Yet another started-on-YouTube series is pulling in millions in theaters.Conversation about the success of YouTuber-directed movies Obsession and Backrooms has been nonstop—and for good reason. Now, The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act has joined their ranks with a $7.8M opening day, even higher than Backrooms’ first Thursday. Amazing Digital Circus is an animated series following adults stuck in a VR simulation with an AI villain, loosely based on a sci-fi / horror short story. Since debuting on YouTube in 2023, the first episode of the show alone has over 400M views, and posts related to the show tallied up 25B views by the end of 2024 alone. And after the series moved to Netflix in 2024, it became one of the streamer’s top five most-viewed shows globally in just two weeks. The show is the first animated example of the YouTube-to-box office hit pipeline, further proving that internet fandom—especially from Gen Z—has a strength traditional studios and top-budget crews should take note of. (Deadline, Vulture)
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