Buddy (2026)

Buddy poster
Theatrical Performance
Domestic Box Office $26,971,271Details
OpusData ID: 757720100 More info...
Further financial details...

Synopsis

Remember BUDDY—the bright orange unicorn and star of that classic childrens’ television show who brought joy and life lessons into your living room? Inside the colorful world of “It’s Buddy!”, a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and helping Buddy spread happiness. But when one child refuses to play along, Buddy is not pleased and cracks begin to appear in this seemingly perfect world.

Metrics

Opening Weekend:$5,464,870 (20.3% of total gross)
Legs:4.65 (domestic box office/biggest weekend)
Domestic Share:100.0% (domestic box office/worldwide)
Production Budget:$3,000,000 (worldwide box office is 9.0 times production budget)
Theater counts:1,277 opening theaters/1,771 max. theaters, 4.3 weeks average run per theater
Infl. Adj. Dom. BO $26,971,271

Movie Details

Domestic Releases: August 28th, 2026 (Wide) by Roadside Attractions
Video Release: October 13th, 2026 by Saban Films
MPA Rating: R for bloody violence, some drug content and language – all involving children.
(Rating bulletin 2949 (cert #55816), 8/12/2026)
Running Time: 95 minutes
Film festival: Sundance Film Festival 2026
Filming location (city or town): Cleveland, OH
Plot point: Escape, Faulty Memory, Missing Child, Murdered Child, Psychics, Trapped
Release detail: Festival Acquisition
Social setting: Supernatural, TV Industry
Subgenre: Horror Comedy
Time period setting: 1990s
Source:Original Screenplay
Genre:Horror
Production Method:Live Action
Creative Type:Science Fiction
Production/Financing Companies: Low Spark Films, BoulderLight Pictures, Sipur Studios, Substance Productions, Saban Films, Roadside Attractions
Production Countries: United States
Languages: English

Weekend Box Office Performance

DateRankGross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossWeek
Aug 28, 2026 6 $5,464,870   1,277 $4,279   $5,464,870 1
Sep 4, 2026 7 $5,802,653 +6% 1,771 $3,276   $14,320,227 2
Sep 11, 2026 6 $3,619,422 -38% 1,720 $2,104   $21,386,670 3
Sep 18, 2026 10 $1,951,447 -46% 1,543 $1,265   $24,855,411 4
Sep 25, 2026 - $697,411 -64% 722 $966   $26,359,915 5
Oct 2, 2026 - $210,436 -70% 543 $388   $26,849,859 6
Oct 9, 2026 - $26,519 -87% 50 $530   $26,956,847 7
Oct 16, 2026 - $5,730 -78% 22 $260   $26,967,964 8
Oct 23, 2026 - $644 -89% 13 $50   $26,970,622 9

