‘Buddy’ Scores $5.36 Million Opening in Indie Horror Breakout

Buddy has emerged as an indie box-office success, earning an estimated $5,363,827 during its opening weekend from just 1,258 theaters. The figure was approximately twice the film’s early projection of $2.5 million to $3 million, according to reporting from Rue Morgue and Dread Central. The Roadside Attractions and Saban Films release now holds the highest 2026 opening for a movie playing on fewer than 1,800 screens. For Roadside Attractions, the debut ranks as the company’s second-highest opening, behind 2018’s I Can Only Imagine, while Dread Central describes it as the distributor’s strongest opening since the pandemic. The film also marks Saban Films’ biggest opening to date. Buddy was directed by Casper Kelly and is set within the world of a children’s television program modeled after Barney & Friends. The story follows young co-stars who gradually realize that Buddy, the show’s orange unicorn, is a malevolent figure. The weekend result places Buddy ahead of several recent genre releases when comparing opening grosses and theater counts. Luc Besson’s Dracula opened with $4.4 million from 2,050 theaters in 2026, while Clown in a Cornfield earned $3.6 million from 2,277 theaters last year. Late Night with the Devil opened with $2.8 million from 1,034 theaters. Both outlets point to the film’s promotional campaign and audience response as factors in its performance. The campaign included viral videos depicting Buddy attacking a theater employee and being arrested in Times Square. Dread Central reports that Buddy has more than 450,000 social-media followers and over 150 million views across its channels. Dread Central also reports that exit polls found 83 percent of the film’s audience was under 35, while Hispanic moviegoers accounted for 37 percent of its audience. The film is listed as certified fresh at 88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. In a joint statement, executives from Roadside Attractions and Saban Films said they were impressed by the imaginative worlds Kelly created with practical effects and believed audiences were responding to the film’s combination of horror, comedy and thriller elements.