If you spend a lot of time on YouTube, you may have come across ‘The Amazing Digital Circus,’ the viral animated series whose 2023 debut episode took the internet by storm and amassed more than 430 million views. In 2024, the series — about a group of people with amnesia trapped inside a virtual world — started streaming on Netflix, and now, the final two episodes are playing back-to-back in theaters.
Thanks to the breakout hits ‘Backrooms,’ ‘Obsession,’ and ‘Iron Lung,’ Hollywood is beside itself watching a generation of filmmakers take off from YouTube beginnings to massive theatrical success. A new animated example of the trend raised the question: Would ‘The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act’ upset box-office expectations in the same way?
The answer turned out to be yes for the film. On opening day, ‘The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act’ led the domestic box office with $7.8 million in ticket sales. It went on to draw a total of $35.4 million globally over the last four days — putting the film in the top five of at the U.S. box office for the weekend. “It would have been foolish to underestimate the power of an activated YouTube fandom,” writes Tim Brinkhof.
Read more about the latest YouTube-phenomenon-turned-film: https://t.co/qEcko5G428