Kirsten Dunst is well known for teaming up with acclaimed directors, from Sofia Coppola (“The Virgin Suicides,” “Marie Antoinette,” “The Beguiled”) to Lars von Trier (“Melancholia”), Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), Alex Garland (“Civil War”) and upcoming turns in new films by Derek Cianfrance (“Roofman”) and Ruben Östlund (“The Entertainment System Is Down”). But sometimes, Dunst just wants to make money.
Speaking to Town & Country magazine for a new cover story, the Oscar nominee made the surprise revelation that she would happily star in “Minecraft 2.” Why? “Because her kids loved the first one and because she’d like to make a pile of cash,” the publication summarized, with Dunst adding herself: “Maybe I can just make a movie where I don’t lose money?”
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“A Minecraft Movie,” headlined by Jack Black and Jason Momoa, dominated the spring box office with $955 million worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing movie of 2025 so far. Despite largely negative reviews, the movie energized gen-Z audiences and sparked viral social media trends that took over pop culture. It’s the kind of movie that’s the direct opposite of Dunst’s recent auteur-driven output, not that she minds. She’s got a few arthouse projects filming soon anyway, including the mermaid thriller “Reptilia” with Mikey Madison and a new Coppola collaboration.
“Kirsten makes cool choices,” Coppola told Town & Country magazine. “She’s never hokey. She can be fully sincere and in touch with emotions without ever being embarrassing. I love working with her and I know she gets me, and I’m excited for her to be the age she is now…I feel like she’s in her Gena Rowlands age and can do complex roles.”
Of course Dunst has always balanced arthouse favorites and populist fare. She played Mary Jane opposite Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker in Sam Raimi’s original “Spider-Man” trilogy, telling Marie Claire last year that she’d be more than happy to return to the comic book movie genre “because you get paid a lot of money, and I have two children, and I support my mother.”
Next up for Dunst is “Roofman,” the Cianfrance-directed crime comedy with Channing Tatum. The movie is world premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival next month before an Oct. 10 theatrical release from Paramount Pictures.
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