Why Females Liked The Minecraft Video Game More Than The Movie

A Minecraft Movie, released by Warner Bros has given the film industry a much needed boost. Released on April 4, in its first ten days, the film has grossed nearly $280 million domestically and overall, $550 million worldwide. Based upon the video game launched in 2011, the film has already surpassed Captain America: Brave New World as the top grossing film so far this year.

Citing data from Comscore, Variety reported that prior to the release of Minecraft, domestic box office sales had been sluggish with box office down by almost 11% 2024 and by 40% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

With the success of A Minecraft Movie two weekends in, this year’s box office is now running about even with last year. The film has also grossed nearly $40 million in the UK/Ireland and $20.3 million in China. With a trade war between China and the U.S., A Minecraft Movie could be the last Hollywood film released in China for the time being.

Diesel Labs, an AI data analytics company, evaluated social and video media behaviors from consumers (with heavy focus on unsolicited comments, a strong performance predictor), and compared the engagement levels with other previously released video game film adaptations. These included Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Borderlands, and Until Dawn, a film scheduled for release on April 25. Among the comparison set, Super Mario Bros. was the top grossing thus far.

The data found that A Minecraft Movie had, overall, a similar engagement level with The Super Mario Bros movie and had outperformed the other films. Similar to Minecraft, Super Mario Bros was also released in early April (2023). In their domestic opening weekends Super Mario Bros generated $146 million in ticket sales, compared to $163 million for Minecraft. Super Mario Bros wound up grossing $575 million domestically and $1.36 billion globally, ranking second domestically and globally to Barbie in 2023.

In looking at the findings by gender, Diesel Labs found A Minecraft Movie had a similar gender break as both the Super Mario Bros and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movies with one-third of the audience female. When looking at gaming, the gender split for recent Super Mario Bros game releases was comparable to that of its feature film. Conversely, however, for Minecraft the audience profile for females was noticeably higher for gaming (45%) than for the movie (34%).

In analyzing the commentary from the Minecraft movie trailer Diesel Labs found;

Male audiences discussed topics such as;
Excitement & Humor: Many male commenters expressed excitement and found aspects of the trailer humorous. References to scenes and elements like Villagers and Elytra were often made in a light-hearted manner. Nostalgia for the game also emerged as a significant theme.

• Critical Evaluation: There was a significant portion of male commenters evaluating the trailer critically, focusing on its fidelity to the game, particularly regarding graphics and storyline accuracy.

While female audiences leaned more toward;
• Aesthetic Appreciation and Excitement: Female commentators often focused on the aesthetics and the ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ elements, expressing excitement over the game’s visual representation in the movie, particularly when it comes to characters like pandas and baby zombies.

• Positive Anticipation: There was an eager anticipation for the movie, with many expressing the hope that it would live up to or surpass expectations set by previous trailers.

And finally, audience members who are also Minecraft players touched on;
• True-to-game Elements: Players express a strong emotional connection to the Minecraft movie, particularly appreciating the tribute to Technoblade, a beloved Minecraft content creator. This tribute resonates deeply with the community, evoking feelings of nostalgia and appreciation.

• Easter Eggs and Game References: Elements such as crafting, mobs, and specific game mechanics like the “chicken jockey” scene are discussed. Players enjoy identifying references to the game within the movie, such as the inclusion of Piglins and other in-game entities.

There was also a notable difference in commentary after the releases of the two trailers. The first trailer released on September 4, 2024 referenced A Minecraft Movie as a “Hollywood Cash Grab” bereft of creativity and uniqueness compared to the game. Also, many players expressed dissatisfaction with the trailer’s lack of authenticity to the original game. Reactions to the first trailer skewed very negative vs expected levels.

However, feedback from the second trailer released on November 19, 2024 was slightly more encouraging, with an appreciation of the Minecraft music and other small details (characters, scenes, etc.) that were represented. While some concerns remained on the quality of the CGI used and storyline, the reactions overall skewed less negative than after the first trailer.

When looking at age breaks; Gen Alpha (under 18) were least critical and were excited about the film despite the perceived flaws. Older demographics were more critical about the apparent shortfalls and reduction in original. One consistent theme after both trailers was that audiences expressed a desire for the movie to have been animated versus live-action.

Among the takeaways Diesel Labs found that some trailers should highlight more of the film’s aspects that would be more appealing and engaging to females. The CEO of Diesel Labs, Anjali Midha, shared that, “this case study highlighted a unique demographic disconnect between those who are players and those who are expressing that they saw the film. There’s an opportunity over these next few weeks to subtly adjust the marketing plan to better target female film-goers and draw them back into the conversation.”

In addition, the use of YouTube for post release and capturing the TikTok trends around the film and for others to view, similar to the trends exhibited around Minions.