Daily Box Office Performance

DateRankGross%YD%LWTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossDays
Aug 27, 2026 P $527,000     0     $527,000  
Aug 28, 2026 6 $2,193,068     1,277 $1,717   $2,193,068 1
Aug 29, 2026 8 $1,783,066 -19%   1,277 $1,396   $3,976,134 2
Aug 30, 2026 7 $1,488,736 -17%   1,277 $1,166   $5,464,870 3
Aug 31, 2026 5 $707,049 -53%   1,277 $554   $6,171,919 4
Sep 1, 2026 6 $927,249 +31%   1,277 $726   $7,099,168 5
Sep 2, 2026 5 $705,237 -24%   1,277 $552   $7,804,405 6
Sep 3, 2026 5 $713,169 +1%   1,277 $558   $8,517,574 7
Sep 4, 2026 7 $1,520,366 +113% -31% 1,771 $858   $10,037,940 8
Sep 5, 2026 7 $2,083,082 +37% +17% 1,771 $1,176   $12,121,022 9
Sep 6, 2026 6 $2,199,205 +6% +48% 1,771 $1,242   $14,320,227 10
Sep 7, 2026 6 $1,605,282 -27% +127% 1,771 $906   $15,925,509 11
Sep 8, 2026 5 $809,728 -50% -13% 1,771 $457   $16,735,237 12
Sep 9, 2026 5 $563,699 -30% -20% 1,771 $318   $17,298,936 13
Sep 10, 2026 5 $468,312 -17% -34% 1,771 $264   $17,767,248 14
Sep 11, 2026 7 $1,045,846 +123% -31% 1,720 $608   $18,813,094 15
Sep 12, 2026 6 $1,543,197 +48% -26% 1,720 $897   $20,356,291 16
Sep 13, 2026 6 $1,030,379 -33% -53% 1,720 $599   $21,386,670 17
Sep 14, 2026 6 $362,535 -65% -77% 1,720 $211   $21,749,205 18
Sep 15, 2026 - $515,994 +42% -36% 1,720 $300   $22,265,199 19
Sep 16, 2026 6 $388,250 -25% -31% 1,720 $226   $22,653,449 20
Sep 17, 2026 7 $250,515 -35% -47% 1,720 $146   $22,903,964 21
Sep 18, 2026 10 $564,687 +125% -46% 1,543 $366   $23,468,651 22
Sep 19, 2026 10 $823,981 +46% -47% 1,543 $534   $24,292,632 23
Sep 20, 2026 10 $562,779 -32% -45% 1,543 $365   $24,855,411 24
Sep 21, 2026 - $224,221 -60% -38% 1,543 $145   $25,079,632 25
Sep 22, 2026 - $275,785 +23% -47% 1,543 $179   $25,355,417 26
Sep 23, 2026 - $202,814 -26% -48% 1,543 $131   $25,558,231 27
Sep 24, 2026 - $104,273 -49% -58% 1,543 $68   $25,662,504 28
Sep 25, 2026 13 $207,346 +99% -63% 722 $287   $25,869,850 29
Sep 26, 2026 - $307,245 +48% -63% 722 $426   $26,177,095 30
Sep 27, 2026 - $182,820 -40% -68% 722 $253   $26,359,915 31
Sep 28, 2026 - $68,720 -62% -69% 722 $95   $26,428,635 32
Sep 29, 2026 - $90,040 +31% -67% 722 $125   $26,518,675 33
Sep 30, 2026 - $76,828 -15% -62% 722 $106   $26,595,503 34
Oct 1, 2026 - $43,920 -43% -58% 722 $61   $26,639,423 35
Oct 2, 2026 - $59,971 +37% -71% 543 $110   $26,699,394 36
Oct 3, 2026 - $92,919 +55% -70% 543 $171   $26,792,313 37
Oct 4, 2026 - $57,546 -38% -69% 543 $106   $26,849,859 38
Oct 5, 2026 - $19,404 -66% -72% 543 $36   $26,869,263 39
Oct 6, 2026 - $28,257 +46% -69% 543 $52   $26,897,520 40
Oct 7, 2026 - $23,248 -18% -70% 543 $43   $26,920,768 41
Oct 8, 2026 - $9,560 -59% -78% 543 $18   $26,930,328 42
Oct 9, 2026 - $8,093 -15% -87% 50 $162   $26,938,421 43
Oct 10, 2026 - $13,251 +64% -86% 50 $265   $26,951,672 44
Oct 11, 2026 - $5,175 -61% -91% 50 $104   $26,956,847 45
Oct 12, 2026 - $1,780 -66% -91% 50 $36   $26,958,627 46
Oct 13, 2026 - $1,681 -6% -94% 50 $34   $26,960,308 47
Oct 14, 2026 - $983 -42% -96% 50 $20   $26,961,291 48
Oct 15, 2026 - $943 -4% -90% 50 $19   $26,962,234 49
Oct 16, 2026 - $1,296 +37% -84% 22 $59   $26,963,530 50
Oct 17, 2026 - $2,521 +95% -81% 22 $115   $26,966,051 51
Oct 18, 2026 - $1,913 -24% -63% 22 $87   $26,967,964 52
Oct 19, 2026 - $304 -84% -83% 22 $14   $26,968,268 53
Oct 20, 2026 - $540 +78% -68% 22 $25   $26,968,808 54
Oct 21, 2026 - $414 -23% -58% 22 $19   $26,969,222 55
Oct 22, 2026 - $756 +83% -20% 22 $34   $26,969,978 56
Oct 23, 2026 - $109 -86% -92% 13 $8   $26,970,087 57
Oct 24, 2026 - $384 +252% -85% 13 $30   $26,970,471 58
Oct 25, 2026 - $151 -61% -92% 13 $12   $26,970,622 59
Oct 26, 2026 - $649 +330% +113% 13 $50   $26,971,271 60

