A Minecraft Movie has had quite the opening weekend. The latest Jack Black-led video game movie has raked in a block-busting $301 million, not only doubling its lofty expectations, but also its $150 million budget. For those baffled by the numbers, that’s significantly more than The Super Mario Bros. Movie managed, and that ended its theatrical run on $1.36 billion.
Love it, hate it, or downright despise it, the Minecraft movie has already proven Warner Bros. made the right call in pushing through with its creation. Announced over a decade ago, there were times when it seemed like Steve’s foray into the Overworld would never see the light of day (all 20 minutes of it). Now that it has, its success will only convince more studios that their games should be movies, but the one studio that should be paying closer attention than any is the one responsible for Fortnite – Epic Games.
If Minecraft Can Be A Movie, Then So Can Fortnite
If there’s one game on the planet that’s more popular than Minecraft, it’s Fortnite. According to the latest data provided by Statista, Fortnite has more than 650 million players. Not only is that number likely bigger by now since the data is over a year old, but it’s more than double Minecraft’s lifelong audience. If you think the Minecraft movie is a big deal, just imagine what a Fortnite equivalent could be.
I’m not the first one to have considered this, of course. There aren’t people at Epic reading this right now kicking themselves for not reaching this realization before me. It’s been rumored for years that Fortnite might drop out of the Battle Bus and onto the silver screen However, in a rather amusingly timed comment considering the cash the Minecraft movie was racking up as they typed it, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney confirmed just two days ago that there is no Fortnite movie in development.
You have to imagine that in the 48 hours since Sweeney typing that and me typing this, things have changed, or at least they’re about to. If I were someone with any sway at Epic, my first order of business this morning would have been getting the wheels on a Fortnite movie in motion. The same goes for any movie studio capable of handling a blockbuster of that magnitude. Forget bidding for Split Fiction, why aren’t all these studios trying to land the rights to a Fortnite movie?
A Minecraft Movie Being Bad Is Why It Proves A Fortnite Movie Can Be Successful
I imagine many of you reading this are thinking ‘That’s a terrible idea!’ and getting ready to pen an angry comment, if you even made it this far. Surely, a Fortnite film would be awful, but that’s exactly why the Minecraft movie is evidence that it should exist. Apologies if I’m spoiling this for any of you, but the Minecraft movie sucks. I know, I’ve seen it. I sat alongside my five-year-old son as he excitedly explained who various creatures and characters were, and as he laughed his head off during the Chicken Jockey scene with all the other kids.
Minecraft and Fortnite aren’t interchangeable, but there’s plenty Epic Games could learn from Mojang’s movie debut. The biggest takeaway of all is don’t think too hard about the story. The story, and all of the unnecessarily confusing lore that comes with it, is not why Minecraft fans flocked to theaters over the weekend, and it won’t be why Fortnite fans do.
Just Pack It To The Gills With References And Famous Faces
A Fortnite movie just needs to be 90 minutes of references, and if you’re really going to go full Minecraft, a few famous faces thrown in there to help really sell it for good measure.
Have a squad of four strangers fall out of the Battle Bus, with no clue where they are, as they gradually figure out that, to get home, they need to eliminate everyone until they’re the only ones left. Ryan Reynolds shooting Peely just in the nick of time and then turning to his squad to say, “That was bananas!” A credits scene teasing Chris Pratt as Jonesy in Fortnite 2 that’s just him looking at the camera and saying ,“So, where we droppin’?” as the screen cuts to black. Come on Epic, I’m writing it for you at this point.
I need to find a role for Jack Black, too, since he’s contractually obligated to be in all video game movies now (especially the bad ones). Maybe they can add A Minecraft Movie Steve skin to Fortnite and he can kick off a connected universe.
If Epic does want a Fortnite movie, it better get to work. With so many projects confirmed to be in the offing, the video game adaptation bandwagon is starting to feel pretty full. Video game adaptations are the new superhero movies, and it’s only a matter of time before the wheels fall off. Then again, Fortnite’s success has become so massive that even if it weren’t to arrive until after video game adaptations are no longer in vogue, and even if it’s as critically unacclaimed as A Minecraft Movie, it’ll make $1 billion just because it has Fortnite’s name on it.
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Minecraft
Minecraft is a game made up of blocks, creatures, and community. You can survive the night or build a work of art – the choice is all yours. But if the thought of exploring a vast new world all on your own feels overwhelming, then fear not!
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Starting life as a tower defense game, Fortnite has become one of the biggest video games out there. Its battle royale mode dominates popular culture, featuring concerts by megastar musicians and crossovers with just about every brand imaginable, from Marvel to the NFL.
