Fathom/Glitch’s “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act” was the top grossing film at the box office on Thursday night, just edging out Paramount/Miramax’s “Scary Movie” with $7.8 million grossed from preview screenings at 2,221 locations.
While “Scary Movie,” which made $7.7 million from previews, will be dueling with A24/Chernin’s “Backrooms” for the No. 1 spot this weekend as “Circus” heads for more frontloaded results within the weekend, Fathom has joined A24 in filling movie theaters with younger audiences via fresh new IP, as fans of Glitch’s cult hit animated miniseries showed up to see its ninth and final episode two weeks ahead of its release on YouTube.
“The Amazing Digital Circus” follows a group of people trapped in a colorful virtual circus run by a cheerful but corrupted program named Caine. The series has gained a global following thanks to its mix of dark humor, psychological drama and existential horror. “The Last Act” is projected to earn around $12 million through this Sunday.
“Scary Movie” could be headed for much bigger things, as it was projected before release for a $50 million-plus opening weekend. Its $7.7 million preview total is just a notch below the $7.8 million for the latest installment of one of the horror franchises it parodies, “Scream 7,” which went on to a $63.6 million opening.
Whether “Scary Movie” can get that high will depend on how word-of-mouth affects walk-up ticket sales. Like previous installments in its 2000s heyday, critics dismissed the film with a 29% Rotten Tomatoes score. Audiences were much more positive after Thursday’s screenings, but not overwhelmingly so with a 69% audience score.
Also opening this weekend is Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe” with $4.4 million. The Travis Knight adaptation of the 80s fantasy franchise is looking like it will be a big-budget dud with a projected opening of around $35 million against a production budget of at least $170 million.
Reception for “Masters” has been its saving grace, holding Rotten Tomatoes scores of 69% critics and 88% audience. But it is difficult to say whether that will be enough to expand the film beyond its core audience of Gen X male audiences and families with dads from that demo taking their teenage sons, especially with more Gen Z and Gen A-appealing fare like “Backrooms” and “Digital Circus” currently on the marquee.
