Navigation Drawer
close
Search
Light System Dark
-
Tech
-
Reviews
-
Science
-
Entertainment
-
AI
-
Policy
-
Gadgets
-
Verge Shopping
-
Gaming
-
Streaming
-
Transportation
-
Verge Video
-
Podcasts
Influencer screenings aren’t going away
Comments Drawer
Comments
- Entertainment Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Entertainment
- Report Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Report
- Tech Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Tech
Influencer screenings aren’t going away
But we can rethink our relationship with entertainment media in the age of parasocial fandoms.
But we can rethink our relationship with entertainment media in the age of parasocial fandoms.
by Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Film & TV Reporter
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Charles Pulliam-Moore
Jul 2, 2026, 3:50 PM UTC
Image: Universal
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Charles Pulliam-Moore
is a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.
For a few days, it seemed like Universal decided that there would be no advanced screenings of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey for influencers. But on Monday, influencerssat alongsidetraditional critics and journalists at special showings of The Odyssey specifically for the associated press junket. Despite what it may have looked like, Universal was not going back on its word. The studio was simply embracing an undeniable reality of the modern entertainment press.
Much as it may pain some to admit, influencers and content creators have become a significant part of our media ecosystem — one that offers film studios an invaluable way to reach larger, more diverse, and younger audiences. Whether it’s a YouTuber’s video essay, a TikToker’s reaction video, or a glowing review on Instagram, influencers’ content can go viral if it resonates with (or enrages) a rabid fan base. And the way that some influencers build massive followings of their own highly engaged fans makes them useful for studios hoping to engineer the next Barbenheimer moment.
People’s reactions to the idea of Universal snubbing creators ahead of The Odyssey’s theatrical premiere highlights another important facet of our media landscape. Influencers have become a big part of how studios promote their films. Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, digital marketing strategist Gigi Robinson explained that influencer screenings are “one of the smartest moves in entertainment marketing right now” because of how they “create a full content arc.”
“It’s not just about showing up and watching a movie,” Robinson said. “Every creator makes it their own. These screenings make people feel like they’re part of something exclusive. And that anticipation? That’s what gets people into theaters.”
But some people have grown weary of the (often overly enthusiastic or cartoonishly negative) energy that they bring to the table. It’s clear that studios are aware of this on some level, otherwise trades wouldn’t be running stories about who’s getting invited to screenings.
What Universal probably meant when the no-influencers-allowed news broke was that there won’t be any screenings of The Odyssey that are put on solely for content creators. Those types of screenings aren’t unheard of, but it’s far more common for studios to screen their unreleased projects for small audiences that consist of critics, journalists, regular theatergoers (who have usually won a contest of some sort), and a handful of people best known for their social media presences. Having that mix of people from different walks of life makes for a viewing experience that feels much more like what it might be like to see the movie opening night. And that feeling can — but doesn’t always — inform a reviewer/writer/video essayist’s thoughts as they work on pieces about what they’ve just seen.
One of the more frustrating things about these screenings is the way their scheduling tends to leave members of the press with very little to finish their work before embargos (agreements barring journalists from publishing until a certain time) are up. It can be difficult to put a piece of insightful film criticism together in just a few hours before you have to post it and hope that Google Zero won’t make your work almost impossible to find (it will.) This is particularly challenging for writers who try to hit deadlines in order maximize their chances of catching readers when they’re intentionally looking for news about a movie. And while some studios probably see reviewers having less time to sit with their thoughts about a movie — some of which can be negative — as a good thing, it also creates an environment that discourages people from producing quality criticism.
These hurdles aren’t always an issue for influencers whose contributions to the discourse can be as simple as a hyperbolic X post telling their followers that [insert movie] is the best or worst thing they’ve ever seen. The relative speed with which creators are able to broadcast their thoughts to their audiences is part of what makes them so useful to studios. And because there are quite a few movie influencers who have built brands around hyping up movies rather than discussing them thoughtfully, studios have relied on them to generate positive buzz.
Though there are plenty of creators whose work is much more than that, the algorithmically driven social media platforms we use every day often reward content that’s attention-grabbing and short enough to be consumed quickly. This is why you still see a sea of soyface thumbnails whenever you search through YouTube for basically anything, and it’s why so many online movie influencers only seem capable of speaking in extremes. These tactics have helped influencers build dedicated followings of people who see them as entertainers and news sources that are more trustworthy than traditional media outlets.
