Box Office: 'Minecraft' Tops 'Wonka' As Jesus Christ Enjoys A Very Good Friday
In non-'Sinners' news, 'The Chosen' has now passed $100 million domestically while Angel Studios' 'King of Kings' holds firm for obvious holiday-specific reasons.
Sinners topped on Friday with $19.2 million, but the *other* big Warner Bros. Discovery title is still expected to “win” the weekend. This will amusingly be the second time Warner Bros. has had the first and second-place finishers on Easter weekend, following the pre-Avengers: Endgame debut of The Curse of La Llorona ($26.3 million) and the $16.5 million (-33%) third weekend of Shazam!. Anyway, A Minecraft Movie earned $16 million (-22%) on Good Friday, pushing its 15-day total to $319 million in North America.
Oh, and the film has now earned $662 million globally, surpassing Wonka ($634 million) globally. That leaves Dune Part Two ($715 million) and Mufasa: The Lion King ($722 million) potentially next in line in terms of recent tentpole success stories. With a likely $45 million (-43%) third weekend, the $150 million WDB/Legendary flick is expected to have around $349 million domestically and over/$725 million worldwide by tomorrow.
Not to be outdone, ♫Jesus Christ… *Movie Star*! ♫ continued to kick ass for the lord, as Angel Studios’ The King of Kings earned $6.6 million (-5%) on Friday to bring its total to $34.7 million. With Easter Sunday expected to give it a bounce, the animated story of Jesus by way of The Princess Bride (as told by Charles Dickens) should earn around $17 million (-12%) in weekend two for a $45 million ten-day total.
This is (easily) Angel Studios’s second biggest earner after Sound of Freedom ($184 million). Moreover, The Chosen, now eight films and counting, has passed $100 million domestically. The most recent release, eight episodes of Season 5 in three weekly installments, has earned $42 million domestically over the last month. With theaters offering a “watch the entire season for one discount bulk price,” Sony will be studying this Fathom event in relation to their “four films in one month” Beatles series, coming in April 2028.