Jared Hess’ video game adaptation “A Minecraft Movie” surprised audiences everywhere twofold. On the one hand, no one expected it to be as big a hit as it was. The film is still in theaters and has raked in a startling $876 million at the global box office against a $150 million budget, making it the highest-grossing movie of the year (to date). Ultimately, the film managed to attract a healthy-sized audience of enthused “Minecraft” players, many of whom were curious to learn how the original “Minecraft” video game (an open-ended crafting game) would be adapted into a traditional Hollywood movie.
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At the same time, many folks were surprised to learn that “A Minecraft Movie” didn’t suck. Hess and the film’s (many) credited screenwriters skewed away from the po-faced self-seriousness that infects far too many modern blockbusters and instead made a quirky indie comedy with peculiar characters and an overall sense of dismissive whimsy. Jack Black stars in the film as Steve, an onscreen surrogate for all experienced “Minecraft” players who explains the unusual mechanics of the movie’s Overworld setting the same way a 10-year-old might to a baffled grandparent. There is nothing horribly deep about “A Minecraft Movie,” of course; the film is a big ol’ commercialized puffball. But something about its ridiculousness and commitment to realistically depicting the “Minecraft” universe has kept fans coming back multiple times.
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Its success was certainly helped by a growing audience-participation phenomenon, wherein moviegoers have been throwing drinks and popcorn into the air during the scene where Steve announces the appearance of the Chicken Jockey. Personally, I encourage such raucous behavior (I worked at movie theaters for decades, so I don’t mind cleaning up a theater, no matter how messy), but it’s a problem if the rowdiness leads to damaged screens like it has with “A Minecraft Movie.”
Soon, however, fans of “A Minecraft Movie” will be able to instead re-watch the film to their heart’s content while messing up their own homes during the Chicken Jockey sequence. Indeed, Warner Bros. has now formally announced the movie’s home media release dates, starting with its premiere on digital on May 13, 2025.
A Minecraft Movie will be on Digital on May 13 and on physical media on June 24
The physical media package for “A Minecraft Movie” (which releases on June 24, 2025) will include a 4K UHD edition, a Blu-ray edition, and a DVD edition. The home media editions will come packaged with three 15-minute making-of documentaries, including one about the film’s design, one about Black and his co-star Jason Momoa, and one about the movie’s complex visual effects.
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Given the caprices of streaming and the impermanence of digital downloads, the wiser move may be to wait until June 24 and buy the physical edition most amenable to your home theater setup. If you throw popcorn during the Chicken Jockey sequence, know that you’ll have to vacuum up the mess yourself this time. Some have compared the “A Minecraft Movie” experience to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” although the latter wasn’t mere chaos like the former. The “Rocky Horror” audiences are informed when to throw their popcorn, toilet paper, and other material UP and BACK, not forward at the screen. Years ago, “Rocky Horror” audiences in Los Angeles would start the show with a tortilla fight and throw rice during the wedding sequence. These substances were eventually banned since errant grains of rice were attracting vermin.
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A more healthy activity: Once you have the film on physical media, begin forming a collection of jokey callbacks. Shout at your TV. And practice at home, where you won’t potentially disturb other paying theater patrons. Warner Bros., however, is already hosting screenings wherein attendees are encouraged to be noisy and messy, so perhaps a true phenomenon has been born.
“A Minecraft Movie” also stars Sebastian Eugene Hansen, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, and Jennifer Coolidge.
