Remember, not long ago, and in this case during the period Covid. Many implied the death of cinema and the advent of streaming. These people were wrong. Not only is cinema still alive, but it is also in great health.
The year 2025 could have left some doubts, as the big films released were all rubbish, and I can give you a good takeaway: Predator Badlands, Elusive 3, Tron: Arès, Captain America 4 or even Ballerina. In 2026, we breathe, it’s better, and we hope that it will last. Some nice surprises on the fly: The Last Chance Project, Disclosure Day, Obsession, The Drama or even Timothée Chalamet as a table tennis player for Marty Supreme. It was said that the internet was going to kill cinema, it only updated it.
When buzz transforms films into events
We were able to begin to measure the beginnings of this a few years ago with the virality of certain somewhat anecdotal things, which suggested that social networks could offer a second life to films which did not particularly need it. First example that comes to mind, the first film M3GANin 2022. Not particularly the best horror film of the year, nor even the worst, but a film which was able to break through on the internet in a way which still questions me: thanks to the robotic dance of M3GAN in the last third of the film.
Result: 180 million dollars in box office revenue for a film that cost 12 million. M3GAN 2.0 (2025) tried to repeat the success, it had no virality, it wallowed with barely 39 million dollars in revenue, five times less than the first.
At the same time, there was Sinners of Ryan Coogler. A unique passage, the dance of Remmickthe Irish zombie, on Rocky Road to Dublina paf : TikTok caught on to the phenomenon with many people reproducing the said dance. And Sinners has amassed $370 million in box office revenue, making it one of the very few successes of 2025.
Another big, massive success, even if it pains me a little to talk about it: Minecraft. The adaptation of the cult video game already enjoyed its notoriety, namely being an adaptation of one of the most popular games in the world. However, it could have wallowed like Warcraftyears before him.
What allowed this rotten film to break the box office with its almost billion revenues was what happened on social networks: the edits with Steve (Jack Black) who sings, the zero references to the game, but above all the abominable trend of Chicken Jockeywho set the internet on fire with his stupidity.
Today, breaking the box office also means breaking social networks. An almost prohibitive step. If a film doesn’t generate buzz, it won’t work. A film must either work or stand behind a key concept. Remember the summer of 2023 with the phenomenon Barbenheimer (Oppenheimer et Barbie). Apparently, nothing invites spectators to go see these films more than others. However, the concept of a major double release on the same day caused so much buzz on the networks that the films together brought in nearly 2.5 billion dollars.
And the best example this year is the horror film duo Backrooms et Obsession. The adaptation of Kane Parsons exceeds 250 million dollars in revenue, for a 10 million budget. Obsessionit’s almost 300 million for 750,000 dollars. The two feature films are breaking the internet above all with a lot of diverse reactions and buzz, like French spectators Montpellier who dubbed part of the film without sound, it’s anecdotal, but everyone talks about it, and about edits. The two films even have the luxury of beating flat out Star Warswho is struggling with The Mandalorian & Grogu.
A renewed interest which, in Franceis visible on the box office score. THE CNC announces 77.10 million admissions over the first five months of 2026, or +20.6% compared to the same period in 2025, with a month of May at 14.97 million admissions, up 33.2%.
Thanks to the locomotives Obsession, L’Abandonwhich made a nice score, the anecdotal million of The Mandalorian & Groguor the enormous box of Michaelwhich has recorded 5.4 million entries to date. And thanks to the performances of the films mentioned above on social networks, it turns out that the Gen Z14-29 year olds, go to the cinema much more often to enjoy common social experiences, as reported Cinema United.
This is explained by a desire to see a film that buzzes together, sometimes to reproduce concepts on the networks, like Obsessionwhere it became fashionable to wear makeup like Nikki to replay the scene where she cries, hiding in the shadows near the bed where Bear goes to sleep.
Streaming saturates, the room becomes a gathering again
What should also be noted: social networks do not only give visibility to films, they promote a large part of content creators or direct content, allowing people to become loyal to someone and to trust opinions and recommendations.
Fandango confirms this shift in cinema: for the Gen Z and millennials, social networks are the first form of discovery of films. Among the spectators Gen Z interviewed, the main platforms cited are YouTube, TikTok, InstagramThen Facebook et X. Trailers, extracts, posters, TikToks/Reels de casting, débriefs TikTok and video reviews are cited as sources of excitement around the films.
Letterboxda social network specializing around films, is also mainly used by those who go to theaters. They rate and talk about films, sometimes even for profiles that are not originally film buffs. The network is gradually replacing SenseCritical et Allocinatedwho until now had a monopoly. We even tell you, in our opinion, the best choice among the three.
There are also influencer profiles that generate debate, notably the breakthrough of the YouTuber and influencer The ruleswhich monopolizes cinema thinking with a very broad community. A way of showing that spectators have taken control of the image, through social networks. Cinema no longer has a monopoly on images; what remains is that of gathering. And this seems to create the beginnings of a form of dependence.
It is therefore social networks that are completely redefining the way of approaching and consuming cinema. Watch streaming, abundance was promised to this mode of consumption. It ultimately delivered fragmentation: too many platforms, too many subscriptions, too many algorithms, too many choices. The report Gracenote/Nielsen 2025 indicates that almost a third of streaming users believe that the fragmentation of content and services harms their television experience; among 25-34 year olds, this proportion rises to 40%. The same report indicates that 45% of users find the streaming experience “overwhelming†, therefore overwhelming or too complex.
The observation is therefore clear: from the moment a film will perform on the networks, where people will create and share things about it, word of mouth will catch on and can create a dynamic never before seen in the history of cinema. If you doubt it, just look at the legendary journey ofObsessionwhich doesn’t stop. You pick up your phone, you scroll, you see an extract or a trend around the film, you’re interested in it, you say to yourself…Hey, it could be cool†and there you go. Even if you weren’t initially interested in the concept.
In the end, this proves one thing: the cinema experience still has magnificent days ahead of it.
