'The Fault in Our Stars' Was Summer's Most Buzzed About Film on Social Media

By Brent Lang

Guardians of the Galaxy may have topped the summer box office, but The Fault in Our Stars was the most buzzed about film on social media.

That’s the conclusion of Fizziology, a tracking firm that combs through tweets, likes and all digital vehicles for opinion sharing to see how films are resonating on the internet. The Fault in Our Stars was the most discussed film of the summer, accounting for more than five million mentions, the company found.

The tween weepie beat out Godzilla, 22 Jump Street and Guardians of the Galaxy for the honor and likely benefited from having an advocate in the form of John Green. The Fault in Our Stars author is an avid Twitter user who shares his thoughts with more than 3 million followers.

“John Green did an amazing job bringing fans of the book through the process of making the film and ultimately releasing the film,” said Ben Carlson, president and co-creator of Fizziology. “The film itself was so well received and anticipated by an audience that tends to be pretty noisy on social media.”

With summer over, Fizziology decided to cook up some social media awards in honor of the season that was. While The Fault in Our Stars may have inspired the most chatter, 22 Jump Street enjoyed the “Most Positive” buzz, with the highest percentage of laudatory comments. It was followed by The Fault in Our Stars, The Purge: Anarchy and Let’s Be Cops.

SEE ALSO: Will ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ Get More Teens Hooked on Digital?

There were also a few films that built up steam after audiences actually got to see them, particularly X-Men: Days of Future Past, which was Fizziology’s winner for “Biggest Comeback.”

“It wasn’t that the talk about it was negative, so much as neutral,” said Carlson. “Once people saw it, they loved it.”

That’s a different reaction than the one that greeted The Guardians of the Galaxy. The Marvel film about a rag-tag group of space warriors was a hit with fanboys from the moment its first, tongue-in-cheek trailer debuted last February. The initial spot, which featured Chris Pratt at his quippiest was set to 1970s Blue Swede easy-listening hit, “Hooked on a Feeling,” giving it a unique tone. That off-kilter attitude inspired more social media chatter than the first trailers for Man of Steel and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which enjoyed higher name recognition. The good buzz never let up, leading Fizziology to christen the picture the “Most Badass Movie in Social.”

“It was infused with a spirit of fun that played well to that core Marvel audience,” said Carlson.

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