Monday: Minecraft Breaks Out; Tron: Ares Meets Nine Inch Nails; NYC Arthouse Theater; New Directors/New Films
The breakout hit A Minecraft Movie continues to exceed all expectations. Tron: Ares soundtrack is being done by Nine Inch Nails and a classic arthouse theater is set to re-open in New York.
It's Monday, April 7th. Here's the movie industry news you need to know.
Today's Headlines
The breakout hit A Minecraft Movie continues to exceed all expectations. Variety has the reasons why the film is Hollywood's Breakout Hit of 2025. Our take: This should make everyone feel a little bit better about the state of the industry. It may not be Citizen Kane but it's getting people out to the theaters and that's a good thing, folks.
A new 5 screen Arthouse movie theater is coming to the upper west side in Manhattan. Deadline has the story on how the non-profit The Upper West Side Cinema Center purchased the old Metro Theater on Broadway and 99th. Our take: Kudos to the city, the state and private donors including the Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg Hearthland Foundation for making this happen.
Speaking of Manhattan we totally spaced on the New Directors/New Film Films Festival taking place at MOMA and Film at Lincoln Center right now. Criterion has a great piece on What to see in week two. Our take: Support these indie filmmakers and see some excellent cinema this week.
The upcoming Tron: Ares trailer starring Jared Leto caused some excitement at CinemaCon. However, as Pitchfork reports more Buzz is building about the Tron: Ares soundtrack (by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) to be released under the Nine Inch Nails moniker. Our take: Awards galore are possible with this pairing as they are the perfect choice for a killing Tron soundtrack.
Box Office Rankings: Sunday, April 6th
1) A Minecraft Movie
2) A Working Man
3) Snow White
4) The Chosen: Last Supper
5) The Woman In The Yard
What Changed: A Minecraft Movie brought in 39 million in domestic on Sunday, hitting 157 million for the weekend. This is outstanding. The other films scored in the 1 and 2 million range for Sunday, so Minecraft will continue to top the charts for a long time.
MNP Streaming Index (Monday April 7th - Market Close)
Current Value: $88,408.45
Today's Change: -$33.70(-0.04%)
Total Gain/Loss: -$11,591.55 (-11.86%)
What's Happening: An insane day on Wall Street as markets tanked at the open and then whipsawed back and forth on tariff rumors, ending unchanged.
Current Holdings: Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Disney, Fox, Alphabet, Netflix, Paramount, Roku, Warner Brothers Discovery.
Our Take: Amazon was the best performer, closing up 2.49%. Apple continues to get clobbered on tariff concerns.
MNP Studio Index (Monday April 7th - Market Close)
Current Value: $88,003.75
Today's Change: -$624.30 (-0.71%)
Total Gain/Loss: -$11,996.25 (-12.10%)
What's Happening: Comcast/Universal and Amazon are the sole gainers. Bad day for Sony.
Current Holdings: Amazon, Comcast, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony
Our Take: A weird day for the group, as investors try to discern the direction of the industry in relation to the possibility of an economic recession if tariff issues continue for too long.
Index Change Notification: Originally, we put Warner Brothers (WBD) exclusively in the streaming index. Our thought was that the stock was more of a mass media entertainment conglomerate than simply a studio. However, it's clear with the explosion of A Minecraft Movie that this should be tracked in the MNP Studio Index as well. We'll be adding it to the index tomorrow.
MNP Theater Index (Monday April 7th - Market Close)
Current Value:$90,120.65
Today's Change: $358.90 (0.40%)
Total Gain/Loss: -$9,879.35 (-9.97%)
What's Happening: Cinemark gains 4.6% and AMC jumped 3.77% today.
Our Take: There is volatility with both of these stocks. However, the market is clearly showing interest in them, in relation to what is happening with the economy. Worth monitoring.
Film Festivals/Conferences Today
Miami Film Festival, US - April 4-13
Qumra, Qatar - April 4-9
Visions du Reel, Switzerland - April 4-13
Timeless Film Festival Warsaw, Poland - April 7-14
New Directors, New Films (MOMA), New York City - April 2-13
Watch This Tonight
No Country For Old Men (2007), Directed By Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, this is the perfect mashup of the neo-noir and western film genres. Winner of the Best Picture Academy Award.
Disclaimer/Transparency
MovieNewsPro is a film industry news monitoring service. All stories have been previously reported elsewhere and are not exclusive stories to MNP. All information is believed to be accurate at the time of reporting. MovieNewsPro uses a full array of technology to gather information, including machine learning, automation and artificial intelligence throughout its business monitoring, editing and reporting process. MovieNewsPro sector indexes (Streaming, Studio and Theater) are virtual indexes - there are no actual funds invested. Sector index total value dollar amounts are based on an initial hypothetical investment of $100,000 on March 17th, 2025. We are not licensed investment advisors and our information should not be used as investment advice.
