The Summer 2026 box office continues to be a bizarre upset story, with films no one bet on beating major franchise tentpoles at the box office. So far, that story has involved lower-budget horror films from young filmmakers becoming breakout hits; this time, however, the story involves an international animated film, which has officially become a hit at the US box office.
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Not only has the Australian film done well in America, but it also cracked the Top 5 as the US box office in its opening weekend. And, in doing so, it pushed the latest Star Wars movie release out of the Top 5 rankings, continuing to entirely upset the usual expectations.
Star Wars Falls Out Of The Box Office Top 5 – What Beat It?
The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act is an Australian adult animated web series that is created by (and written/directed by) “Goosework,” with independent studio Glitch Productions (Meta Runner, Murder Drones) producing the series. The web series launched in October of 2013 and has run for eight episodes, with Episode 8 being released on March 20th of this year.
Episode 9 marks the end of the series (hence the title “The Last Act”), and it got a short-window theatrical release before it will be released on YouTube and Netflix, on June 19th. In its opening weekend, The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act made $35.4 million worldwide at the box office, with $21 million of it coming from US theaters. Over just the weekend window (not including preview night), The Last Act earned around $12 million domestically to take the No. 5 spot, while Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu came in at No. 6, earning approximately $9 million.
The Last Act has also been impressing audiences, holding an impressive Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score of 94% (at the time of writing this). As for critics? The Wrap‘s William Bibbiani writes that the finale is “A funny and frightening, heartwarming and heartbreaking, confrontational masterwork that explores our shared experience of the present, and reveals what a morbid mistake it is to expect the frivolity of the past to heal our current pains.”
What Is The Amazing Digital Circus About?
The series follows humans who get trapped in a VR simulation that is themed like a circus, run by an “erratic” AI named “Caine.” The troubled humans, “Pomni, Jax, Ragatha, Gangle, Kinger, and Zoobl engage in nonsensical adventures to distract themselves from their situation, while at risk of losing their sanity and “abstracting” into digital monstrosities. Like the classic animated series Reboot, The Amazing Digital Circus blends a lot of gaming and cyberspace tropes together, with a surprisingly deep study of its protagonists and their personal issues and backstories. Episodes have included versions of first-person shooter games, sports games, food/restaurant simulation games, horror games, and even a major twist using NPCs.
The Last Act is the culmination of the series’ arc, revealing the ultimate truth about the simulation and the people trapped in it, which shakes the group up in different ways.
You can watch The Amazing Digital Circus series on YouTube; The Last Act is now in theaters.
Forum Conversation: Summer Game Fest Reactions
Go to ForumI have been wanting a Resident Evil: Code Veronica remake fr so long, and it’s finally becoming a reality!
Simply cannot wait. They haven’t missed with any of the RE remakes, and expect this to be the same.
I did not see the Tifa announcement coming, but so hyped to see her join the Street Fighter roster.
New Cuphead is exciting, but that Wolf Among Us surprise got a gasp out of me