros Movie,combining this and a higher domestic gross could help the 2025 movie climb about the $1.4 billion mark. This would makeA Minecraft Moviethe highest-grossing video game movie of all time. However, joining the Billion-Dollar Club would be a significant achievement even if it can’t dethrone the Mario movie.
A Minecraft Movie Could Still Make $1 Billion Even If It Doesn’t Beat The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Minecraft’s Performance Has Blown Us Away Regardless
BeatingThe Super Mario Bros Moviemay be a challenge, butA Minecraft Moviestill has a shot at making $1 billion gross at the global box office.A Minecraftmovie was only projected to make about $60 million in its opening weekend, so there was little hope of this video game movie ever joining the Billion-Dollar Club. However, with such an excellent start, all bets are off.
Audiences who enjoyed A Minecraft Movie during its opening weekend are sure to tell their friends or go back and see it again.
Minecraftstruck an unexpected chord with audiences. It’s silly and over the top, but the movie managed to perfectly capture the delight of creativity that the original video games inspired. Audiences who enjoyedA Minecraft Movieduring its opening weekend are sure to tell their friends or go back and see it again. As word gets out, international audiences are sure to jump on board as well. More records forA Minecraft Moviewould be great, but at this point, the film’s general success is already assured.
