Minecraft's Success Shows the Future of Movies Is Games

With the surprise hit of the year, Hollywood has learnt how to make successful movies out of video games – just as interest in comic-book adaptations is fading.

- Gearoid Reidy

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.

You might not instantly recognise Steve, the player avatar of Minecraft, Microsoft's sandbox playground video game; the character is something of a blank slate for the users 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 year's surprise box-office hit.

The big-screen feature from Warner Bros Discovery has out-earned every other US movie so far in 2025, vastly outperforming expectations and taking in twice the box-office revenue of its closest competitor, February's Captain America: Brave New World. It's a comparison that might have legs.

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 movie, Hollywood studios love familiar bets and products with a track record. In the past, that meant bankable action stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester 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.