Minecraft's creative director "wasn't ready" for how much of "an event" the movie is

Jack Black, Jason Momoa, and Sebastian Hansen in A Minecraft Movie — (Image credit: Warner Brothers)

Although it's only been out for a few days, A Minecraft Movie is already proving to be a massive success beyond what the filmmakers ever thought possible, including Mojang Studios’ creative director Torfi Frans Olafsson.

"I’ve seen A Minecraft Movie a squillion times during development. But there’s something very different about just sitting in the back of a theatre watching crowds giggle, cheer at the memes, laugh with each other and celebrate moments," said Olafsson on Twitter. "I wasn’t ready for how much an event this is!" Game developer Olfafsson also served as producer on the movie, and even pops up in one of the best Minecraft Movie Easter eggs, references, and cameos.

The movie landed in theaters on April 4, and in its opening weekend, pulled in $157 million domestically and $301 million worldwide. This is worlds away from its estimated $70 million-$80 million take, and the movie has already made its budget back, as reported by Variety. This opening is not only the biggest domestic release of the year so far, but the biggest for a video game adaptation in history.

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A Minecraft movie hasn't only excelled at the box office, but it's created a whole experience. Online, viewers have posted clips of watching the film in theaters, with many moviegoers throwing popcorn and screaming when certain meme-able lines such as 'Chicken Jockey' appear. However, fans treating the movie like a sports game has gotten a few viewers in trouble, with the police even being called to one showing.

This is quite the feat since the movie received a real mixed bag of reviews and landed it a less than impressive 48% Rotten Tomatoes score. However, fans seem to be loving it, as the film stands at an 87% audience score. In our A Minecraft Movie review, we gave the film three stars and called it, "an entertaining fantasy adventure that makes light work of what might appear to be unpromising source material."

Directed by Jared Hess, the movie follows four regular humans (Sebastian Hansen, Emma Myers, Jason Momoa, and Danielle Brooks) as they get pulled into a strange cubic world where their only chance of survival falls down to an eccentric man named Steve (Jack Black). The film is based on Mojang Studios’ Minecraft game, and also stars Jennifer Coolidge.

A Minecraft Movie is out now. For more on the movie, check our guides on A Minecraft Movie ending explained and A Minecraft Movie’s post-credits scene. Or, see our lists of the best video game movies and upcoming video game movies.

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.