Although A Minecraft Movie might have broken The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s box office record, there are two big Jack Black video game adaptation movie records that the new hit can’t touch. A Minecraft Movie’s box office success is historically huge, even if the second weekend sees the video game adaptation’s earnings drop off. A Minecraft Movie earned $163 million in its opening weekend alone, comfortably outstripping the previous record for the biggest video game movie opening weekend ever.
2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie was the previous record holder, with $146 million in its first three days of release. Although A Minecraft Movie comfortably outdid this record and almost guaranteed the arrival of A Minecraft Movie 2, this doesn’t mean that the adaptation managed to outdo everything about The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Shared star Jack Black’s earlier hit has at least two Rotten Tomatoes records that A Minecraft Movie is unlikely to upset due to the comparatively mixed reception of director Jared Hess’s adaptation.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Remains Jack Black’s Highest Rated Video Game Movie On Rotten Tomatoes
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Beat Both A Minecraft Movie and Borderlands
While A Minecraft Movie earned 48% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a far higher audience rating of 88%, this can’t compete with The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s critical rating of 59% and its Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 95%. A Minecraft Movie failed to beat The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s Rotten Tomatoes reception with audiences and critics alike, although the video game adaptation came closer than some readers might have expected. Meanwhile, Black’s execrable 2024 flop Borderlands arrives in a distant third place.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s ratings are only 11% higher among critics and 7% among audiences.
That widely hated video game adaptation earned 10% from critics and a woeful 49% from audience members, meaning Borderlands was never in the running to compete with A Minecraft Movie. However, all of A Minecraft Movie’s changes to the video game didn’t cost the movie too dearly when its reception is compared to the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The earlier 2023 hit’s ratings are only 11% higher among critics and 7% among audiences. Sadly for fans, this is not such a small gap that it could be reversed.
A Minecraft Movie Is Unlikely To Break Jack Black’s Video Game Movie RT Records
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Set The Bar Too High For A Minecraft Movie
A Minecraft Movie is unlikely to ever outrank The Super Mario Bros. Movie in terms of critical and audience reception. Broadly speaking, Rotten Tomatoes audience scores are more likely to descend slightly than ascend appreciably over time, and this is doubly true for major blockbusters that rely heavily on opening weekend reviews. Fortunately, A Minecraft Movie is not a disastrous video game adaptation like Borderlands, and the movie has almost matched the reception of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
However, it would be tough for any video game adaptation to dethrone The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s incredibly high audience approval ratings, and A Minecraft Movie’s middling reviews couldn’t beat the hit’s critical reception, either. A Minecraft Movie’s eventual sequel could potentially dethrone The Super Mario Bros. Movie with critics and audiences if the franchise manages to maintain its popularity but, for now, Jack Black’s most well-received video game adaptation can maintain its undefeated record.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes