Social media has become a vital aspect of modern movie marketing. It's not enough to cut a few trailers together and release them on YouTube for the world to see. You need to make sure people are talking about the movie, too. In the realm of online conversation, arguably no social platform is more important than Twitter, and the app has become a fundamental aspect of film criticism and discussion. With that in mind, Twitter has revealed the most talked about summer 2017 movies, and it is definitely an eclectic assortment. The films are:
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 22. Wonder Woman3. Spider-Man: Homecoming4. Alien: Covenant5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
There you have it: the five most tweeted and talked-about films of this summer. In all honesty, it's hardly surprising to see these movies take the top spots. The top three are some of the most highly anticipated superhero films of the last few years. From there, Alien: Covenant was consistently hyped up as Ridley Scott's return to the proper Xenomorph franchise, which got people very excited after the decidedly polarizing Prometheus. Bringing up the rear is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which (even in the face of lackluster reviews) still maintains a strong following. Each of these films brings something unique to the table, and (for better or for worse) all of them were able to get Twitter users talking in a major way.
To accompany the data, Twitter has also released a graph showing how each of these films has trended over the course of the last two months. Check it out below.
That image lays it out incredibly plainly. Although Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has managed to take the top spot through consistent numbers (particularly during the entire month of May), Wonder Woman experienced an enormous spike on Twitter towards the end of last month. This surge is likely because the film screened for critics and select audiences in the last week of May. Warner Bros. kept most details associated with the project held relatively close to the chest, but the critic screenings of the movie generated strong word of mouth, which subsequently caused a massive influx in online chatter. With Diana Prince's solo film opening in theaters today, we will have to see if that chatter translates into a strong box office performance.
At this point, it is probably worth noting that ranking high on social media does not fundamentally indicate that a movie is good or bad. While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has become talked about primarily because of how good it is, David Ayer's Suicide Squad similarly dominated social media during last year's summer season -- and that film has become infamously panned by critics and fans alike. Plenty of people out there would likely still argue that there's no such thing as bad publicity, but we need to remember that trending on Twitter is not inherently an indication of a film's quality in any substantial way.
Of course, the summer blockbuster season is far from over, and we have a feeling that a number of other blockbusters will dominate Twitter conversations before it comes to an end. Check out our 2017 movie premiere guide for more information related to these highly anticipated theatrical debuts!
Photo courtesy of Twitter.
