It may not have come close to taking the top spot at the box office, but Late Night With the Devil arguably had the coolest opening weekend.
The new horror film, about a late night talk show host (David Dastmalchian) whose ratings gambit goes off the rails, grossed $2.8 million at the box office this past weekend—the biggest-ever opening for an IFC Films release, per Variety. Maybe not the most headline-worthy opening weekend, but the devil is in the details: Not only did Late Night With the Devil come in sixth place at the box office, but the indie horror film also raked in $666,666 on Sunday. Is this mere coincidence, or the devil’s handiwork? WHO CAN SAY.
Directed by Australian siblings Cameron and Colin Cairnes, Late Night With the Devil is presented as a documentary exploring a strange 1977 episode of a late night talk show. David Dastmalchian stars as late night host Jack Delroy, whose segment featuring a parapsychologist book author and her subject, a teen girl who is possessed, takes a satanic turn. Late last week, the film was hit with some backlash when social media users pointed out the use of AI-generated artwork in the film, included in interstitial promos for the late night talk show. The directors released a statement, confirming the use of “very brief” AI-generated imagery that was additionally edited by graphic designers during production. Still, the backlash led to an interesting conversation about whether an indie movie at this scale should be boycotted over minimal use of AI-generated artwork.
Late Night With the Devil is currently screening in select theaters and will be streaming exclusively on Shudder on April 19.
(featured image: IFC Films)
