How Gen Z and TikTok Are Changing The Film Industry
It’s out with the old and in with the new…even in film. The TikTok takeover continues!
When was the last time you based your opinion of a movie on a review from a film critic? Genuinely…when?
Now when was the last time you used TikTok to do the exact same thing? I’m sure TikTok was a LOT more recently. It has become the new source of something even as simple as film reviews.
Gen Z no longer trusts the opinion of critics over its own. This is forcing the film industry to change; they must be popular on TikTok.
How TikTok And Gen Z is Affecting The Box Office
By promoting on TikTok, films are reaching much bigger audiences. A survey by the Chinese platform found that 47% of users said they had discovered a new movie coming to theatres due to the app. 36% purchased a ticket as a result. TikTok also partnered with data collaboration platform Live Ramp, to see the effect of movie marketing campaigns in the app. From a study of 12 different films, it was discovered that 92% of these campaigns resulted in an increase in sales and customers.
So there’s no doubt that promoting on TikTok can hugely influence a film’s box office success. But outside of a film’s own promotion, trends on the app can completely change a film’s popularity.
The Impact of Trends
Whether it is a “get-ready with me” or ASMR, there’s always something trending on TikTok. Such videos generate millions of views and are spread throughout our FYP’s. When they happen, it can be unavoidable, regardless of the content you normally watch.
In 2022, Stranger Things 4 was released. The hype and anticipation were unparalleled. New character Eddie Munson became a fan favourite and a remix of ‘Chrissy wake up,’ became a trend.
Then in a key scene, Kate Bush’s song ‘Running Up That Hill’ was used, and it instantly became popular on TikTok. Edits of the scene, or just random videos, all had this song in it. You couldn’t escape it.
It was so popular that the former 80s hit reached number one in the UK, making its 37-year gap since its release, the longest time for a song to reach number one ever.
Similarly, the success of Disney’s “Encanto” was completely changed by TikTok. Upon its release on Disney +, the song ‘We don’t talk about Bruno’ was used everywhere on the app. Its hashtag had billions of views. Other songs from the film also became popular. This led to the soundtrack reaching №1 on Billboards Hot 200. As a result, more people watched “Encanto” on Disney +.
TikTok took a disappointing $256m in the box office and turned it into the second highest streamed movie of 2023 in the US.
Creating Demand From Nothing
A catchy song or a great edit can go viral and increase the popularity of a film but it can also come from absolutely nowhere.
Sometimes a simple trend is all it needs. This is exactly what happened for “Minions: The Rise of Gru”, when the ‘Gentleminions’ trend was created. A group of 15 teenage boys turned up to the film screening all wearing suits and posted this on TikTok.
This instantly became a trend. While deemed ‘disruptive’, it helped the film become the highest July 4th opening of all time, generating $125m in the US and Canada. This beat “Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon”, which made $115m in 2011. 34% of those that attended the opening weekend were aged between 13–17, compared to 8% for “Despicable Me 3”. TikTok had done it again.
“The Rise of Gru” became a box office success. Illumination had Gen Z and TikTok to thank for that.
Does This Always Work Though?
No.
If studios don’t read the room well, it can backfire massively.
This happened to the MCU film “Morbius”, which flopped at the box office on its first release. It made just $163m worldwide. It was criticised for being simply terrible. ‘It’s Morbin’ time’ became a trend on TikTok, with fans joking about the film suggesting it was amazing.
Sony took this rather too literally and re-released the film. Unsurprisingly, it bombed again, earning only $300,000 in three days.
How Has Gen Z And TikTok Changed Promotion
Growing up, promotion was all about TV advertisement or print-based marketing from commercials to billboards. But with the creation of the internet and the development of social media, promotion has changed forever.
Digital media has taken over. Email, social media, websites, you name it, this is the new way to promote.
But where does Gen Z and TikTok stand in all of this?
Having grown up in the social media era, we’ve become reliant on dopamine and instant gratification. Apps like TikTok have been created to nurture this. Their short-form content keeps us entertained, with our dopamine consistently spiking.
This form of media is incredibly addictive and has led to TikTok becoming the second most popular social media platform behind YouTube.
As a result, companies have begun to promote themselves on the app, using short interactive clips, ahead of longer-form content seen on YouTube.
To take this further, companies are adapting to Gen Z trends and memes. They then use this in their own promotion.
TikTok has ultimately pushed companies to keep up with Gen Z and this has become the new way of promoting.
Giving The Audience a Voice
With film a popular genre on TikTok, people began reviewing movies on there. This finally gave Gen Z a voice on films. You didn’t need to be a critic to get your opinion across to the world. This instantly became a new source for those looking at whether to go watch a film.
As a result, it increased discussion around these films, due to how easy it was for someone to interact with a TikTok they saw. Films like “Challengers”, “Twisters”, and “Saltburn” had a huge amount of interaction on the app.
These weren’t blockbuster films, but they did attract more interest because TikTok gave Gen Z a platform to discuss them.
There is always the argument, however, that such discussion can saturate a film before it even comes out. If people keep seeing the same clips or trailers around a movie, they could get bored. While this is sometimes true, it can also just increase their anticipation.
TikTok’s Overall Impact
Ultimately, TikTok has changed film forever. No matter how big or small a movie is, if it has a popular promotion, a viral trend, or lots of positive reviews on the app, it can revolutionize the box office results and the success of the film.
Like it or not, TikTok is the key to success amongst Gen Z.
