A Viral YouTube Show About an Unhinged AI Is Hitting Theaters. It’s a Big Test for Hollywood
A Viral YouTube Show About an Unhinged AI Is Hitting Theaters. It’s a Big Test for Hollywood
一部关于疯狂人工智能的病毒式 YouTube 剧集即将登陆院线，这对好莱坞是一次重大考验
The fandom of The Amazing Digital Circus has had a rough few weeks on the internet. Ever since Glitch Productions, the independent animation studio behind the web series, announced in early April that the finale would be released in theaters rather than on YouTube, fans have been simultaneously speculating about how the show might end and avoiding anyone claiming to have details about the final episode, whether they’re real or not. 《神奇数字马戏团》（The Amazing Digital Circus）的粉丝们在网上度过了艰难的几周。自该网络剧背后的独立动画工作室 Glitch Productions 在四月初宣布大结局将登陆院线而非 YouTube 后，粉丝们一方面在猜测剧集将如何收尾，另一方面又在极力避开那些声称掌握大结局细节的人，无论这些消息是真是假。
“We’re looking for new mods to help us with spoilers,” reads the pinned post at the top of r/tadc, a popular Amazing Digital Circus subreddit. “Subreddit update: Leaks and controversies,” reads another. Below, a sea of memes, fan art, and restless anticipation. “我们正在招募新的版主来协助处理剧透内容，”在热门的《神奇数字马戏团》Reddit 社区 r/tadc 的置顶帖中这样写道。另一篇帖子则写着：“社区更新：泄露与争议”。在这些帖子下方，是一片由表情包、同人画作和焦躁不安的期待所组成的海洋。
The Amazing Digital Circus has been building toward this since Glitch posted the first episode in late 2023. An animated series about six people trapped in a virtual world overseen by an AI ringmaster with a god complex, its characters—all cartoonish avatars who can’t remember their real-world names—struggle to form bonds in their absurd circumstances. Under its wry humor is a story about finding friendships even when you’re isolated by technology and nothing seems real. 自 Glitch 在 2023 年末发布第一集以来，《神奇数字马戏团》就一直在为这一刻蓄力。这部动画剧集讲述了六个人被困在一个虚拟世界中，受一位患有“上帝情结”的人工智能马戏团团长监管。剧中的角色都是无法记起现实世界名字的卡通化身，他们在荒诞的环境中努力建立联系。在戏谑的幽默之下，它讲述了一个关于即便被技术隔绝、即便一切看起来都不真实，依然能寻得友谊的故事。
Those themes resonate, particularly with younger viewers growing up in a world increasingly influenced by social media and AI. The show has amassed more than 1.3 billion views on YouTube and devoted fans across the internet. On Thursday, when The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act finally hits theaters—and a lot of them at that—an entire online community will come together IRL. 这些主题引起了共鸣，尤其是对于那些在日益受社交媒体和人工智能影响的世界中成长的年轻观众而言。该剧在 YouTube 上积累了超过 13 亿次的播放量，并在互联网上拥有大批忠实粉丝。周四，当《神奇数字马戏团：最终章》（The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act）最终登陆院线——而且是大量影院——时，整个在线社区将在现实生活中汇聚一堂。
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.” 将大结局搬上影院是 Kevin Lerdwichagul 的主意。作为 Glitch 的联合创始人兼首席执行官，Lerdwichagul 注意到粉丝们非常喜欢在漫展上聚会，于是他想将这种活力带到电影院。“这让我开始思考并意识到，”Lerdwichagul 说，“人们，尤其是那些经常上网的人，特别是和我同龄及更年轻的一代，他们渴望人与人之间的连接。”
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. 当 Lerdwichagul 和他的兄弟 Luke（Glitch 的联合创始人兼首席内容官）几年前开始讨论这个想法时，许多人担心影院体验正在消亡，年轻人不再像过去那样去电影院了。这位 CEO 和他的兄弟想要挑战这种观点，于是他们联系了负责在美国安排特别放映活动的 Fathom Entertainment。
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. 4 月 10 日《神奇数字马戏团：最终章》开启预售后的几天内，影院门票便被抢购一空——首周末票房收入达 500 万美元——粉丝们纷纷要求增加放映场次。Fathom 首席执行官 Ray Nutt 在谈到最初的预售时说：“我们网站一天的点击量比以往整整一个月还要多。”
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. 可以肯定的是，至少有一部分新增影院是因为粉丝主动联系要求放映才引进《数字马戏团》的。最初，Lerdwichagul 向 Fathom 申请在 900 块银幕上放映《最终章》；这个数字很快增加到美国境内的 2000 多块，如果算上国际放映，数量还会更多；截至本文撰写时，当《神奇数字马戏团》最终章于 6 月 4 日上映时，它将在数十个国家的 4000 多家影院放映。其原本计划仅为期四天的放映期已被延长至两周——一直持续到它在 YouTube 上线的那一天。
For all the worries about the decline of movie theaters, it might be kids on the internet that save them. 尽管人们对电影院的衰落忧心忡忡，但拯救它们的可能正是网上的孩子们。
