A Minecraft Movie (pictured above) has become the highest grossing video game film adaptation of all time, according to CineTAM figures.
The movie, which attracted 2.8 million admissions, led to a 26 per cent increase in cinema admissions over this year’s Easter school holiday period.
Between 3-17 of April, cinema attracted 4.48 million admissions overall, with The Minecraft Movie surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the top video game adaptation and among Australia’s top 20 highest-grossing films of all time.
“A Minecraft Movie wasn’t just the biggest film of the Easter holidays, it became one of the most viral cultural moments so far this year. Just search ‘chicken jockey’ on TikTok to see how it took off. This wasn’t just moviegoing — it was a collision of identity, nostalgia, and fandom,” Val Morgan Cinema managing director Guy Burbidge said.
“That’s the unique power of strong IP and the shared experience cinema delivers. When it connects emotionally, it doesn’t just entertain — it creates cultural moments. Brands have a rare opportunity to be part of that with cinema.”
The animated superhero comedy, Dogman, was the second-biggest film of the school holidays, delivering 414,000 admissions and over-indexing amongst young family audiences.
Horror film Sinners made a strong debut across the Easter weekend, achieving the second-largest horror opening of the year at the Australian box office behind New Year’s Day release Nosferatu.
The film has delivered an impressive 229,000 admissions across its run so far, driven by a strong youth turnout, with a remarkable 79% of total admissions coming from the 14–39 year old demographic.
It also defied the norm by recording a huge +47 pr cent growth in audience in its second weekend, a near unheard of feat for non-family films. This momentum was powered by exceptional word-of-mouth and critical acclaim, with a standout 97 per cent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and making history as the first horror film ever to receive an A CinemaScore.
Burbidge added: “Our recent research with Kantar shows that Cinema has one of the highest advertising equities amongst youth audiences, and a great way for brands to tap into that is to align with genres that consistently resonate with them, like horror.
“Sinners is a perfect example of how well this genre pulls in this hard-to-reach audience and what’s even more exciting for brands is that we have one of the strongest horror slates we’ve seen over the last few years with releases like Final Destination, 28 Years Later, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Conjuring: Last Rites, and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 over the coming months.
“And it’s not just horror. With other upcoming blockbusters like Mission: Impossible 8, Lilo & Stitch, How To Train Your Dragon, and F1 all releasing before July, brands have a wealth of opportunities to connect with younger audiences and more broadly with other key demographics.”
