Prof. Hubbel Palmer’s ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Smashes Box Office Records

Professor Hubbel Palmer’s latest produced work, A Minecraft Movie, opened last week and not only blew past projections, but broke box office records! The film, directed by Jared Hess, has been getting credit for reviving movie-going and “bringing the box-office back alive” according to Deadline. Additionally, it’s the largest opening of the year thus far, and the largest opening ever for a video game adaptation.

Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri wrote that “Hess & Co. opt for a tongue-in-cheek reverence for the source that captures the playful vibe of the game itself. It feels like a small miracle that the resulting film is so funny, lively, and light on its feet.”

Professor Hubbel Palmer

Palmer and his writing partner, Chris Bowman, were brought onto the project after the it had been long delayed (Palmer and Bowman are credited with both ‘Screenplay by’ and ‘Story by’). Palmer said he and Bowman “spent a good part of the pandemic trying to imagine Minecraft as a quest comedy, and we’re proud of the fact that we helped get the project unstuck after 10 long years of development.”

A Minecraft Movie has also become a social media phenomenon, with youth audiences creating a participatory experience a la Rocky Horror Picture Show. “I’m stunned by the response to the movie,” said Palmer. “I think it’s a few factors: a deep love for the Minecraft game, meme culture, the younger generation’s pent-up desire for a communal experience, and Jared Hess’s perfectly absurd sensibility.”

For Palmer, A Minecraft Movie is also inextricably tied to his experience as a professor at the U. “I started teaching at the University of Utah just as I came on board Minecraft,” said Palmer, “so many of the scenes and sequences in the movie were written in between classes here at the U!”

Congratulations, Professor Hubbel Palmer!