Minecraft drives cinema admissions up 26% during Easter school holidays

Cinema delivered a standout Easter school holiday performance, with admissions climbing 26% year-on-year to 4.48 million between 3 and 17 April, according to Val Morgan Cinema.

The biggest driver was A Minecraft Movie, which has now surpassed The Super Mario Bros Movie to become the highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time and has entered Australia's top 20 highest-grossing films. The film alone has generated 2.8 million admissions to date, fuelled by youth and family audiences.

Val Morgan Cinema managing director Guy Burbidge said the success of A Minecraft Movie reflected the broader cultural impact of strong IP combined with cinema's shared experience.

“A Minecraft Movie wasn’t just the biggest film of the Easter holidays – it became one of the most viral cultural moments so far this year,” Burbidge said. “When cinema connects emotionally, it doesn’t just entertain - it creates cultural moments.”

Animated superhero comedy Dogman was the second most popular film over the holiday period, delivering 414,000 admissions and over-indexing among young family audiences.

Horror release Sinners achieved the second-largest horror opening of the year, behind Nosferatu, with 229,000 admissions so far. A standout 79% of its audience came from the 14 to 39-year-old demographic, highlighting strong youth turnout. The film also recorded a rare 47% growth in audience in its second weekend, fuelled by word-of-mouth, a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Burbidge said horror’s consistent appeal to younger audiences makes it a strong channel for brands.

“Cinema has one of the highest advertising equities amongst youth audiences and horror consistently pulls in this hard-to-reach demographic,” he said. “With a strong horror slate still to come this year, including Final Destination, 28 Years Later, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Conjuring: Last Rites and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, there are significant opportunities for brands to align.”

Beyond horror, major titles such as Mission: Impossible 8, Lilo & Stitch, How To Train Your Dragon, and F1 are also set to drive youth and family audiences over the coming months.