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Putting the finale in cinemas was Kevin Lerdwichagul’s idea. The cofounder and CEO of Glitch, Lerdwichagul saw how much fans liked hanging out together at conventions and thought he could bring that energy to theaters. “It really got me thinking and realizing,” Lerdwichagul says, “people, especially people that are online a lot, especially my generation and younger, they’re craving human connection.”
When Lerdwichagul and his brother Luke, Glitch’s cofounder and chief content officer, started discussing the idea a couple years ago, many people were worried the theatrical experience was dying. That young people weren’t going to the movies like they used to. The CEO and his brother wanted to challenge that, so they reached out to Fathom Entertainment, which schedules special screenings across the US.
Within days of releasing tickets for The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act on April 10 theaters were filling up—they sold $5 million of tickets in the first weekend—and fans were clamoring for more screenings. “We had more hits on our website in one day than we’ve had in an entire month,” Fathom CEO Ray Nutt says of the original presale.
It’s safe to say at least some of those additional theaters asked for Digital Circus because fans contacted them to demand it. Originally, Lerdwichagul had asked Fathom about getting The Last Act on 900 screens; that number quickly increased to more than 2,000 in the US and even more when you factor in international screenings; as of this writing, the final chapter of The Amazing Digital Circus will be playing at more than 4,000 theaters in dozens of countries when it’s released June 4. Its run, which was originally only supposed to be four days, has been extended to two weeks—right up to the day it’ll hit YouTube.
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“Now that there is a proven example of this working, not just for us but for the industry, it’ll be a lot easier to get projects like this onto screens,” he says. “The goal is to completely change the system—or really not change it, evolve it.”
