The newest installment in the Transformers franchise, Transformers One, opened to critical acclaim but flopped at the box office. TFHypeGuy, an enormous Transformers enthusiast, vastly increased its popularity through his social media activity. HypeGuy accumulated over 80 thousand followers on X and helped Transformers One gross $128.7 million worldwide.

HypeGuy first became interested in Transformers when his brother got him a Bumblebee toy for Christmas. “I ended up taking it, and it became my favorite gift ever,” he said. His love for the toy led him to explore more of the franchise and eventually become a superfan.

The “Transformers One” tweeting saga started when HypeGuy saw a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) about the sequel to The Joker and how it was not doing well financially and critically. He explains how this surprised him, especially considering how well the first movie performed. HypeGuy saw the people who were disappointed with the film and thought he could get more people to watch Transformers One instead.

He jokingly replied to the post, telling people to check out the new Transformers, and the reply went viral. He was surprised by the immense positive feedback, especially since he had been promoting the movie for over two years. After that first tweet, he continued posting about the movie constantly. “I was gunning it for a week,” he explains.

He spread awareness about the film by posting jokes and memes about its importance to him. His passion for the film and the franchise inspired others online and was a big reason the movie’s performance improved.

He is a massive fan of the film and predicted its high praise even before it was released. “I always knew it would be good,” he says, “There were these test screenings about a year before the movie was released, and so many people loved it. There were barely any changes, which is really telling of a movie's quality.”

He also says how Paramount Studios’ higher-ups were confident in the movie's success, “a bit too confident,” he puts it. While the film was well received critically, it did not do so well at the box office initially. The movie was severely hindered by its lack of good marketing. The trailers presented the film with a more comedic tone than it actually was, and it completely failed to stand out. The film was overshadowed by many other films coming out at the time like “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “The Wild Robot.”If he had to choose something for the people behind the movie to take away, it would be that first impressions are very important.

The case of TFHypeguy is one of the rare examples of a single fan’s devotion propelling a film to massive success. His online activity spread the word and provided better marketing than even Paramount could produce. His story shows how, in today’s age, a small voice online can significantly impact something as massive as the entertainment industry.