Influencers have given people an easy way to access content about art in a moment when newsrooms across the board are shrinking. Social media personalities might not be as well-equipped to go deep with a director about their process or influences, but that doesn’t necessarily matter to a subscriber who sees them as a friend who conveniently lives in their phones. Parasocial relationships are also a key part of the creator economy that studios are now trying to capitalize on through things like influencer screenings. It takes more energy and focused attention to get through a written movie review than it does to half-watch a reactionary TikTok that pops up on a curated For You page. But making the effort to engage with nuanced, studied criticism is really the only way we can encourage studios to help foster it.
This doesn’t mean that everyone should just unfollow every creator who pops up in their feeds or that studios should only work with press from legacy media outlets. But it does mean that we should be willing to work a little harder to find and share substantive criticism that isn’t just a bit of promotion meant to get us into theaters.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore Charles Pulliam-Moore Film & TV Reporter
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Charles Pulliam-Moore
- Analysis Analysis Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Analysis
- Creators Creators Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Creators
- Entertainment Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Entertainment
- Film Film Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Film
- Report Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Report
- Tech Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Tech
Most Popular
Most Popular
- Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection
- Amazon has enough satellites to launch its Starlink competitor
- Sony is killing discs — and showing us why it’s a terrible idea
- Range anxiety
- BitTorrent’s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story
The Verge Daily
A free daily digest of the news that matters most.
Email (required)
Sign Up
By submitting your email, you agree to ourTerms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the GooglePrivacy PolicyandTerms of Serviceapply.
Advertiser Content From This is the title for the native ad
More in Entertainment
Mystery box shows are complicated for everyone — even the actors
BitTorrent’s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story
The funeral for PlayStation discs has begun
Xbox’s ‘reset’: all the news about Microsoft’s looming layoffs and studio closures
Krafton settles with Subnautica 2 developer after drawn-out dispute over $250 million
Comcast’s split could make or break Peacock
Mystery box shows are complicated for everyone — even the actors
Andrew Webster Jul 28
BitTorrent’s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story
Janko Roettgers Jul 258
The funeral for PlayStation discs has begun
Jay Peters Jul 129
Xbox’s ‘reset’: all the news about Microsoft’s looming layoffs and studio closures
Verge Staff Jul 11
Krafton settles with Subnautica 2 developer after drawn-out dispute over $250 million
Jay Peters Jul 11
Comcast’s split could make or break Peacock
Emma Roth Jul 131
Advertiser Content From This is the title for the native ad
Top Stories
Jul 2
BitTorrent’s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story
Jul 2
Mystery box shows are complicated for everyone — even the actors
Jul 1
Rivian makes the iconic American car — but that may not be enough
Jul 2
AI won’t save advertising, says Digitas’ Amy Lanzi
-
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Data
© 2026Vox Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Notifications Drawer
Sign in to see your notifications or create an account to join the conversation.
Opt-Out Request Honored
Privacy Center
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Cookie Policy Vendor List
Allow All
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Essential
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
-
Functional Cookies
Essential
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
-
Performance Cookies
Essential
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
View Vendor Details
Allow the Sale or Sharing/Targeted Advertising
- Allow the Sale or Sharing/Targeted Advertising
As a valued user, we are providing you the ability to opt-out from the sharing of your personal information to advertisers and social media companies at any time across business platform, services, businesses and devices. You can opt-out of the sharing of your personal information by using this toggle switch. For more information on your rights and options see our privacy notice.
-
Social Media & Embedded Content
- Switch Label
Content embedded on our sites (e.g. social media posts, video clips, polls and games) originates from third party sources such as social media platforms, video sharing sites, or other third party websites. When this content loads on pages you visit, any cookies or similar tracking technologies set by the third party source in connection with that content may also load. Vox Media doesn't set these cookies and doesn't control them. These cookies may be capable of tracking your browser across sites and/or building a profile of your interests. Not allowing these cookies will impact what content you can see and engage with on our sites.
-
Targeting Cookies
- Switch Label
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
View Vendor Details
Vendors List
Clear
-
- checkbox label label
Apply Cancel
Consent Leg.Interest
-
checkbox label label
-
checkbox label label
-
checkbox label label
Confirm My Choices