“The Fault in Our Stars” is riding the perfect internet storm to box office glory.
For years now, the summer has belonged to big tentpole action flicks and sequels, the sort of internationally recognized franchises that get whole theme parks built around their intellectual property. Fox’s adaptation of John Green‘s teen novel has none of those things, so why is it on pace to wallop the Tom Cruise-starring “Edge of Tomorrow” when it’s released on Friday?
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Good reviews have helped, but then again, “Edge of Tomorrow” has a higher score on Rotten Tomatoes. What’s really propelling “The Fault in Our Stars” is internet buzz, from a number of different sources.
Green has a hugely popular Tumblr — over two million subscribers, easy — and a YouTube network with his brother (aptly, it’s called the VlogBrothers) that has over 600 million total views. This book is incredibly popular, with at least 43 Tumblr blogs dedicated to it; Green has at least 30 different meme sites about him, which is incredible for a young YA author.
See photos: ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ Premiere: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, John Green Hit the Red Carpet
Meanwhile, star Shailene Woodley — hot off “Divergent” and “The Spectacular Now” — has her own big fan base, with over 650,000 Twitter followers.
TheWrap took a dive into the statistics, so that when someone asks you why this little movie did so well this coming weekend, you’ll have the numbers right in hand.
