Social media anticipation high for 'Divergent,' 'Spider-Man'

Social media anticipation high for ‘Divergent,’ ‘Spider-Man’

By Ryan Faughnder

Jan. 6, 2014 1:13 PM PT

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<i>This post has been corrected, as indicated below</i>

Young adult sci-fi, superhero action and a classic fairy-tale villain all have an advantage going into the new year: anticipation from social media users.

Research firm Fizziology used social media data to rank the 10 most buzzed-about movies for the upcoming year and gave the top spot to “Divergent,” Summit Entertainment’s futuristic action-adventure coming out in March. The movie is getting “Hunger Games”-like buzz from young female fans of the young-adult book by Veronica Roth.

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” came in second place, helped by its trailer release in December, while third-place “X-Men: Days of Future Past” benefited from publicity stunts like the Bent Bullet website that weaved mutants into the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll

Anticipation for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1” should come as no surprise after “Catching Fire” ended 2013 as the year’s second-highest-grossing film in the U.S. and Canada.

“Maleficent,” Disney’s live-action fantasy starring Angelina Jolie as the “Sleeping Beauty” villain, set for release in May, rounded out Fizziology’s top five.

Here are the complete rankings:

1. “Divergent” (Lionsgate). March.

2. “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (Sony). May.

3. “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (Fox). May.

4. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1” (Lionsgate). November.

5. “Maleficent” (Disney). May.

6. “Godzilla” (Warner Bros.). May.

7. “The Fault in Our Stars” (Fox). June.

8. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (Disney). April.

9. “Need for Speed” (Disney). March.

10. “22 Jump Street” (Sony). June.

[For the record: An earlier version of this post misidentified “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” as a Paramount movie. The actual distributor is Sony.]