Minecraft Shows Future of Movies Is Games

It's time for Superman to hang up his cape and the Avengers to disassemble. Hollywood's new hero is here, and his name is Steve.

- Bloomberg

You might not instantly recognize Steve, the player avatar of Minecraft, Microsoft's sandbox playground video game; the character is something of a blank slate for the user to project themselves onto. But especially if you have kids, you'll likely have seen Steve played by Jack Black in A Minecraft Movie, the surprise box-office hit of the year.

The big-screen feature from Warner Bros. Discovery has outearned every other US movie so far in 2025, outperforming expectations and taking in twice the box-office revenue of its closest competitor, February's Captain America: Brave New World. Superhero films have been the staple of Hollywood blockbusters for 15 years, but audience interest is flagging—and the success of Minecraft suggests video games can be the next big-screen big thing.

Given the expense of a blockbuster, Hollywood studios love familiar bets and products with a track record. Earlier, that meant bankable action stars like Schwarzenegger or Stallone, or best-selling books like Harry Potter or The Da Vinci Code. And, of course, executives love the safety of a trend, from the post-Star Wars obsession with sci-fi to the brief fascination with young-adult dystopias of Hunger Games rip-offs.