A Minecraft Movie yearns to win the weekend after a $10.55 million launch at the Thursday box office

Update: Warner Bros. and Legendary are increasing the ticket sales total for A Minecraft Movie‘s Thursday preview from $7 million to an astounding $10.55 million. The new total leaves the $10.3M launch for Universal and Blunhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s in the rearview, making Minecraft‘s total the all-time preview record holder for a movie based on a video game.

A Minecraft Movie is doing exceptionally well thanks to a built-in audience of fans and shockingly positive reviews. Industry executives and theater owners are worshipping at the altar of Minecraft after many weeks of false starts and dismal returns for potential blockbusters. Since A Minecraft Movie is performing so well, expect to hear word about more video game adaptations. It used to be that video game adaptations were box office poison, but not anymore. We gamers have finally arrived!

Original Article: It’s only springtime, but A Minecraft Movie is starting to do summer movie numbers. According to analysts, it was being predicted that Legendary’s A Minecraft Movie could earn $140 million worldwide during its premiere weekend. The split looked like $65M stateside and $65M overseas. The extra $10M was padding for a shaky market in the U.S. and Canada. A Minecraft Movie is based on a popular world-building video game that has a sizable following of kids, who are likely on spring break, and with stars like Jack Black and Jason Momoa thrust into the Overworld, it is sure to have crossover appeal. Deadline is now reporting that A Minecraft Movie is surprising box office forecasters by reaching over $7 million in early Thursday preview screenings.

Even the more modest projections have elevated to $75+ million for the weekend and analysts are turning their heads at this surprise jump in numbers as its been quite some time since the industry has had a box office hit. Comparatively, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which had a well-established fan base after two popular movies opened with $6.5 million in early Thursday numbers and took in a $60.1 million opening leading into Christmas.

Another new movie hitting theaters this weekend is Neon’s Hell of a Summer, co-written, co-directed, and starring Finn Wolfhard. The slasher comedy takes an old-school approach to the genre by focusing on summer camp counselors who are terrorized by a masked killer. Hell could make a little over $1M during its wide-release debut.

Our own Alex Maidy had a fun time at A Minecraft Movie and said in his review, “A Minecraft Movie is light entertainment with funny moments and a cast that is more than up to the challenge of acting silly on screen for the benefit of younger audiences. Jack Black and Jason Momoa have not had this much fun on screen in a long time, and director Jared Hess takes full advantage of that. […] Parents will find themselves having more fun than expected with this movie, while kids and Minecraft fans will be pleased to see their favorite game leap onto the big screen.”

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