How TikTok Rescued ‘Anyone But You’

Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s romantic comedy Anyone But You seemed like a huge risk. The romantic comedy genre has become synonymous with streaming service releases over the last few years. Films like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Kissing Booth, and Set it Up, which also stars Powell, have gone straight to streaming giants like Netflix rather than get a full theatrical release. 

Despite these low expectations, Anyone But You has already made over double its $25 million budget in just a few short weeks of release. Notably, it had the third-best week-to-week box office hold in film history in its second weekend and is the first Christmas release to make more on its third weekend in theaters than on its first. 

Anyone But You, by design, is a callback to a bygone era of romantic comedy. Like some of the most notable rom-coms of the late 1990s and early 2000s, its story is inspired by a classic Shakespeare play; in this case, it was inspired by Much Ado About Nothing. 

Despite mediocre reviews and a lack of buzz before Anyone But You’s December 22nd release, the film and its stars’ marketing flourished on TikTok. A viral TikTok ad, which featured Sweeney and Powell reading pick-up lines as a form of ASMR, helped get the word out about the film to its target audience of young adults. 

@anyonebutyoumovie *whispers* …hey. 😏 Hear #SydneySweeney and #GlenPowell talk in socially appropriate volume in #AnyoneButYou ♬ Anyone But You is in Theaters December 22 – anyonebutyou

Additionally, users on TikTok have been singing and dancing to “Unwritten,” a song by Natasha Bedingfield that is prominently featured in the film as Powell’s character’s “serenity song” and as part of the credits sequence, which shows the film’s stars singing and dancing to the early 2000s hit. In many ways, this song reflects the era of romantic comedies that the film is a throwback to, and it seems to have done its job of bringing serenity and nostalgia to the film’s captive audience.

An executive from a rival company reflected on the hunger for these types of movies in the theaters in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter: “I don’t think this age group, which is 18-24, has been offered these [kinds of] movies theatrically.” In a film marketplace dominated by large franchise films for the last decade, the success of smaller films like Anyone But You will show decision-makers that these smaller, original films can be a huge hit, especially if they can understand the importance of marketing on TikTok.