Weekly Box Office Performance

DateRankGross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossWeek
Aug 28, 2026 6 $8,517,574   1,277 $6,670   $8,517,574 1
Sep 4, 2026 6 $9,249,674 +9% 1,771 $5,223   $17,767,248 2
Sep 11, 2026 6 $5,136,716 -44% 1,720 $2,986   $22,903,964 3
Sep 18, 2026 9 $2,758,540 -46% 1,543 $1,788   $25,662,504 4
Sep 25, 2026 13 $976,919 -65% 722 $1,353   $26,639,423 5
Oct 2, 2026 20 $290,905 -70% 543 $536   $26,930,328 6
Oct 9, 2026 34 $31,906 -89% 50 $638   $26,962,234 7
Oct 16, 2026 40 $7,744 -76% 22 $352   $26,969,978 8

Leading

Cristin Milioti    Grace
Delaney Quinn    Freddy
Topher Grace    Ben

Supporting

Keegan-Michael Key    Buddy the Unicorn
Michael Shannon    Charlie the Train / Willie
Patton Oswalt    Strappy

Production and Technical Credits

Casper Kelly    Director
Casper Kelly    Screenwriter
Jamie King    Screenwriter
Tyler Davidson    Producer
Drew Sykes    Producer
Raphael Margules    Producer
J.D. Lifshitz    Producer
Kevin Flanigan    Executive Producer
Dexter Braff    Executive Producer
Tracy Rosenblum    Executive Producer
Roberto Linck    Executive Producer
Nathan McAuley    Executive Producer
Emilio Schenker    Executive Producer
Gideon Tadmor    Executive Producer
Adam J. Wilde    Executive Producer
Geoff Yaw    Executive Producer
Ryan J. Kelly    Executive Producer
Zach Kuperstein    Cinematographer
Josh Ethier    Editor
Michael Yezerski    Composer

Cast and crew with above-the-line roles are marked in bold. The line marks the division between above-the-line and below-the-line roles.

Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research@the-numbers.com.


Synopsis

Remember BUDDY—the bright orange unicorn and star of that classic childrens’ television show who brought joy and life lessons into your living room? Inside the colorful world of “It’s Buddy!”, a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and helping Buddy spread happiness. But when one child refuses to play along, Buddy is not pleased and cracks begin to appear in this seemingly perfect world.

Metrics

Opening Weekend:$5,464,870 (20.3% of total gross)
Legs:4.65 (domestic box office/biggest weekend)
Domestic Share:100.0% (domestic box office/worldwide)
Production Budget:$3,000,000 (worldwide box office is 9.0 times production budget)
Theater counts:1,277 opening theaters/1,771 max. theaters, 4.3 weeks average run per theater
Infl. Adj. Dom. BO $26,971,271

Movie Details

Domestic Releases: August 28th, 2026 (Wide) by Roadside Attractions
Video Release: October 13th, 2026 by Saban Films
MPA Rating: R for bloody violence, some drug content and language – all involving children.
(Rating bulletin 2949 (cert #55816), 8/12/2026)
Running Time: 95 minutes
Film festival: Sundance Film Festival 2026
Filming location (city or town): Cleveland, OH
Plot point: Escape, Faulty Memory, Missing Child, Murdered Child, Psychics, Trapped
Release detail: Festival Acquisition
Social setting: Supernatural, TV Industry
Subgenre: Horror Comedy
Time period setting: 1990s
Source:Original Screenplay
Genre:Horror
Production Method:Live Action
Creative Type:Science Fiction
Production/Financing Companies: Low Spark Films, BoulderLight Pictures, Sipur Studios, Substance Productions, Saban Films, Roadside Attractions
Production Countries: United States
Languages: English

