The Instagram Factor: Getting Movie Stars to Promote on Their Social Media Is in the Fine Print

In the lead-up to the release of this summer’s “Jurassic World Rebirth,” Universal Pictures made a request.

They asked Scarlett Johansson, who plays a covert operative named Zora Bennett in the new sequel that opens in theaters July 2, if she would join social media. Johansson is one of the biggest movie stars who still doesn’t have a social media presence; this would be a huge win for the studio and the movie.

“I got an email from Universal, and they’re like, ‘Hey, would you consider joining Instagram in tandem with the release of Jurassic World Rebirth?'” Johansson said in an interview with InStyle. “[I] get a lot of pressure to join social media,” she added.

Johansson asked whether there was a way she “could do this and stay true to who I am,” ultimately deciding that “it didn’t feel like I could.” She’s one of the few A-listers without a social media presence.

The pressure on movie stars and up-and-coming actors to be active on social media is not new — Hollywood fame has had to change for the digital age. Today, an actor’s Instagram follower count can be just as important as their acting ability, with studios leveraging those followings to promote their films and TV shows, often at a fraction of the cost for a traditional ad. This shift has changed how studios approach talent, affecting everything from casting decisions to marketing.

But is social media in Hollywood at a tipping point, with too much weight being placed on stars’ followers and likes?

Industry insiders told TheWrap that social media obligations are “heavily negotiated” when making actors’ deals, but few stars are able to leverage promoting a film or show on their personal page into extra cash, thus turning them into an extension of press obligations like a junket or talk show appearance.

Top Talent Instagram Followings

Selena Gomez
420M Followers

Dwayne Johnson
394M Followers

Ariana Grande
375M Followers

Jennifer Lopez
248M Followers

Zendaya
179M Followers

Kevin Hart
177M Followers

A top studio publicist who said social media is becoming “increasingly important” to marketing campaigns said that a traditional studio regional ad buy targeting roughly five million viewers typically costs around six figures to execute, but having the same ad promoted by an actor from the project with five million social media followers is free.

“Give them the copy and it costs nothing,” the studio publicist said.

So it’s not hard to see why studios are enamored of social media followings. As viewing becomes more fractured, social media is increasingly where the cultural conversation is happening. A 2025 Digital Media Trends report showed 52% of Gen Z-ers said they feel a “stronger personal connection” to social stars than to TV personalities or actors. And 56% said social content is “more relevant” to them than TV series or movies.

Hollywood has yet to prove that putting a social media influencer in a big project boosts viewership — TikTok celebrity Addison Rae (88.7 million followers) didn’t fuel blockbuster business for her acting debut in the horror film “Thanksgiving” ($46.6 million worldwide box office) — so studios are laser focused on leveraging followings of existing actors to supercharge the marketing of their projects.

While actors at Johansson’s level can pass on having a social media presence, casting directors have started taking a performer’s social media stats, especially for younger actors, into account when casting a film, alongside traditional factors like talent and experience.

One top talent agent who wished to remain anonymous said a decent social media following “definitely has a strong impact with up-and-coming actors up for roles or competing for roles.” The agent compared the trend to casting stand up comedians, musicians, rappers or MMA fighters, adding that “if they bring their own audience, that always helps.” The agent added that there is no industry standard “minimum” follower count required for major projects.

Top Talent Instagram Followings

Gal Gadot
108M Followers

Millie Bobby Brown
63.8M Followers

Chris Pratt
44.8M Followers

Jennifer Aniston
44.5M Followers

Jenna Ortega
37.2M Followers

Reese Witherspoon
30.4M Followers

The fine print

While social media posts are baked into most contracts, assessing the value of those media obligations does not come with a formula. “Usually, it’s difficult to parse out what that piece is worth — it’s not something broken out on its own,” Los Angeles entertainment and employment lawyer Camron Dowlatshahi of MSD Lawyers told The Wrap. “What’s typical is that in any celebrity endorsement agreement, there’s usually a provision for social media: exactly how much that person is supposed to post, and on which platforms.”

So what does the language look like when it’s added to contracts? “Typically, there are specific parameters. Everything is heavily negotiated — how many posts, how many stories, obligations across platforms. Certain celebrities are more known and followed than others, and they can leverage their platforms differently,” Dowlatshahi said. “In those circumstances, companies will want to take advantage of that.”

“Usually, contracts are focused on just Instagram,” he added.

