Cinema’s fastest-growing chapter is being fuelled by social
Opinion
Social has dismantled the linear journey of cinema marketing, with creators playing a major role in reshaping it.
Cinema is having a moment, and the numbers prove it. January 2026 box office revenue in the UK and Ireland rose 18% year-on-year to £111.5m, according to Comscore, fuelled by heavy-hitter film releases like The Housemaid, Hamnet and Avatar: Fire and Ash.
With awards season building toward the Oscars in March and recent high-profile premieres like Wuthering Heights and Charli XCX’s mockumentary film The Moment, cinema has firmly reasserted itself as a cultural and commercial force.
And what do both of these have in common?
They have heavily leaned into social and creators.
This resurgence is being mirrored on the advertising side, showing this isn’t just a fleeting trend.
The recent AA/WARC report named cinema as the fastest-growing channel in Q3 2025, up 24%, driven by standout releases such as The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.
So, after years of being written off as a heritage medium, cinema is once again commanding the attention of audiences and brands alike. Much of this cultural lift is being driven by social media, with fandoms, creators and communities turning film releases into cultural moments long before audiences take their seats.
This highlights the powerful role social now plays.
UK and Ireland box office revenues are climbing, ad investment in cinema is growing faster than any other channel, and major film releases are once again feeling like cultural moments.
The pre-show is social
Cinema marketing has traditionally followed a familiar formula: a trailer launch, a media blitz, and a short theatrical window before attention moves on. Social has dismantled that linear journey, with creators playing a major role in reshaping it.
Take the recent social push around Marty Supreme, now one of A24’s strongest-performing titles to date.
Rather than relying solely on traditional promotional beats, the campaign leaned fully into social-native storytelling, activating creators to build anticipation through commentary, speculation and cultural cues that felt organic to audiences’ feeds.
The result wasn’t just awareness but participation, with fans engaging with the film’s references and iconography well ahead of release and turning promotion into conversation.
This is increasingly how films travel today. Audiences don’t just watch them; they take part in the moment.
A teaser clip sparks debate on TikTok, a cast moment becomes a meme, and a creator-led reaction racks up millions of views on Instagram. By the time audiences step into the cinema, they already feel invested in the storyline and its universe, taking part in something bigger than a single screening (think Barbenheimer).
Social has transformed films from one-off releases into evolving narratives, shaped in real time by audience response.
That sense of collective anticipation – the feeling that everyone is talking about it – is exactly what cinema needs to thrive. The big screen still delivers the emotional payoff, but it’s social that builds the momentum to get audiences there in the first place.
Fandoms are the new FROW
Perhaps the most powerful shift has been the rise of niche fandoms. Social platforms allow films to reach highly engaged communities that don’t just consume content, but actively amplify it.
From BookTok readers driving opening-weekend demand for literary adaptations to horror fans dissecting trailers frame by frame, these communities act as unpaid media engines. Their enthusiasm is earned, and cinema benefits from the authenticity it brings.
Crucially, these fandoms don’t live on just one platform. They move fluidly across social channels and into the real world. When a film resonates with them, the cinema becomes a physical gathering point, a place to experience a story together, not just watch it alone at home.
Creators are redefining film marketing
Alongside fandoms, creators have become central to cinema’s growth. Not as traditional influencers delivering scripted endorsements, but as cultural translators who understand how to speak to their audiences in ways studios never could.
Creator-led content doesn’t feel like advertising. It feels more like discovery – a recommendation from someone you trust. Whether it’s a spoiler-free review, a behind-the-scenes breakdown, or a humorous skit inspired by a film’s themes, creators help films travel organically through social feeds.
This is particularly powerful for cinema, which thrives on emotion. Joy, fear, nostalgia, and awe are reactions creators capture and share instantly, turning personal responses into mass persuasion. In doing so, they bridge the gap between digital buzz and box office impact.
This is already playing out in how cinemas themselves are showing up on social.
When brands like ODEON lean into creator-led content on TikTok, prioritising entertainment and cultural relevance over traditional promotion, the result hasn’t been diluted brand equity, but renewed desire.
The Goat Agency has been working with ODEON since 2022, and by focusing on a creator-first strategy, have grown ODEON’s reach, not just from a follower perspective (but yes, we went from 4,000 TikTok followers to 100,000 in less than six months), but also from a revenue and “bums on seats” POV, which enabled ODEON to prove the business value of TikTok as an acquisition channel, not just awareness.
By bringing the feeling of cinema into social feeds, creators have helped turn passive scrolling into active intent, reconnecting audiences with the magic of the big screen before they even arrive.
Social doesn’t replace cinema; it completes it
There’s a persistent myth that social and cinema compete for attention. In reality, they are becoming increasingly interdependent.
Social excels at building conversation and cultural relevance. Cinema excels at delivering immersion, scale and shared experience. When combined, they create a feedback loop that benefits both.
Audiences discover films on social media, attend them in cinemas, then return online to react, review and recommend – restarting the cycle. Each trip to the cinema generates fresh content, fuelling further demand and amplification.
Brands have started to recognise this too. Cinema is no longer just a premium ad slot – it’s a moment brands can extend through social storytelling, creator partnerships, and community engagement. When planned holistically, cinema becomes the emotional anchor of a wider social-first campaign.
This shift couldn’t be more timely. As audiences grow fatigued by fragmented attention and endless scrolling, cinema offers something increasingly rare: presence. Social helps people decide what is worth their time; cinema rewards them for committing to it.
The fastest-growing chapter of cinema isn’t being written by technology alone, nor by nostalgia for the big screen. It’s being written by audiences who discover stories socially, experience them collectively, and carry them back into culture through their own voices.
Ellie Hooper is VP growth at The Goat Agency