How Jack Black Became Hollywood’s Unconventional $11 Billion Man – The “Mario” and “Minecraft” actor hit CinemaCon 3 nights in a row. When did this middle-aged comic with a pot belly and perpetual grin become a franchise king?
by chanma50
How Jack Black Became Hollywood’s Unconventional $11 Billion Man – The “Mario” and “Minecraft” actor hit CinemaCon 3 nights in a row. When did this middle-aged comic with a pot belly and perpetual grin become a franchise king?
by chanma50
11 Comments
He was always recognized as a good actor for both children’s movies and other genres, that’s how he secured these roles despite being in his 50’s at this point.
Not gonna lie, kinda a pointless detail to say he has a pot belly, like that doesn’t really factor into anything
Bud’s going to be a 12+ billion man once The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Jumanji: Open World finish their runs.
He has chosen undemanding acting roles in high-production/marketing budget lowbrow IP-based movies. Wowza.
Jack Black is massively popular with kids and adults alike. Say what you want but he does give memorable performances, be it voice acting or live-action. He has had a massive hit every year since 2023:
* Super Mario Bros (2023) – $1.36 B
* Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) – $547 M
* A Minecraft Movie (2025) – $957 M
* Super Mario Galaxy (2026) – $747 M (in theatres)
* Jumanji 4 (2026) – ??
“We have become very comfortable having this weird ownership of men’s bodies”
The difference is, Jack Black won’t cry online or weaponize his Internet army of stans and simps
He’s about one of the most likeable people alive, that’s how
We fat shaming Jack black!? Leave his pot belly out of this!
Simple. That’s just the power of The D.
He’s probably super easy to work with and gives it 110% no matter what.
> When did this middle-aged comic with a pot belly and perpetual grin become a franchise king?
Jack Black’s breakthrough role was probably *Shallow Hal* (2001).
His next significant film role was Zeke in *Ice Age* (2002), which would become one of the largest animated franchises on the planet.
There are other movies, but in pretty short order he’s followed up with *King Kong* (2005) and *Kung Fu Panda* (2008), another huge franchise.
He’s been doing this basically from the beginning — a mix of small, idiosyncratic comedies around big tentpole films. And since his tentpoles keep succeeding, it’s quite natural for film studios to keep casting him in them.