The Minecraft Movie achieved the highest opening weekend in the US for any video game adaptation.

      Warner Bros. Pictures

      A Minecraft Movie debuted this weekend with remarkable success, earning $301 million globally and $157 million in the U.S. alone. It has already exceeded its production budget of $150 million and is poised to outperform the Super Mario Bros. Movie, which currently holds the record for the highest-grossing animated film. After a shaky start with its initial trailers, A Minecraft Movie appears to have recovered.

      Featuring Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Jennifer Coolidge, and more prominent stars, the film is directed by Jared Hess, known for cult classics like Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. The story follows Steve, the main character from the game, portrayed by Jack Black, along with a group of four misfits who are pulled through a portal into the Overworld. If you’ve played Minecraft, many elements in the film will likely feel familiar to you.

      A Minecraft Movie is a tribute to one of the world's most popular games, showcasing the iconic blocky graphics, all the charming square-shaped creatures, and even the Piglins, a species of humanoid, pig-like beings from the Nether.

      The concept for the film was established in 2014 when Markus Persson, known as Notch, revealed he was negotiating with Warner Bros. Pictures to create the movie. The project changed studios several times over the years before finding a home at Legendary Entertainment around 2022. Though it took some time to complete, the final product appears to speak for itself. A Minecraft Movie premiered on April 4 and has already achieved significant success, with expectations of even greater numbers in the weeks ahead as more fans head to theaters.

      Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology, including devices like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…

      Ten years ago, Christopher Nolan released his most emotional film to date. Here's why it's still considered the best.

      Director Christopher Nolan's ambitious sci-fi epic, Interstellar, hit theaters 10 years ago this week. A sweeping space odyssey, it follows astronaut Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and his crew as they journey through a wormhole to discover a new planet for humanity, facing extinction due to the deteriorating conditions on Earth. Although it may not receive the same acclaim as The Dark Knight, Inception, or Oppenheimer, Interstellar remains one of Nolan's greatest directorial achievements. Nominated for five Academy Awards, this expansive, stunning, and moving film is regarded as the finest astronaut movie since Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. While Nolan's masterpiece already has a dedicated fanbase, it's important to remind viewers why Interstellar is such a cherished and innovative sci-fi epic.

      Hans Zimmer's score enhances the film's grand scale.

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      Best Marvel movies ranked in MCU's Phase Four

      Many view Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a low point for the franchise. Following the peak success of Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios struggled under the burden of its ambitions as it aimed to attract audiences while producing a vast amount of content in a short timeframe. Nonetheless, the MCU did offer some standout titles like Shang-Chi and Spider-Man: No Way Home, showing promise within its ongoing Multiverse Saga. Although the franchise has faced challenges in finding its footing again, it's fair to remind fans of its strengths by examining the worst and best films from Phase Four.

      7. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

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      Thirty years ago, this movie tarnished the reputation of video game adaptations.

      Long before director Uwe Boll marred the video game film genre with titles like House of the Dead, BloodRayne, Postal, and Far Cry, Hollywood's early attempts to adapt gaming franchises to film were largely unsuccessful. For the worst example, cinematic historians may point to 1993's Super Mario Bros., the live-action flop that forced Nintendo out of Hollywood for thirty years until The Super Mario Bros. Movie revived its presence in 2023. While that film was certainly dreadful, it wasn't until 1994's Double Dragon that video game adaptations hit a new low.

      1994 also saw the release of the Street Fighter movie, featuring a memorable performance by the late Raul Julia and an amusingly poor portrayal by Jean-Claude Van Damme. That film can at least be entertaining, unlike Double Dragon. The source material for Double Dragon was a 1987 arcade game and its sequels, where two players controlled Billy and Jimmy Lee in their quest against a gang called the Black Warriors to rescue Billy's kidnapped girlfriend, Marian. While it wasn't exactly a classic like On the Waterfront, many games from that period weren't known for their storytelling.

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