Media

Sofia Malik

Cinema in the Digital Age: The Power of Gen Z Fan Culture

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Sofia Malik is a 4th year Professional Communications student at TMUwith a special interest in film and tv journalism. She aims to carry her newly developed communciaton skills into the field of film, engaging in the behind the senes action of the industry. She also posses an interest in content creation and hopes to showcase her two passions (film and social media), through her Signify research project focusing on digital media and the movie industry.

In this study I used a mixed-method approach to examine the relationship between fan-made social media edits and the box office performance of films such as Marty Supreme, Challengers, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. By analyzing 43 TikTok and Instagram posts alongside Reddit and Quora discussions about lead actors, the research compared online engagement with commercial outcomes. My findings presented an inconsistent correlation with Marty Supreme’s strong pre-release engagement aligning with a high opening night revenue, and Challengers, contrarily achieving viral online traction but relatively low daily box office earnings. This suggests that fan edits do not directly drive ticket sales but instead reflect audience interest, particularly among Gen Z viewers. Overall, social media engagement highlights cultural popularity and actor appeal more than it predicts financial success.

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