Weekend Box Office Performance

DateRankGross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossWeek
Aug 28, 2026 6 $5,464,870   1,277 $4,279   $5,464,870 1
Sep 4, 2026 7 $5,802,653 +6% 1,771 $3,276   $14,320,227 2
Sep 11, 2026 6 $3,619,422 -38% 1,720 $2,104   $21,386,670 3
Sep 18, 2026 10 $1,951,447 -46% 1,543 $1,265   $24,855,411 4
Sep 25, 2026 - $697,411 -64% 722 $966   $26,359,915 5
Oct 2, 2026 - $210,436 -70% 543 $388   $26,849,859 6
Oct 9, 2026 - $26,519 -87% 50 $530   $26,956,847 7
Oct 16, 2026 - $5,730 -78% 22 $260   $26,967,964 8
Oct 23, 2026 - $644 -89% 13 $50   $26,970,622 9

Daily Box Office Performance

DateRankGross%YD%LWTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossDays
Aug 27, 2026 P $527,000     0     $527,000  
Aug 28, 2026 6 $2,193,068     1,277 $1,717   $2,193,068 1
Aug 29, 2026 8 $1,783,066 -19%   1,277 $1,396   $3,976,134 2
Aug 30, 2026 7 $1,488,736 -17%   1,277 $1,166   $5,464,870 3
Aug 31, 2026 5 $707,049 -53%   1,277 $554   $6,171,919 4
Sep 1, 2026 6 $927,249 +31%   1,277 $726   $7,099,168 5
Sep 2, 2026 5 $705,237 -24%   1,277 $552   $7,804,405 6
Sep 3, 2026 5 $713,169 +1%   1,277 $558   $8,517,574 7
Sep 4, 2026 7 $1,520,366 +113% -31% 1,771 $858   $10,037,940 8
Sep 5, 2026 7 $2,083,082 +37% +17% 1,771 $1,176   $12,121,022 9
Sep 6, 2026 6 $2,199,205 +6% +48% 1,771 $1,242   $14,320,227 10
Sep 7, 2026 6 $1,605,282 -27% +127% 1,771 $906   $15,925,509 11
Sep 8, 2026 5 $809,728 -50% -13% 1,771 $457   $16,735,237 12
Sep 9, 2026 5 $563,699 -30% -20% 1,771 $318   $17,298,936 13
Sep 10, 2026 5 $468,312 -17% -34% 1,771 $264   $17,767,248 14
Sep 11, 2026 7 $1,045,846 +123% -31% 1,720 $608   $18,813,094 15
Sep 12, 2026 6 $1,543,197 +48% -26% 1,720 $897   $20,356,291 16
Sep 13, 2026 6 $1,030,379 -33% -53% 1,720 $599   $21,386,670 17
Sep 14, 2026 6 $362,535 -65% -77% 1,720 $211   $21,749,205 18
Sep 15, 2026 - $515,994 +42% -36% 1,720 $300   $22,265,199 19
Sep 16, 2026 6 $388,250 -25% -31% 1,720 $226   $22,653,449 20
Sep 17, 2026 7 $250,515 -35% -47% 1,720 $146   $22,903,964 21
Sep 18, 2026 10 $564,687 +125% -46% 1,543 $366   $23,468,651 22
Sep 19, 2026 10 $823,981 +46% -47% 1,543 $534   $24,292,632 23
Sep 20, 2026 10 $562,779 -32% -45% 1,543 $365   $24,855,411 24
Sep 21, 2026 - $224,221 -60% -38% 1,543 $145   $25,079,632 25
Sep 22, 2026 - $275,785 +23% -47% 1,543 $179   $25,355,417 26
Sep 23, 2026 - $202,814 -26% -48% 1,543 $131   $25,558,231 27
Sep 24, 2026 - $104,273 -49% -58% 1,543 $68   $25,662,504 28
Sep 25, 2026 13 $207,346 +99% -63% 722 $287   $25,869,850 29
Sep 26, 2026 - $307,245 +48% -63% 722 $426   $26,177,095 30
Sep 27, 2026 - $182,820 -40% -68% 722 $253   $26,359,915 31
Sep 28, 2026 - $68,720 -62% -69% 722 $95   $26,428,635 32
Sep 29, 2026 - $90,040 +31% -67% 722 $125   $26,518,675 33
Sep 30, 2026 - $76,828 -15% -62% 722 $106   $26,595,503 34
Oct 1, 2026 - $43,920 -43% -58% 722 $61   $26,639,423 35
Oct 2, 2026 - $59,971 +37% -71% 543 $110   $26,699,394 36
Oct 3, 2026 - $92,919 +55% -70% 543 $171   $26,792,313 37
Oct 4, 2026 - $57,546 -38% -69% 543 $106   $26,849,859 38
Oct 5, 2026 - $19,404 -66% -72% 543 $36   $26,869,263 39
Oct 6, 2026 - $28,257 +46% -69% 543 $52   $26,897,520 40
Oct 7, 2026 - $23,248 -18% -70% 543 $43   $26,920,768 41
Oct 8, 2026 - $9,560 -59% -78% 543 $18   $26,930,328 42
Oct 9, 2026 - $8,093 -15% -87% 50 $162   $26,938,421 43
Oct 10, 2026 - $13,251 +64% -86% 50 $265   $26,951,672 44
Oct 11, 2026 - $5,175 -61% -91% 50 $104   $26,956,847 45
Oct 12, 2026 - $1,780 -66% -91% 50 $36   $26,958,627 46
Oct 13, 2026 - $1,681 -6% -94% 50 $34   $26,960,308 47
Oct 14, 2026 - $983 -42% -96% 50 $20   $26,961,291 48
Oct 15, 2026 - $943 -4% -90% 50 $19   $26,962,234 49
Oct 16, 2026 - $1,296 +37% -84% 22 $59   $26,963,530 50
Oct 17, 2026 - $2,521 +95% -81% 22 $115   $26,966,051 51
Oct 18, 2026 - $1,913 -24% -63% 22 $87   $26,967,964 52
Oct 19, 2026 - $304 -84% -83% 22 $14   $26,968,268 53
Oct 20, 2026 - $540 +78% -68% 22 $25   $26,968,808 54
Oct 21, 2026 - $414 -23% -58% 22 $19   $26,969,222 55
Oct 22, 2026 - $756 +83% -20% 22 $34   $26,969,978 56
Oct 23, 2026 - $109 -86% -92% 13 $8   $26,970,087 57
Oct 24, 2026 - $384 +252% -85% 13 $30   $26,970,471 58
Oct 25, 2026 - $151 -61% -92% 13 $12   $26,970,622 59
Oct 26, 2026 - $649 +330% +113% 13 $50   $26,971,271 60

