A $1M budgeted dog-led movie has gone viral in ways I don’t even think its distributor anticipated.
IFC has upgraded Ben Leonberg’s “Good Boy” from a tiny October 3 release into a nationwide rollout. The 72-minute horror film, shot entirely from the perspective of a Retriever, Indy, is now being positioned as a potential breakout.
It started, a few weeks back, with the poster going viral on X and Reddit, and since the trailer drop, on August 18, it has generated almost 1.5M views on IFC’s YouTube channel and another 1.5M via IGN’s posting. Clearly, the curiosity factor is running high.
Furthermore, since the trailer hit online, Google searches for “Does the dog in Good Boy die?” have spiked by more than 2,000 percent. Safe to say, some are already emotionally invested.
“Good Boy” actually already screened at a film festival, four months ago, at this past April’s SXSW, where it earned strong reviews — 95% on RT— but nothing that would prepare us for its widespread viral popularity.
Either this film becomes a hit, or IFC might be about to learn the hard truth that going viral doesn't always translate into sold tickets. Either way, this could very well be a title that finds a stronger audience once it hits streaming.
“Good Boy” opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, October 3, via IFC.
