Emoji Movie Social Media Buzz Tops Spider-Man

Sony's Spider-Man: Homecoming was topped by the studio's animated The Emoji Movie, in terms of social media buzz this past week. While Sony's release of the final U.S. and international Homecoming trailers since then has no doubt increased the amount of social buzz around the studio's upcoming Spider-Man solo film, the release of the full-length Emoji Movie trailer over the week prior allowed the animated feature to pass such impending June releases as The Mummy and Transformers: The Last Knight, when it comes to generating online chatter.

The Emoji Movie features the voice of T.J. Miller (Deadpool) as a Meh emoji who undergoes a journey of self-discovery, upon realizing that he is tired of having to express the same, single emotion over and over, every day of his life. Miller's animated costars in the film include such noteworthy comedic actors as Anna Faris, Rob Riggle and Maya Rudolph, as well as none other than Logan's Sir Patrick Stewart himself, as the voice of the Poop Emoji.

As reported by ComScore, The Emoji Movie generated more than 38K social media conversations over the same week that Homecoming generated around 26K conversations. Of course, Homecoming has generated far more social media conversations total than Emoji Movie at this stage, with 1.67 million vs. 158K conversations overall to date, respectively. Nevertheless, Emoji Movie came in fourth on the social media buzz charts for that week, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (44K conversations), Wonder Woman (47K conversations) and Baywatch (58.5K conversations).

Social media buzz is a useful indicator of the general public interest's surrounding an upcoming movie, though it's far from being a surefire sign of success or failure. Case in point: Baywatch was no doubt able to generate more conversions online this past week thanks in part to star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who has a heavy presence on most social media outlets. However, Dead Men Tell No Tales far outgrossed Baywatch during their respective opening weekends at the domestic box office over the Memorial Day frame, more than tripling Baywatch's U.S. ticket sales in the process.

Upcoming franchise installments War for the Planet of the Apes and Transformers: The Last Knight only generated around 16K and 15.4K social media conversations during that same period of time, despite the marketing campaigns for both films getting a significant boost (in the form of more TV spots and promos) over that same seven-day frame. The total number of social media conversions is comparatively low for both movies (some 73K and 201K, respectively), but that can arguably be attributed to film buffs already knowing all too well whether or not they are interested in seeing the latest Apes and Transformers releases.

By comparison, The Emoji Movie is more of a curiosity that has movie-lovers wondering if it will (or if it will not) prove to be that rare successful attempt to turn a widely-recognized IP into a credible and lucrative animated film franchise, in the vein of The LEGO Movie. As such, there's simply more to talk about (good and bad) with respect to The Emoji Movie right now, compared to certain other blockbusters on the horizon. Expect that to change in the months ahead, as more of these titles start hitting theaters.