A Minecraft Movie” will lead the box office again as several newcomers, including Universal and Blumhouse’s pulse-quickening “Drop” and Rami Malek-led spy thriller “The Amateur,” open this weekend on the big screen.

At the same time, online piracy amped up during the pandemic, and was a chief reason why the studios backed away from their “brilliant” (I say that sarcastically) idea to go theatrical day-and-date with movies; Disney’s Black Widow saw its Premium VOD and box office cash siphoned, as did movies like Dune and Suicide Squad.

A Minecraft Movie's sandbox might get even bigger. The Warner Bros. comedy raked in $157 million domestically in its opening weekend, making it the second-biggest video game adaptation debut of all time,

Movie." The film also gave a much needed jolt to the domestic box office, which was down 12% during the first three months of the year.Warner Bros.' struck gold over the weekend."A Minecraft Movie," the studio's co-production with Legendary Entertainment,

Minecraft Movie fans were stunned after realising the lead role, played by Jack Black, had been written for another actor, who had to drop out after SAG-AFTRA strikes affected his scheduling