A Minecraft Movie’s Return to the “Celebratory Theater”
by J. Nagle
Whether through Jack Black’s musical talents or his line deliveries—namely one of a combative avian variety—anyone keeping up with the theatrical release space has surely heard of the celebratory crowds of A Minecraft Movie screenings by now. Buying tickets to a showing of the film felt like a gamble from the start, never knowing whether the crowd would be respectful or start slinging whole buckets and even bags of popcorn around the theater. There was a point in the film’s “CHICKEN JOCKEY” online stardom in which a few of those in attendance brought a LIVE chicken to prop up during the scene, sitting on another’s shoulders as to mimic the telltale Chicken Jockey formation.
Though, most are aware this trend and borderline guerilla marketing campaign has already gone too far in a few places. For those unlucky enough to book a screening with most of these instigating fans, any amount of popcorn, soda, and other theater concessions could fly right onto them by a rowdy crowd, as was reported by user @conniedefc0n via @HollywoodHandle on X.
A theater full of cheering cinemagoers is far from a new concept, but Jared Hess’ A Minecraft Movie has breathed life into the execution in a way that will be hard for any other release to compete with. As an idea, chanting the names of various Minecraft blocks, items, and features alongside Jack Black with others in the theater can inevitably lead to some level of hilarity. I went to go see the film twice, and while the crowd did expectantly quote many of the mentioned lines, everyone was very physically and audibly respectful overall. I firmly believe most of the Minecraft movie screenings have not been forced to cease playback at the hands of the above “CHICKEN JOCKEY” scene, with most of the film’s reputation in theaters coming from a small but loud number of bad apples. This was my most fun theater experience since another video game adaptation, Five Nights at Freddy’s, back in October of 2023. Many showed up in costume, cheering like it was a Marvel movie every time something from the series was named. Though, there were no food or drinks flying, and some unaffiliated ticketholders even chatted with each other following the film’s conclusion. This specific connection, disassociated from everything shown of the worst A Minecraft Movie screenings online, is something I feel is essential to theater experience of films just like it. That sense of community is what made some of these people as big of fans of these series as they turned out to be, something that should be embraced on its own.
Warner Bros. clearly understands it has a hit on its hands with A Minecraft Movie, with executives reported to be fast-tracking a sequel right now as the film crosses the $720 million mark in box office revenue. If you want to see the film still but have been a bit put off by the tens of videos of crowd uproar, don’t let that deter you from seeing it in the comfort of a theater now that the more physical buzz has died down.
A Minecraft Movie is now playing in theaters worldwide.