A Minecraft Movie is already breaking records, but can it actually dethrone The Super Mario Bros Movie as 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. As A Minecraft Movie continues its theatrical run, Warner Bros is sure to continue raking in the cash. Since the movie’s opening weekend outperformed The Super Mario Bros Movie‘s domestic opening weekend earnings, it seems Minecraft is a shoo-in for the Billion-Dollar-Club, but $1.36 billion is still a tall order.
Movies based on video games haven’t always performed so well. Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog movies were a game changer, but it was The Super Mario Bros Movie that 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 Movie has broken that initial domestic opening weekend record. The 2025 movie made $163 million domestically in its first three days—17 million more than Mario. However, Minecraft didn’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 Movie making more than The Super Mario Bros Movie at 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. Mario made $378 in its worldwide opening weekend, while Minecraft sat 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 for Minecraft going forward.
The majority of The 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’s Mario games 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 the Mario movie, but there is still some hope.
A Minecraft Movie Will Need Great Legs & Low Box Office Drops To Catch Up To Super Mario Bros
Minecraft May Still Be Able To Dethrone Mario
Custom Image by Milica Djordjevic
Minecraft easily overtook Mario domestically in its opening weekend, and this hints that the 2025 movie will surpᴀss the $575 million that its predecessor made domestically overall. However, beating out that $786 million international figure will be far trickier. Minecraft is unlikely to have the same impact in Japan as Mario, 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 of Minecraft‘s player base (via Search Logistics), so these countries could have a greater turnout for this movie than Mario.
While it seems unlikely that this would push Minecraft‘s international box office gross higher than The 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 make A Minecraft Movie the 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
Beating The Super Mario Bros Movie may be a challenge, but A Minecraft Movie still has a sH๏τ at making $1 billion gross at the global box office. A Minecraft movie 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.
Minecraft struck 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 enjoyed A Minecraft Movie during 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 for A Minecraft Movie would be great, but at this point, the film’s general success is already ᴀssured.
