Buddy Breaks Out With $5.36M Opening, Sets Records for Roadside and Saban

Overview

• The R-rated horror-comedy opened over the Aug. 28–30 weekend with about $5.36 million from 1,258 theaters and debuted at No. 6 on the domestic box office chart.
• Roadside Attractions called the result its best opening since the pandemic and its second-best ever, while Saban Films reported the highest opening in its 12-year history.
• The film more than doubled pre-release tracking that had estimated roughly $2.5 million, a gap distributors attribute to last‑minute audience buzz.
• The marketing campaign used a Buddy persona on social and text, viral stunts, faux-archival assets and a companion game to amass over 450,000 followers, 150 million views and about 25,000 text signups.
• Buddy premiered to a muted Sundance Midnight reception with no immediate buyers before Roadside and Saban acquired it, and its young, diverse turnout plus an 87% Rotten Tomatoes score suggest a new model for indie theatrical breakouts.