Movie studios vs. social: The screen time showdown and battle for your attention

There are only so many hours in a day. And Deloitte’s 2025 Digital Media Trends report makes it clear: audiences are hitting a ceiling of six hours a day of media consumption. The biggest winner in that zero-sum game? Social video.

TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts now capture more than half of Gen Z’s daily screen minutes. That’s time that might once have been spent in theaters or even scrolling Netflix’s carousel.

The result: Hollywood studios aren’t just competing with rival blockbusters anymore; they’re competing with memes, dance trends, and the endless churn of UGC.

The attention economy in action

• Six-Hour Cap: Consumers average 6 hours of entertainment a day, and the growth curve has plateaued. Gains for one platform now come at the expense of another.

• Social Video Surge: Gen Z spends nearly 70% of their media minutes on short-form video, a figure that doubled since 2021.

• Movie Minutes Shrink: Weekly theatrical attendance remains flat even in a year of mega IP (Superman, Jurassic World: Rebirth). When time is capped, TikTok’s micro-entertainment often wins over a two-hour sit-down.

How campaigns are shifting

Case in point: Wicked’s TikTok takeover

Before a single song hit theaters, Wicked leaned heavily into TikTok: fan influencers got early access to clips, cast rehearsals were posted as behind-the-scenes teasers, and the film dominated #WickedMovie on release week. By the time tickets dropped, the film already had 500M TikTok views across campaign hashtags.

Does This Mean Movies Are Losing?

Not exactly. Social buzz still translates into theatrical wins but only when studios embrace the platforms driving cultural conversation. K-Pop Demon Hunters is proof: TikTok challenges built into its soundtrack fueled both Netflix streams and its $18M box office weekend.

The real challenge: theater time has become “appointment viewing.” To win, movies must feel like a cultural event worth trading two hours of scrolling for.

Pro Tip for Marketers: Think of TikTok and YouTube Shorts as the top of your movie’s funnel. Don’t just cut down your trailer. Design assets for the feed: vertical visuals, micro-memes, and audio hooks fans can remix. If you don’t seed UGC, audiences will fill their six hours without you.

Movie marketing intel: This week in trends

AI INFLUENCERS 🤖 The rise of the AI influencer (Financial Times)
Smartly rendered digital personas like the hyper-realistic “Tinsley” are becoming go-to options for brands looking to automate content creation and fan engagement. AI influencers offer both cost efficiency and scalability, but the author highlights a clear caveat: real human authenticity still drives higher engagement, and concerns are mounting around transparency, ethical boundaries, and influencer fraud.

REVIEWERS OR PREVIEWERS? 🎥 The magic unmade: Is behind-the-scenes content ruining the movie-watching experience? (The Times of India)
As BTS footage, leaked set photos, and early costume reveals proliferate on social media, this trend may be softening the mystery that once made film-going thrilling. The article uses The Devil Wears Prada sequel to explore how pre-release oversharing with marketing in mind—can strip away storytelling tension and compromise the sense of astonishment audiences crave.