2025's Most Controversial Box Office Hit Is Streaming On Prime Video

It's fitting that the final blockbuster of 2025 bears the subtitle of "Fire and Ash," as Hollywood is burning. Not only are major studios undergoing a sick game of merging, but many of them are engaging in a slash-and-burn campaign to squeeze as much money as they can out of the business, mostly so they can funnel money into the pockets of irresponsible CEOs, and into the dubiously filed lawsuits filed by the American president. 

And while this is happening, the studios are struggling to construct a blockbuster. For 20 years, Hollywood has relied on regurgitating I.P. and rebooting familiar franchises as their primary means of income, and the familiar I.P. aren't hitting as hard as they once did; the Marvel Cinematic Universe is no longer at the center of the popular consciousness, and "Star Wars" has shrunken considerably. Hollywood stumbled backward into successes, finally catering to a new generation of filmgoers. Some of the biggest hits of the year were reboots of films released in the early 2000s ("Lilo and Stitch," "How to Train Your Dragon"). The state of things can be summed up by the facts that 1) the anime film "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle" handily outgrossed "Superman" at the box office, and 2) "Ne Zha 2," a Chinese animated film, has become the fifth largest-grossing film of all time without generating any interest in America. 

Most controversially, Jared Hess' "A Minecraft Movie," adapted from the ultra-popular Swedish video game, is the highest-grossing film of the year, domestically (as of this writing). Internationally, it came in fourth. People over the age of 30 are baffled by its success, but Hollywood would be wise to pay attention. Fortunately, it's streaming on Prime Video to see what the fuss is about.

"Minecraft," it should be noted, is the best-selling video game of all time. Generations of kids were raised on it, and are still being raised on it. Adapting "Minecraft" into a feature film seemed like an iffy proposition, however, as it is a sandbox game with no discernible story or characters. Players are merely dropped into an open world made up of pixel-like blocks, and are free to build or explore as they please. There are goals one can achieve in "Minecraft," but there's no structure to them; one can approach the "end boss" only if they want to. Otherwise, hundreds of hours can be used merely faffing about. 

Jared Hess' approach to making a "Minecraft" movie, then, was weirdly novel. The film's action begins in a quirky, whimsical city in Idaho that could very well have been the setting of a "Napoleon Dynamite" sequel. Had the main characters never stepped through a portal into the blocky Minecraft Overworld, it would have been a perfectly decent comedy. But step through a portal they do, and the film becomes A VFX bonanza set in a strange, right-angle-heavy fantasy world. 

Jason Momoa plays a former video game champion fallen on hard times, and he passes through the Minecraft Portal with Henry (Sebastian Hansen), his sister Natalie (Emma Myers), and a local real estate mogul named Dawn (Danielle Brooks). Jack Black plays Steve, a man who has been living in the Minecraft dimension for years, and he will be the one to explain the peculiar physics of the realm. He will also, by extension, be the one to explain "Minecraft" to all the unwitting parents who attended "A Minecraft Movie" with their kids. 

"A Minecraft Movie" was decently received by critics, and we gave it a semi-positive review here on /Film. It was shocking that a terrible idea, such as adapting "Minecraft" into a feature film, actually turned out to be an amusing product, rather than an utter fiasco. 

Also, the producers ended up striking gold, with "A Minecraft Movie" making almost $424 million at the domestic box office and over $958 million worldwide. "Minecraft" dragged Generation Alpha away from their YouTube videos and into theaters. It was proof that the only way to gain attention for movies was to tap into the non-cinematic interests of a new generation and reframe them into something cinematic. Hence, the success of anime films in theaters. Hence, the success of films like "Minecraft" and "Five Nights at Freddy's." Hence, the fact that old Hollywood strategies are being spanked by international art. 

Hollywood seemed certain that reworking previous generations' entertainment would keep the attention of all kids in perpetuity. But Gen-Alpha doesn't care about "Star Wars." They care about video games, YouTube tutorials, obscure slang, and independently produced cartoons that have bypassed the traditional Hollywood distribution models. "A Minecraft Movie" is certainly spelling out the death of Hollywood, but not because it's a bad film or artistically bereft. Hollywood has been making artistically bereft films since its inception. It is a symptom of the death of Hollywood, however. Because it's proving that audiences want something different than what the studios are mostly capable of providing. 

"A Minecraft" movie is currently on Prime Video.