The big screen adaptation of the popular video game franchise Minecraft made a whopping $58 million on Friday alone, setting it up for a potential $135 million opening weekend in the US – or even more.

If it hits that mark, “A Minecraft Movie” will have the biggest opening of the year, surpassing the likes of “Captain America: Brave New World” that earned $88.8 million in its February opening weekend. This could give a much-needed boost to the movie box office, which has seen a 7% drop in 2025 according to Comscore, on top of declines from the pre-pandemic era.

Coming to the rescue are video games, especially those that are kid-friendly, which might soon become the go-to source for Hollywood blockbusters, overtaking superhero comics. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was a massive hit in 2023 (second only to “Barbie”), and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” saw great success over the recent winter holidays.

Minecraft, created by Markus “Notch” Persson and later acquired by Microsoft in 2014, boasts a huge audience of 204 million monthly active users as of December. However, adapting it into a movie posed challenges as the game offers a virtual sandbox rather than a specific story or characters to follow.

Directed by Jared Hess (known for “Napoleon Dynamite”) with six credited screenwriters, “A Minecraft Movie” tackles these challenges by bringing human characters (played by Jason Momoa, Jack Black, and others) into a fantasy world animated in the signature blocky Minecraft style. The film has received mixed reviews – just like “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” did – but that didn’t stop it from making big bucks at the box office.

The success of “A Minecraft Movie” over the weekend is also good news for Warner Bros., which has faced a string of box office flops like “The Alto Knights” and “Joker: Folie à Deux”. So, it’s safe to say we can expect a sequel in the near future.