A Minecraft movie — the unwanted surprise success?
What to make out of how an industry treats a phenomenon. Following the success story of A Minecraft Movie, there is much to learn about the disconnect between entertainment consumers and creators in many parts of the entertainment industry.
Most apparent is how far an industry obsessed with engineering and predicting its future success has distanced itself from its role in the bigger picture of a complex, ramified, multifaceted, structured industry that touches many aspects of human existence on almost every level. How many industry parts understand themselves as the lone creator of trends rather than a reflecting echo chamber of up-to-date entertainment preferences. But it’s different to offer something you believe will fit into the Zeitgeist (and this may be so for good reason) versus thinking you are creating the Zeitgeist.
There is much talk these days from various industry voices about how “surprising” the box office success of A Minecraft Movie is. This is often connected with notes like “Despite the film being …” or “Underwhelming film performs well …” etc. etc. While it’s understandable there is some injured pride amongst box office pollsters, it’s concerning to see how much many analysts, writers, industry executives and creatives have lost contact to what the entertainment world is all about in the first place: serving audiences.
Maybe they have forgotten, perhaps they have unlearned some basic knowledge about what box office success is built on, spoiled by long streaks of successes one can interpret as designed purely by intention and applied business analytics. However, many of the entertainment industry’s most significant historical achievements have been reflections of a Zeitgeist, becoming relevant elements of expressing and celebrating such. They were never meant to be cinematic masterpieces, critics’ favorites, or “valuable lessons” about anything. These entertainment products were born out of the Zeitgeist and aimed to cater to audiences’ needs to feel well in their days. Think: Saturday Night Fever. Flashdance. Top Gun. Titanic. Jurassic Park. Star Wars. Even the James Bond Franchise. To name a few true icons in the recent history of cinema and pop culture that reflected the relevant thing at the right time in many people’s minds.
As so is A Minecraft Movie, which is the right thing at the right time now, in April 2025. It is an easy-to-consume, fun story based on a character world most families of the 2020ies are familiar with. Minecraft has dominated family living rooms, family vacation travels, family weekends, and family evenings for Billions of people across the globe for over a decade now. Gaming is a top favorite pastime all around. Maybe the only things more present in people’s minds are stories from influencers and “everything social media,” as well as YouTube and streaming services content. Most other stuff regarding entertainment leisure activities has taken backseats — not forgotten, not gone, still a great business. But also not an aspect of often absolute cultural dominance, like (video/computer/online) gaming is currently.
Then, there are the usual suspects among the global cinema operators. They could be super happy with the film as it delivers so much of what they have longed for for a while: A movie on track to become the first true box office success of 2025. A sales billionaire. Minecraft is their long-awaited box office success driven by ticket-buying young and younger folks. It is a family-friendly film, connecting the old-school cinema concept with the up-to-date Gaming experience. No significant scandals tied to the tumultuous political landscape were attached to the movie by the release date. It is handy for all theater programming wishlists with a runtime of under two hours. Etc.
Nonetheless, global Theatrical turns a good thing into lousy news coverage. What was welcomed and celebrated as a fantastic event in cinemas once upon a time during decades of The Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings, nowadays is condemned as deplorable. “Incidents reported in the UK and the US of cheering, shouting, and throwing popcorn have prompted caution from audiences.” The offending object is “a trend among the Minecraft audiences. Footage has emerged on social media of audiences cheering, throwing popcorn, and shouting out during the film, particularly during a scene where one of the stars, Jack Black, calls out “Chicken jockey!” at the appearance of a baby zombie riding a chicken.”
While it’s understandable that from a strict operations perspective, a 100% non-consuming, non-littering, non-breathing, non-eating, non-drinking audience might be ideal — avoiding clean-up fees isn’t what an audience and communal movie-going experience is all about. It has never been. It never will. And given current prices for popcorn, soda, and nachos, I would say Theatrical should be more than happy to bring in as many food- and drink wasters as possible. With prices easily crossing the 20-money-unites threshold in all Western Countries for a standard Popcorn&Drink-Combo, wiping numerous of these sets off a laminated floor after a screening is a great business even under the highest minimum wage conditions. We live in post-COVID times, where many clubs and food service/hospitality industry players struggle to bring in audiences willing to spend and party.
Hence, IMHO, Theatrical should encourage audiences to come in and have Minecraft parties. “Groups of 10 and more get 20 bucks worth of popcorn for free”. Maybe the film will be the next “Time Warp” singalong — style screening longtail for the industry.
It’s never easy to predict the success of an entertainment product, especially when it comes to predicting a billion-dollar success. However, what can be easy is to look at what is happening and at least try to read what audiences wish instead of thinking only about what audiences should need. Producing content or products associated with a popular gaming franchise doesn’t automatically guarantee success. However, there are games, and there are phenomena. Minecraft is the latter. Industry professionals should be aware of such a difference. At the time of test screenings and marketing meetings, accurate direction-giving decisions have mostly been made, so everyone who feels surprised by the success of A Minecraft Movie should look at this level of decision-making to avoid future disappointments.