The talent agent wishing to remain anonymous added that only “a gigantic star” could secure extra money for social media promotion, while most actors lack the leverage to do so. Social media obligations are, like “talk show appearances or magazine interviews,” simply part of the job.

Getting down to business

Maya Hawke, whose star took off after she joined Netflix’s “Stranger Things” cast, has been candid about her resistance to managing a personal social media profile, noting that “the line between actor and celebrity has gotten extremely blurry.”

Hawke said she had numerous conversations with “so many smart directors” about deleting her Instagram, only to be told of its importance to producers. “They’re like, ‘Just so you know, when I’m casting a movie with some producers, they hand me a sheet with the amount of collective followers I have to get of the cast that I cast,’” Hawke said on Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.

The actress called it “a really confusing line to walk,” echoing Johansson’s comments that the pressure to have a robust social media account is real. “If you have over this many followers, you can get the movie funded,” Hawke recalled being told.

When studios do require social media promotion, the obligations are typically “not significant; very modest,” according to the agent who spoke to TheWrap. Actors rarely craft their own copy for these promotional posts, instead the studio publicity departments typically handle the captions, ensuring that the messaging aligns with the marketing.

With their combined following of over 100 million, “The Electric State” stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt used their platforms to promote the sci-film this spring (to little avail). The actors often collaborated with Netflix on promotional material for the film, extending the reach to their respective Instagram followings on top of Netflix’s already 36.5 million.

Ahead of the “Moana 2” release, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson promoted the animated film to his 394 million Instagram followers. The actor is one of the most followed people on the platform and collaborated with the Disney animation accounts to create a symbiotic relationship and get more eyes on the sequel. And recently, Johnson promoted his new A24 film “The Smashing Machine,” garnering over 250,000 likes on a post of the trailer in just two days.

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A post shared by A24 (@a24)

In the lead-up to the blockbuster box office of “A Minecraft Movie,” star Jack Black promoted the film for weeks, often using studio-provided copy for his captions.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jack Black (@jackblack)

And Selena Gomez hyped her Netflix film “Emilia Pérez” by posting the trailer for her 420 million followers to see. The trailer received over 750,000 likes and 21.3 million views.

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A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez)

Instagram, as opposed to other social media platforms, allows brands and public figures to create a curated feed and online persona. Many actors and celebrities use the platform to promote their projects as a brand identity, rather than connecting with their fans as an influencer might. As a result, fewer A-list stars have joined TikTok, a creator-driven platform known for promoting raw authenticity (or at least the illusion of such).

Though social media reach can have great advantages for studios, if used recklessly, the downsides could be even more dramatic.

The pitfalls of getting personal

Rachel Zegler‘s social media presence in the run up to the release of her Disney movie “Snow White” put apparent economic strain on the film. The 23-year-old actress’ comments on Israel and Palestine, the old fashioned-ness of the original 1937 cartoon and Trump’s re-election quickly got her into hot water.

“I think you’re seeing it now turning the tide where an initial embrace is now a great wariness,” Stephen Galloway, dean of Chapman’s College of Film and Media Arts, told TheWrap of studios’ outlook on social media use. “Are you going to hurt our carefully marketed, hyper-controlled product by some flash flood statement that we can’t pull back?”

Zegler and her Evil Queen Gal Gadot’s opposing stances on the conflict in the Middle East overshadow discussion of the Disney film. “Snow White” fell 66% in its second weekend at the box office from its already poor $42 million opening weekend, for a two-weekend total of $66.8 million domestic and $143.1 million worldwide. The Disney princess film needed more than a magic wish to break even theatrically against its $250 million-plus budget before marketing costs.

“If you’re a studio, you want audiences to be excited by your product. You don’t actually want people to be excited about its star,” Galloway said. “So if what they are selling helps the product, great, but if it’s selling something that contradicts that in any way, it’s dangerous.”

Galloway also warned overexposure can lead to disinterest: “When mystery goes, so does stardom.” The underperformance of “The Electric State” despite the reach of Chris Pratt (44.8 million Instagram followers) and Millie Bobby Brown (63.8 million Instagram followers) may speak to that — both actors post frequent personal updates and videos.

“These are all human beings, and when we really realize that they’re no different from you and me, it’s hard to put them up on that pedestal,” he said.

The post The Instagram Factor: Getting Movie Stars to Promote on Their Social Media Is in the Fine Print appeared first on TheWrap.