Weekly Box Office Performance

DateRankGross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossWeek
Aug 28, 2026 6 $8,517,574   1,277 $6,670   $8,517,574 1
Sep 4, 2026 6 $9,249,674 +9% 1,771 $5,223   $17,767,248 2
Sep 11, 2026 6 $5,136,716 -44% 1,720 $2,986   $22,903,964 3
Sep 18, 2026 9 $2,758,540 -46% 1,543 $1,788   $25,662,504 4
Sep 25, 2026 13 $976,919 -65% 722 $1,353   $26,639,423 5
Oct 2, 2026 20 $290,905 -70% 543 $536   $26,930,328 6
Oct 9, 2026 34 $31,906 -89% 50 $638   $26,962,234 7
Oct 16, 2026 40 $7,744 -76% 22 $352   $26,969,978 8

Leading

Cristin Milioti    Grace
Delaney Quinn    Freddy
Topher Grace    Ben

Supporting

Keegan-Michael Key    Buddy the Unicorn
Michael Shannon    Charlie the Train / Willie
Patton Oswalt    Strappy

Production and Technical Credits

Casper Kelly    Director
Casper Kelly    Screenwriter
Jamie King    Screenwriter
Tyler Davidson    Producer
Drew Sykes    Producer
Raphael Margules    Producer
J.D. Lifshitz    Producer
Kevin Flanigan    Executive Producer
Dexter Braff    Executive Producer
Tracy Rosenblum    Executive Producer
Roberto Linck    Executive Producer
Nathan McAuley    Executive Producer
Emilio Schenker    Executive Producer
Gideon Tadmor    Executive Producer
Adam J. Wilde    Executive Producer
Geoff Yaw    Executive Producer
Ryan J. Kelly    Executive Producer
Zach Kuperstein    Cinematographer
Josh Ethier    Editor
Michael Yezerski    Composer

Cast and crew with above-the-line roles are marked in bold. The line marks the division between above-the-line and below-the-line roles.

Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research@the-numbers.com.