Blockbuster causing ‘feral’ cinema behaviour becomes one of 2025’s highest grossing films
It was derided by critics but fans seem to love it.
A Minecraft Movie, which has been slammed by critics and encouraged a disturbing behaviour trend in cinemas during its opening weekend, has smashed box office records.
The film, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, has enjoyed one of the biggest-grossing weekends of 2025 so far.
The blockbuster, which is a big screen adaptation of the 2011 3D sandbox video game, has managed to rake in a massive $301million (£234m) globally during its first three days on release, far beyond even hopeful projections.
It earned $157m (£122m) in the US, where analysts had predicted it to manage somewhere between $70m – $90m (£54.5m – £70m) according to Variety, and then added $144m (£112m) from international territories to make its enviable total.
Considering A Minecraft Movie’s $150m (£116.7m) production budget – before any marketing costs – it’s a strong start, and one Warner Bros will be delighted to see after back-to-back flops with big-budget sci-fi Mickey 17 from Bong Joon Ho and Robert Pattinson, and Robert De Niro’s disappointing return to the gangster genre in The Alto Knights.
It’s also in sharp contrast to Disney’s fortunes with Snow White, which managed only $87.3m (£67.9m) on its opening weekend, despite a price tag of roughly $250m (£194m) before any publicity, and has just $168.3m (£130.9m) after over two weeks on release.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Up Next
Previous Page Next PageIn A Minecraft Movie, four misfits – Garrett ‘The Garbage Man’ Garrison (Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Eugene Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers) and Dawn (Danielle Brooks) – find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination.
Comment nowHave you seen A Minecraft Movie? What did you think?Comment NowTo get back home, they’ll have to master this world while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Black).
Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon and Jermain Clement also feature in the cast.
However, it’s only managed to dredge up a rating of 47% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, where it was branded ‘a mindless and thoughtless nostalgia trip’, ‘frankly catastrophic’ and ‘a hyperactive hot-pink mess of a movie’.
Jack Black and Jason Momoa star in A Minecraft Movie, which critics slammed but fans are enjoying enough to make it one of the biggest films of 2025 so far (Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)‘We just don’t want to be the one to inform God what his creations hath wrought with this expensively cheap, 100-percent corporate mess,’ sniped Rolling Stone in its review.
However it boasts a far higher audience score at 87%.
That enthusiasm has also been mirrored by the raucous response in cinemas – but to an alarming degree.
Following its release, cinemagoers have been sharing footage of wild audience reactions from inside cinemas on social media.
One moment in particular has seen fans screaming, cheering and even climbing on their friends’ shoulders in one clip that’s gone viral.
It’s a big screen adaptation of the popular 2011 video game (Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)The sequence in question involves Black and Momoa confronting a cuboid Minecraft chicken being ridden by another character that looks like a baby Frankenstein.
‘Chicken jockey!’ yells Black, in a moment that saw one theatre full of fans erupt in quite frankly feral behaviour, throwing popcorn, turning on their torches, leaping to their feet and shouting.
‘My theatre clapped every time Jack Black name dropped a Minecraft item that was in the trailers, and when he said Chicken Jockey I s**t you not the entire row in front of me gave a standing ovation,’ shared cinemagoer @Schaffrillas on X.
‘I’d walk out and ask for a refund if this is how people are behaving,’ insisted Geralt on TikTok in reaction.
Fans have been reacting wildly to the ‘Chicken Jockey’ scene (pictured), resulting in disruptive behaviour in cinemas which has shocked people (Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)‘I was here and I couldn’t hear anything throughout the movie. Very disappointed in the Minecraft community,’ added LuCha.
‘Are people no longer quiet in the cinema, or is this a cultural difference kind of thing where behaving like this is ok wherever they are?’ asked Lycos.
‘That was the wildest theatre experience of my life,’ @thekinocorner posted after watching A Minecraft Movie, sharing how the audience of youngsters ‘would clap and hoot and holler whenever one of the meme lines was said or when they recognized something from the game’.
@metroentertainmentChicken Jockey you will always be famous #Minecraft ????: X / @Tagelca #cinema #audience #movie #filmtok #theatre #minecraftmovie #jasonmomoa #jackblack #chickenjockey
♬ original sound – Metro Entertainment‘When Jack Black said “Chicken Jockey,” the theatre erupted into sheer pandemonium. Kids were cheering, clapping and jumping onto the tops of seats. Whenever Jack Black sang, the kids would get up and start dancing in the aisles.
‘They acted like this wasn’t a movie, but a rock concert. It was a complete expression of a mix of genuine love for Minecraft and irony poisoning and the result was pure chaos for 100 or so minutes. This is probably the proper way to see this film.’
Others were far less impressed with this feral behaviour, with a video shared purporting to even show of a group of teenagers being escorted out of a US cinema by police after reportedly causing too much disruption.
A Minecraft Movie is out in cinemas now.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
