Hello everyone,
BOX OFFICE: The “A Minecraft Movie” EXPLODED at the box office this past weekend. Pre-release estimates were $80 million (but it ended up doing TWICE THAT MIUCH), over the weekend estimates were around $150 million – about the same as “The Super Mario Bros Movie” did almost exactly two years before, but the final tally was approx. $163 million. That’s just ahead of the previous Warner Bros post-pandemic record opening weekend of “Barbie” 2 years ago ($162 million) and it’s in the top 5 biggest opening weekends post-pandemic (behind “Spiderman: No Way Home” ($260 million), “Deadpool and Wolverine” ($211 million), “Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness” ($187 million), and “The Black Panther Wakanda Forever” ($181 million)). It also makes it the biggest opening for a movie based on a video game (zooming past “The Super Mario Bros Movie” 2 years ago).
The rest of the top 10 sunk to below $8 million. “A Working Man” went down 53% to $7.3 million, the NEW movie “The Chosen: Last Supper Part 2” made $6.9 million (the first movie “The Chosen: Last Supper” opened last weekend to $11.8 million – this weekend it sunk a whopping 84% to $1.9 million.), “Snow White” sunk an additional 58.5% to $5.94 million, and “The Woman in the Yard” sunk 52% to $4.5 million.
Overall, the total domestic box office was an incredible 161% higher than the previous weekend with a total of $202.68 million. The highest of 2025 so far and the first time this year the total domestic box office passed $200 million total.
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE: Worldwide, the movie also did great making $144 million internationally for a global total of just over $300 million in just 3 days (let’s see a movie showing on Netflix make $300 million in 3 days of streaming). Internationally, the movie was just UNDER “The Super Mario Bros Movie” opening weekend in foreign countries but the total worldwide box office is still higher than the other movie.
OTHER NEWS:
While other studios were making announcements at CinemaCon last week, Netflix (who wasn’t at CinemaCon) was also making news. Quentin Tarantino wrote a script that features Cliff Booth – the character Brad Pitt played (and won an Academy Award for playing) in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” back in 2019. It was reported that Quentin Tarantino ISN’T interested in directing the movie, but he gave the OK for David Fincher to direct it for his next movie under his deal with Netflix. It’s the first time a Tarantino script was directed by someone else since “True Romance” (which Brad Pitt had a small part in) way back in 1993. Brad Pitt is reuniting again with David Fincher (they previously worked together on “Seven”, “Fight Club” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) to reprise the Cliff Booth role. No word on the story yet (could be a sequel, or a prequel, or a spinoff story) and no word if other actors like Leonardo DiCaprio or Margot Robbie will also be reprising their roles.
A new movie theater multiplex is opening soon. This time in New York City. The former “Metro Theater” will be reopening as a brand new 5 screen art house multiplex thanks to grants from the city and state of New York and thanks to private donors including the Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw Heathland Foundation. The remodeling plan also includes a café/lounge and an educational center. Hopefully the people who will eventually remodel the Village Theater in Westwood Village (near UCLA) will follow their example.
The old movie “Wizard of Oz” will soon have a new life on the VERY VERY BIG SCREEN. Warner Bros has made a deal with The Sphere Las Vegas to show the movie on the super-giant screen in The Sphere later this year. They say the “updated presentation” will be the most “immersive version” of the movie ever.
LITTLE BIT OF HUMOR:
Speaking of “Wizard of Oz”…..
I don’t think she’d be a “Karen”, I think she’d be one of those “get off my lawn” old people.
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 