I don’t know how to tell you this, but ‘A Minecraft Movie’ just beat a major ‘Barbie’ record

We’re at a point now where we perhaps shouldn’t be surprised by any headline (ahem, Signal, ahem), but news of A Minecraft Movie’s box office success has thrown this writer for a loop.

The recently released adaptation of the video game has become a surprise hit in the days since it landed in cinemas, to the point where it has now dethroned Barbie (yes, that Barbie) in terms of a key milestone. With news of its domestic box office haul, A Minecraft Movie has now officially beaten Barbie to score Warner Bros.’ third biggest domestic debut of all time. That’s based on A Minecraft Movie bringing $163 million (!) in its domestic opening weekend, which itself was $6 million more than original projections. 

The ‘MINECRAFT’ movie beat ‘BARBIE’ to become Warner Bros’ 3rd biggest domestic debut of all time.

The film came in $6M over projections, earning $163M in its domestic opening weekend.

Read our review: https://t.co/uuggEo3o94 pic.twitter.com/kG3Xbck29b

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 7, 2025

That haul means the Jack Black-starring adaptation now sits behind only Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II as the studio’s biggest domestic debut earners, but the recent Minecraft figures also saw it break a few more records, too. According to Comscore, Minecraft has now spawned the biggest domestic opening weekend for a film based on a video game, beating out the already lucrative success of fellow adaptation, The Super Mario Bros. Movie. 

The box office haul for A Minecraft Movie is especially surprising given that, by all accounts, the movie… isn’t that great. Even before it was released, fans were critical of the film’s animation style, and its eventual premiere didn’t exactly prove any of the naysayers wrong. On top of that, there were rumors of on-set tensions while filming on the part of castmate Jason Mamoa, and early criticisms of Black’s divisive line delivery in one of the (universally loathed) trailers. What all of it amounted to was a movie that was seemingly doomed from the outset, culminating in a lackuster 48% score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Despite the negative reception, A Minecraft Movie’s box office success might’ve been predictable, at least if the recent trend inspired by the movie is to be believed. Dubbed the ‘Chicken Joey’ trend, the TikTok craze has seen scores of moviegoers loudly interrupt a specific scene in A Minecraft Movie involving a blocky chicken, and proceeding to throw popcorn at the screen or break out in rowdy applause. So fervent was the craze that, in at least one instance, police were called to a cinema to kick out participants in the ‘Chicken Joey’ trend.

With that context, perhaps we should have foreseen that A Minecraft Movie had a more impassioned fanbase than we originally imagined, even to the point of usurping the Barbie-pink craze that swept cinemas back in 2023. Of course, it’s possible that a good chunk of moviegoers bought Minecraft tickets simply to see Jennifer Coolidge on screen (me), but who knew her star power could overtake that of Margot Robbie? 

HOLY SHIT CHICKEN JOCKEY SAVED THE MINECRAFT MOVIE https://t.co/TcqnSfceBk pic.twitter.com/FQ77saQuII

— Erasmo 🇲🇽 (@elerosmo) April 5, 2025

Speaking with CNN about A Minecraft Movie’s surprise runaway success, box office analyst David A. Gross said that the momentum behind the film, including in the form of the TikTok craze, might go some way in explaining how even a loathed film can rake in so much cash. “When a release catches fire like this, it generates its own momentum and you can set aside all projections,” Ross said. Regardless of where you land in terms of your thoughts on the film, Minecraft’s box office haul makes one thing clear: in 2025, even the most outlandish news headlines will oftentimes be true.