Surprising just about everyone, A Minecraft Movie is an absolute hit.
A Minecraft Movie has a very interesting cast including Jack Black as Steve, the default playable character in Minecraft the video game, and Jason Momoa as Garrett Garrison, a washed up teenage gaming champion and owner of a retro video game store that is failing.
When the movie was first announced, most people thought it was a joke, especially those that played Minecraft frequently. How is a movie about Minecraft supposed to work? Will it have the same animation style? What would the story possibly be? Who asked for this? Who thought it was a good idea? Those were commonly asked questions.
Naysayers have been proven wrong as A Minecraft Movie has passed $400 million dollars at the box office. With a reported budget of $150 million, A Minecraft Movie has most certainly turned a profit when just about everyone expected it to fail.
You may be wondering how in the (over)world this has happened. That would be justifiable. Surprising many, the ridiculousness of the film somehow turned it into an internet sensation, essentially a living meme.
There is a particular scene in the movie where Jason Momoa’s character must fight a feared enemy in Minecraft. In the game, monsters and zombies come out at night and attack the player. During the day, there are all sorts of animals around including horses, pigs, sheep, cows, and chickens. Oh, and there are also baby zombies. When a baby zombie gets too close to a chicken, it can ride the chicken and becomes something known as a chicken jockey. They’re fast and on the harder side to fight.
In A Minecraft Movie, this is what Jason Momoa’s character has to fight. When he is about to fight it, Jack Black says, “Chicken jockey!” in a silly voice and, for whatever reason, that is what the internet decided to focus on. At first, the line was filmed and the caption “absolute cinema” was ironically put with it, but the joke grew from there. Over time, it turned to people clapping an absurd amount when Black delivers the line, but snowballed into people throwing their popcorn, drinks, candy, and anything else they might have all over the entire theater, screaming, shouting, and generally going nuts. It’s been so bad that police have been called to kick kids out of the theater.
It’s been such a big deal that the director of A Minecraft Movie actually commented on it.
"I've seen so many funny videos. It's great, especially when people are climbing on their friends' shoulders and standing up and cheering for those moments... I'm just glad people are making memories with their friends and families."
"It's weird when you're having too much fun and the cops get called. It's funny because I think it's just literally cheering and throwing popcorn, which is so funny to me that cops are getting called for popcorn."
Warner Brothers needed a hit, and they got one. The film shows very little signs of slowing down.
What did you think of A Minecraft Movie? Let us know in the comments!