Buckets of popcorn flying through the air, crowds of screaming teenagers shouting at the screen, even a live chicken in the theatre. Sounds like a cinema worker’s worst nightmare, right? Well it was, but what brought all of this mayhem to the movies?
April 4th, “A Minecraft Movie” came to the big screen and brought thousands of nostalgic teenagers and young adults into the theatre to sit down and watch Jack Black wear a blue shirt and shout about their favorite game. The movie had a fairly simple plot, Jack Black’s character, Steve, (based on the character you play as in the game) finds two parts of an orb that opens a portal to the world of Minecraft. While in the blocky dimension, a group of characters played by Jason Momoa and others enter the portal as well. The group accidentally breaks part of the orb, trapping them inside Minecraft. They meet up with Steve and travel to the Woodland Mansion, where another orb is kept, all the while being chased by the Malgosha, leading an army of pigmen from a dimension called the Nether. Eventually, Steve and company defeat Malgosha, find the orb, and return to the real world.
Now this doesn’t sound like the kind of movie that would have audiences showering themselves with popcorn, so what made it so special? To answer that question, we’ll take a look into the nostalgia, marketing, and hype that turned a simple movie into one of the most influential films of the modern age.
To start, let’s talk about the nostalgia behind the Minecraft movie. Minecraft, being one of the most popular video games across the world, captured the imagination of millions of fans, young and old. People also love Jack Black, who had recent success in another video game movie adaptation, being Bowser in the Super Mario Bros. Movie. “Jack Black is cool,” says LHS sophomore, Lewis Dunn. Between a cherished lead actor and a beloved video game, the Minecraft movie was already predicted to attract millions to the theatre
Another factor that caused the success of the Minecraft Movie was the genius marketing. In advertisements shown across the globe, Jack Black could be seen shouting iconic lines such as “I… Am STEVE,” or “Chicken Jockey!” LHS sophomore, Alex Alverez, had this to say about the film, “chicken jockey was my favorite part of the movie, I got so excited when I saw that chicken.” This leads into my point about the immense amount of online hype that was encouraged by this movie. Several memes were created, originally mocking Jack Black, the live action environment, and many other aspects of the movie. Rather than ruining the film’s reputation, it actually thrusted it into the minds of millions more, and as time went on and more teasers released, the attitude about the movie shifted from “this is so bad, I’m not watching this,” to “this is so bad, I have to watch this.”
The movie finally released and it was a massive success. Millions flooded to the theatres. It was no longer just a movie, but a cultural event. Some dressed up to attend showings, others bought the Minecraft Meal at McDonalds, and even more posted videos about how good-bad the movie was. Memes and clips from the movie circulated the internet for weeks, building up the hype and building up the chaos.
To conclude, the Minecraft Movie is an example of how a mix of nostalgic fans, genius advertisement, and the power of the internet can turn something so simple into an experience.