Glitch’s path to the multiplex is unprecedented to say the least. Since its inception, the Australian production company has remained steadfastly independent. It wasn’t necessarily hoping a ton of YouTube views would land it a big deal with a major studio or acquisition offers from Disney. Being independent meant it could produce the animation it wanted to see. Like, say, a show about six people working out their traumas in a virtual world under the watch of a torturous AI prone to musical numbers. Glitch 进军大型影院的道路至少可以说是史无前例的。自成立以来，这家澳大利亚制作公司始终保持独立。它并不一定指望通过 YouTube 的海量播放量来获得大型制片厂的巨额合同或迪士尼的收购邀约。保持独立意味着它可以制作自己想看的动画。比如，一部关于六个人在虚拟世界中处理创伤，同时还要面对一个喜欢唱歌跳舞的折磨型人工智能的故事。
But that offbeat view of humanity might be exactly why The Amazing Digital Circus garnered such a massive following. Animation, in recent years, has skewed toward what’s safe: franchises like Despicable Me, sure things like the Super Mario Bros. movies, family-friendly Pixar fare. It’s hard to imagine a major studio taking a chance on something as wild and subversive as Digital Circus before it started to get clicks. Even KPop Demon Hunters, arguably the best animated feature of 2025, didn’t get a theatrical release until after it completely took off on Netflix. 但这种对人性的另类视角可能正是《神奇数字马戏团》获得如此庞大粉丝群的原因。近年来，动画制作倾向于“安全牌”：像《神偷奶爸》这样的系列电影，像《超级马力欧兄弟大电影》这样稳赚不赔的项目，以及皮克斯的合家欢作品。很难想象在《数字马戏团》获得点击量之前，会有大型制片厂愿意冒险投资这样一部狂野且具有颠覆性的作品。即便是被认为是 2025 年最佳动画长片的《KPop Demon Hunters》，也是在 Netflix 上彻底走红后才获得院线发行机会的。
The Last Act is also the latest in a spate of internet-to-cinemas endeavors. Back in January, it was Iron Lung, the sci-fi horror film from popular YouTuber Markiplier. Like with Amazing Digital Circus, fans requested theaters add screenings of the film, ultimately leading it to make nearly $18 million domestically during its opening weekend. Last year, Kaizen, a documentary about French YouTuber Inoxtag, sold 350,000 tickets across 1,000 screenings in a single day, per Variety. 《最终章》也是近期一系列“从互联网走向影院”尝试中的最新案例。早在今年一月，就有知名 YouTuber Markiplier 制作的科幻恐怖片《铁肺》（Iron Lung）。和《神奇数字马戏团》一样，粉丝们要求影院增加放映场次，最终使其在首周末获得了近 1800 万美元的国内票房。据《综艺》杂志报道，去年，关于法国 YouTuber Inoxtag 的纪录片《Kaizen》在一天内通过 1000 场放映售出了 35 万张票。
Over the past few weeks, Obsession, a psychological horror film from YouTuber Curry Barker, made nearly $150 million worldwide at the box office. Backrooms, which originated as a YouTube series based on a creepypasta, brought in $118 million worldwide in its opening weekend. “Hollywood spent a decade asking if YouTube fame could translate to the box office,” Brooks Barnes wrote last week in The New York Times. The answer, it seems, is yes. 在过去几周里，YouTuber Curry Barker 的心理恐怖片《Obsession》在全球获得了近 1.5 亿美元的票房。《后室》（Backrooms）——一部源自都市传说的 YouTube 系列剧——在首周末就获得了 1.18 亿美元的全球票房。“好莱坞花了十年时间来探讨 YouTube 的名气能否转化为票房，”Brooks Barnes 上周在《纽约时报》中写道。答案似乎是肯定的。
“The rise of content creators releasing in cinemas marks the emergence of new sources of content for the film industry and a sector eager to leverage the unique advantages of in-person, event-driven experiences,” says Charlotte Jones, a media and entertainment analyst at Omdia, adding that the trend “highlights the powerful role of avid fan bases in shaping demand for diverse content on the big screen.” “内容创作者进军院线标志着电影行业出现了新的内容来源，也显示出一个渴望利用线下、事件驱动型体验独特优势的行业板块，”Omdia 的媒体与娱乐分析师 Charlotte Jones 表示。她补充说，这一趋势“凸显了狂热粉丝群体在塑造大银幕多元化内容需求方面的强大作用。”
The leverage that Glitch has thanks to the popularity of The Amazing Digital Circus also allowed the company to negotiate a theatrical run. 得益于《神奇数字马戏团》的超高人气，Glitch 所拥有的影响力也使该公司能够成功协商出院线放映的机会。